From Wikipedia:  A Green Man is a sculpture, drawing, or other representation of a face surrounded by or made from leaves. Branches or vines may sprout from the nose, mouth, nostrils or other parts of the face and these shoots may bear flowers or fruit. Commonly used as a decorative architectural ornament, Green Men are frequently found on carvings in churches and other buildings (both secular and ecclesiastical). “The Green Man” is also a popular name for English public houses and various interpretations of the name appear on inn signs, which sometimes show a full figure rather than just the head.

The Green Man motif has many variations. Found in many cultures around the world, the Green Man is often related to natural vegetative deities springing up in different cultures throughout the ages. Primarily it is interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, or “renaissance,” representing the cycle of growth each spring. Some speculate that the mythology of the Green Man developed independently in the traditions of separate ancient cultures and evolved into the wide variety of examples found throughout history.

I decided to do  a Green Man shoot with my friend Steve, and it was a ton of fun… love the way it turned out!

*5×7 Greeting Cards  and a few canvas prints of Green Man will be on display at Crones Hollow on 2470 South Main Street in SLC!  http://www.croneshollow.com/. Don’t miss their grand re-opening the weekend of March 3rd!

Green Man

The first thing I did was create a wig made out of fake leaves. Once he put the wig on, I started gluing leaves to his face.. and then I airbrushed him with greens and blacks. The final touches were made with a paintbrush… blue lips and plant veins on his cheeks. Steve was super fun to work with, and a fantastic model! Here are some BTS shots (below)…

Here is a before editing (straight out of camera) shot and after shot (processed in Lightroom and Photoshop)….

Here are a few more shots from the series:

A huge thanks to Catalyst Magazine for using one of my images on the front cover for March 2012!!

BTW, just wanted to mention that I always use professional body paints and glue, etc when working with people… I used Mehron & krylon brands for this shoot.

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