Beetle Beauty

This shoot was inspired by Rankin’s amazing series of lips holding things like flowers. We also drew Inspiration from the Silence of the Lambs movie poster. I have always thought scarab beetles were beautiful and this was the perfect opportunity to feature them in a photo.

For the concept to come to life we needed an amazing Makeup artist who could match the beauty of the insects. For the green scarab we decided to go with Complimentary Colors, yellow-green and red-violet. This Colors play well off each other and allow each to stand out. For the blue beetle we took hints from its natural markings and decided to mimic those in the Makeup. Using a dark blue as a base, a light stripe was painted down the middle of the lips. When the beetle was in place the effect took shape, making it look as though the stripe goes from the lips to the beetle.

I am a huge car fan, and I have seen a similar effect done on the Dodge Viper. The way the stripe continues through the steering wheel is pure genius.