Tag Archives: christopher agostino

A Day Too Nice for Photoshop

I should have spent a few hours today on the computer selecting and processing the photos from my bodypainting at IMATS this past Saturday, but the day was too nice. I am conflicted every Spring. All week the weather has been wonderful and when I wasn’t at a school performing, or in a meeting, or returning a phone call, it’s been very hard not to just go outside and garden.

Yesterday and the day before I turned over and prepped about half my vegetable garden, and today I put in escarole, swiss chard, Roma bush beans, a second planting of broccoli-raab, red leaf lettuce. The weather has been so ridiculously warm that I also put in 3 tomato plants, about a month earlier than I have ever planted tomatoes or beans. (If it gets cold and they fail I can always replace them.) Already in (for a few weeks) are broccoli, broccoli-raab, bok choy, kale, arugala and couple types of lettuce  (we are already picking the lettuce and arugala). I had some collard plants that survived the winter, but it’s been so warm that they already bolted (flowered), and I had to take them out and cook them.

So the photos of Watanbe vs. the Demon will have to wait. Here’s the section of garden I worked on today:

To learn more about our programs and performances:  http://www.agostinoarts.com

See all of our videos on our AgostinoArts You Tube channel:  http://www.youtube.com/user/AgostinoArts

Related articles

IMATS New York 2012 — International Make-Up Artist Trade Show

Right from the entrance, the featured images were the same kind of full, exciting designs you'd see at Face and Body Painting Conventions

I had an unusual day today. I got to go to a make up show that I wasn’t working at. At IMATS yesterday I painted a body at Kryolan’s booth (and photos of that will be posted here soon), but today I had the day off and just went to see the show. It is a trade show, primarily a marketplace for professionals and amateurs to see and buy product (usually at big discounts), with some demonstrations at booths and stage presentations. It felt like a busman’s holiday for me, working around the booths with Lorraine and some artist friends. I’ve posted before (NY Makeup Show Bodypainting  —  Bodypainter or Makeup Artist?) that being at shows like these reminds me that I am not a “makeup artist”, I am painter who paints on people, so there is a lot of cosmetic products and makeup techniques that I have no connection to—however, as a “body painter” it is gratifying to see that the work that seems to attract the most interest at these events is the most extensive: special fx, body paintings, and extreme glamour. Continue reading →

The Legendary Watanabe no Tsuna Battles the Ibaraki Demon at Rashomon Bridge

Come see me at the Kryolan Professional Makeup booth at IMATS New York, April 14 to see the painted body illustration of this story

by Christopher Agostino

Watanabe no Tsuna was perhaps the greatest samurai of all, legendary even as a child for a strength no man had seen before. As a young man, fighting with the Heavenly Companions alongside the famous samurai Raiko, Tsuna had helped to kill Ichigumi, the Goblin Spider, throwing a giant tree down upon the back of that monstrous earth spider while Raiko fought him off in the cave beneath Kyoto castle.

One of several prints by Kuniyoshi depicting the battle

Watanabe no Tsuna had again been at Raiko’s side when he killed the Drunken Demon. Once, the Drunken Demon had once been a handsome courtier who preyed on the noble women only with his charms, but, deep in his lustful ways, as he began to drink he began to change into a true monster. He would steal the young women from the emperor’s palace, and hold them captive for his pleasure. When he grew tired of them he would eat their flesh and drink their blood to feed his demon strength. Then he kidnapped the Princess Ibaraki, and she was too beautiful to grow tired of, so he kept her alive for many years. One night in his room, perhaps to dull the pain in her heart, Princess Ibaraki joined him in his drinking and, once drunk, she tasted his feast of human sashimi. She too became a demon, though she kept her secret from the other captive maidens. When the samurai Raiko and his companions came to rescue the Princess it was fortunate that she had also drunk from the saki they had drugged to incapacitate the demon or she would have raised the alarm when Raiko came into the sleeping demon’s room and cut off his head with one swing of his sword. Tsuna saw the beautiful Ibaraki lying asleep in the demon’s bed and released her along with the other captive maidens, not knowing her terrible secret. Continue reading →