Nine Tailed Fox Makeup
Here’s my submission for the Monster Making Contest 2023
Da Ji The Nine Tailed Fox
Makeup design and application by instagram.com/keltonfx
Makeup design and application by instagram.com/keltonfx
‘The paths of light and darkness never converge: fox-spirits stand somewhere between the two. Immortals and demons go different ways; fox-spirits stand somewhere between the two.’ - Ji Yun, 1789
📸 by jxpaz
Huge thank you to Angel for modeling, Bailey and Brittany for the assistance with application at monsterpaloozaofficial 2023
The Nine Tailed Fox Spirit or Hu Li Jing (狐狸精）is a popular shapeshifting spirit that spans various East Asian cultures. Most commonly depicted as taking on the form of a beautiful woman in order to seduce and consume masculine Yang essence to achieve immortality. The nature and morality of foxes is ambiguous in Chinese culture so these spirits can either be benevolent or malevolent depending on the spirit.
My design was heavily inspired by the film Painted Skin and its sequel Painted Skin The Resurrection. Werewolves are more common in Western media so I also drew inspiration from some of my favorite films Ginger Snaps and An American Werewolf in London. I’m a huge fan of body horror so I was really enamored by the idea of a Hu Li Jing tearing off her human disguise but I also wanted her to look mystical and ethereal in her fox form.
I sculpted some dentures, a face piece and ears and cast them in silicone. I then made a lifecast of Angel’s head and mounted it to a harness with a flat sculpted blending piece for the chest that transitions to the dummy head.
There’s also a transition piece on her right hand which the silicone glove sits in. The nine tails were just faux fur fabric stuffed with armature wire and fiberfill and a belt that is hidden under the skirt. Everything was finished in about 3 weeks
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