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Special-effects artist gets gruesome and gory Samantha Altman, 18, of Medford, and Taylor Vu, 17, of Medford, work on their zombie bites Saturday during a special-effects workshop for teens at the Medford library. Saturday Oct 29, 2016 at 4:59 PM Oct 29, 2016 at 4:59 PM Nick Morgan Mail Tribune @mtcrimebeat A light touch, a little patience and the right tools were all it took for the arms of 10 local teens to look like something out of TV's "The Walking Dead." With the help of makeup artist Leah Gibson, owner of Rogue FX Creations, the teens learned to mix makeup, adhesives and household items to create the convincingly gruesome illusion that they'd escaped zombie attacks Saturday during a workshop at the Medford library. "You guys are going to walk out of here and freak people out," librarian Elaine Strickland said. "You guys should say this is what happens when you don't pay our fines." Gibson, who does special effects for local film and media, demonstrated ways to create the look of hand gashes, bites and peeling flesh using fake blood she made from household ingredients, inexpensive makeup, liquid latex and paper towels. All of the simulated wounds Gibson demonstrated involved layers to create her effects. To create the look of a zombie bite, Gibson had the teens paint a dark-red semicircle on the skin, made by mixing bright red and black stage makeup on a plastic palette. The kids blended it on their skin using a cosmetic sponge to make it resemble irritated skin. Once the makeup was dry, Gibson showed the teens how to use a darker shade with a brush to simulate six bite marks on each side of the semicircle before topping it with drips of fake blood Gibson made from corn syrup, frosting, chocolate syrup and red food dye. Gibson encouraged the kids not to be perfectionists in their approach. "No one's actually ever been bit by a zombie," Gibson said, telling them that there's room for interpretation. Layers were also needed for simulated hand scratches on their arms. For the effect, Gibson had the teens lightly paint four lines roughly parallel on their arms, use the sponge to soften the lines, then highlight the center with a darker shade for detail, this time using globs of a jelly-like product called Fresh Scab for accents. To create the look of rotting flesh, Gibson demonstrated how to sponge liquid latex on the skin, letting it dry just enough to get tacky, before layering single plys of paper towel or tissue and topping with another thin layer of latex. Once the mixture was dry, she encouraged the teens to pick at it, then color the latex skin purple-gray or mint green with makeup, and detailing the picked-at layers with red, fake blood and more Fresh Scab. The combination of liquid latex and paper had other uses, according to Gibson, such as "brains" she made from layering the materials on top of a head of cabbage, and "guts" using the materials with stage blood to create the illusion of intestines. Though Gibson has been doing stage makeup since high school, her special-effects career got a jump while volunteering for a haunted house in Sacramento several years ago, where she learned from Los Angeles-based artists. She encouraged teens to play around with effects and makeup, using social media as a resource. "There's so many makeup ideas on YouTube," Gibson said. Even with the lessons under their belt, most teens attending were reluctant to commit to a costume, but an exception was 17-year-old South Medford High School student Taylor Vu. "I might be a zombie now," Vu said. Samantha Altman, an 18-year-old Rogue Community College student, said she's planning to use what she learned for her vampire costume. Gibson said she hopes to bring the demonstration back next year, as well as at springtime Comic-Con, because the TV series "The Walking Dead" has roots as a comic book. More info about Gibson's work is available at www.roguefxcreations.com. — Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MTCrimeBeat.