When you spend hours making a work of art, usually the last thing you want people to do is express complete horror.
However, monster enthusiast Kim Witte loves that her special effects makeup coaxes screams from the public when she goes into shops.
The 28-year-old self-taught makeup artist paints her face and body to bring famous or gruesome characters to life, some of which terrify locals. She even cycles around Walmart on a tricycle disguised as ‘Bob Ross Deadpool’ – a combination of the artist and fictional character.
Kim worked at a haunted house before starting her own special effects makeup company, Witte Artistry, teaching people how to use makeup and body paints to look like their favourite characters through YouTube.
The young entrepreneur from Rockton, Illinois, who taught herself while she was still at school after watching a TV show about makeup artists, forged a full-time career recreating famous comic book characters.
Her creations include Marvel’s Groot and the Joker from the DC universe as well as striking new characters of her own.
It’s safe to say 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 makeup 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’.
Even Kim’s mother, Jodi, 62, is often fooled by her elaborate disguises, which can take up to five hours to create.
‘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 has been creating fictional characters since she was a child, when she would draw them in a book that she dubbed the ‘monster spiral’.
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 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.
Kim started working in a haunted house so she had some money coming in, before realising she wanted to pursue a career in special effects body paint.
‘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, giving YouTube tutorials on how to do ‘your own special effects make-up’, but 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.
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.’
Not only do you have to sit still for a long time, staying in character can also prove uncomfortable, especially when prosthetics are involved, such as horns, gills and pointed ears.
‘Some of the things you glue on your face are super itchy and you’re just really excited to get them off,’ Kim said.
When Kim keeps her makeup outside the house she certainly gets some strong reactions.
‘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.’
Kim still manages to catch her mum out too, although you think she’d be used to it by now.
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.
‘But special effects makeup, 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 is now looking to branch out into other areas including selling prints at art fairs.
‘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 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
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