A self-taught special effects make-up artist who paints her face and body to bring famous or gruesome characters to life has coaxed screams from the public by going to the shops still made up – cycling around Walmart on a tricycle disguised as “Bob Ross Deadpool”.
Monster enthusiast Kim Witte, 28, worked at a haunted house before starting her own special effects make-up company, Witte Artistry, teaching people how to use make-up and body paints to look like their favourite fictional characters through YouTube.
The young entrepreneur from Rockton, Illinois, who taught herself while she was still at school after watching a TV show about make-up artists, now forges a full-time career recreating famous comic book characters like Marvel’s Groot and the Joker from the DC universe and creating striking new characters of her own.
She gets a mixed bag of reactions from viewers of her work, especially when she visits a supermarket or restaurant and is still wearing her make-up or costume.
One woman was so taken aback by Kim’s appearance as a cross between the artist Bob Ross and Marvel’s Deadpool that she “literally screamed” and even her mother, Jodi, 62, is often fooled by her elaborate disguises, which can take up to five hours to create.
Kim at her local Walmart dressed as ‘Bob Ross Deadpool’ (Collect/PA Real Life)
“There are those who aggressively make eye contact with you but pretend like nothing is wrong,” said Kim, who lives in Madison, Wisconsin.
“There are those who are like, ‘what’s wrong with your face’ and they just hate it and get really uncomfortable.
“Then there is the third type of person who is like, ‘wow, that’s so cool’ and wants to talk about it.”
Kim painted to look like Marvel Comics character Venom (Collect/PA Real Life)
Kim has been creating fictional characters since she was a child, when she would draw them in a book that she dubbed the “monster spiral”.
Then, while in high school, she watched the American reality TV series Face Off and realised that creating monsters could become her full-time job.
“I watched a bunch of YouTube videos, bought a body paint pallet and taught myself,” Kim said.
“I was really bad in the beginning and my first characters were just white, black and grey spooky, skeleton-looking things.”
Kim started painting her body after watching the American reality TV series Face Off (Collect/PA Real Life).
Kim continued using her body as a canvas in university and would paint herself or her “awesome roommate” Kristen every couple of days.
“I would turn us into characters and then we would walk around on campus taking all these silly photos,” she said.
To earn some extra cash, Kim started working in a haunted house before realising she wanted to pursue a career in special effects body paint.
It can take Kim up to five hours to create a full upper body character (Collect/PA Real Life).
“Coming up with characters to scare people and seeing people’s reaction was so much fun,” said Kim.
“You were assigned a room and location and scare people when they came into your room.”
Before graduating, she started her own company, Witte Artistry, giving YouTube tutorials on how to do “your own special effects make-up”.
Kim has her own SFX make company Witte Artistry (Collect/PA Real Life).
It has since evolved into more of a “positive entertainment” channel.
“People get a big kick out of watching people do cosplay (costume play),” she said.
“It’s also really encouraging for people who struggle with not being who they actually want to be.”
One of the biggest challenges with body paint is asking volunteers to sit still for long periods of time.
Even Kim’s mother Jodi is confused by some of her illusions (Collect/PA Real Life).
Kim said: “When I started, it only took me a few hours.
“But now that I’m doing it professionally, it can take between four and a half to five hours to create a full upper body character.”
Staying in character can also prove uncomfortable, especially when prosthetics are involved, such as horns, gills and pointed ears.
Kim painted like Umibozu, a paranormal phenomenon from Japanese folklore (Collect/PA Real Life)
“Some of the things you glue on your face are super itchy and you’re just really excited to get them off,” Kim said.
Kim is constantly creating new characters, some of which she comes up with herself and others that are based on TV shows or movies.
But her creations sometimes catch people off guard, especially when she decides to keep her make-up on in public.
Kim is sometimes inspired by popular movies and TV series (Collect/PA Real Life).
“I turned into the Bob Ross Deadpool character and went to Walmart to see people’s reactions,” she said.
“I walked up to this one lady and offered her a slice of pizza and she literally jumped backwards into a clothing rack.
“I also rode a tricycle through the store and got a lot of laughs.”
Even her own mother has been caught out on several occasions.
Kim used to work at a haunted house before becoming a professional SFX artist (Collect/PA Real Life)
Kim said: “When I was living with my mom, she would come down and see what I was doing in my studio and be completely mind-blown because she didn’t really understand how the illusion worked.”
While some artforms like sculpture or oil painting can cost thousands, body paints are much more affordable.
“If it’s literally just body paint without any props, it will cost barely more than a dollar (80p) per costume,” she said.
“You can get a 12-colour body paint pallet for like 25 bucks (£20) which will last you three years.
Kim launched her own company Witte Artistry giving SFX make-up tutorials on YouTube (Collect/PA Real Life)
“But special effects make-up, like the latex foam and silicon can get ridiculously expensive.”
Overall the reaction to Kim’s weird and wonderful characters has been positive.
“Other than a few grumpy people, everyone has been super jazzed about it,” she said.
Kim painted like Baby Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 (Collect/PA Real Life)
Kim is now looking to branch out into other areas.
“I am trying to get my art into physical spaces, because there is a lot of stress that comes with having an exclusively online business,” she added.
“For example, I am planning on selling body paint prints at art fairs – because you obviously can’t get the original.”
Kim is now looking to work on movies and sell body art prints (Collect/PA Real Life)
Kim is also looking to get into the movie industry and has already worked on film called Without a Name which is currently in post-production.
Find out more about Kim and Witte Artistry at: www.witteartistry.com
