Scary clown costumes are a classic for Halloween. The unsettling face paint and painted-on smile are enough to give anyone the heebie-jeebies; once you factor in the amount of spooky pop culture books, films, the insanity of the clown pranks of 2016, and horrifying true crime tales, it’s no wonder clowns are cemented as a terrifying figure in many people’s minds.
One famous, horrifying clown is Art the Clown from ‘The Terrifier’ film series. This series began in 2008 with the short film ‘The 9th Circle’, only 11 minutes long. In it, a woman is drugged and kidnapped by Art on Halloween night, awakening in a room with two other women. Art reappeared in another short film in 2011 and the full-length film ‘All Hallows’ Eve’ in 2013, which featured the previous two short films.
These previous projects by Leone became the basis for the 2016 American slasher ‘The Terrifier’. Despite mixed critical reviews upon release, this movie became a cult favorite, and Art became an instantly recognisable figure in pop culture. If you want to create a truly terrifying Halloween costume this year, why not go as the Terrifier himself, Art the Clown?
Art is distinct in his creepy, mime-inspired black and white clown makeup. Leone (the director of the movie and previous short films) purposefully kept any color out of the character’s makeup to differentiate from other famous fictional clown figures, such as Pennywise, known for his red hair and makeup. The black and white makeup provides an unforgettable look, and it certainly helps Art stand out against any other clowns!
@ladyparadox has created the perfect petrifying Art the Clown look for this Halloween; get inspired by @ladyparadox’s amazing and talented Terrifier clown costume!
@ladyparadox uses the Blood Splat Contact Lenses for a strung-out, bloodshot appearance, perfect for this terrifying costume! These contact lenses perfectly reflect the blood-splattered appearance; however, we do have plenty of other colored contact lenses that would look fantastic in your own Art the Clown costume.
The Mini Sclera Black Contact Lenses would also be perfect for Art, adding to the supernatural and demonic energy of this villain. Art’s background is largely unknown, and whilst he shows some supernatural abilities in the short films and ‘All Hallows’ Eve’ released prior to ‘The Terrifier’ series, they become more apparent in the trilogy.
The Devil Red Costume Contact Lenses are another great alternative for this costume. Similar to the Blood Splat lenses that @ladyparadox uses, they have some red intertwined with the black pigment of the rest of the lens, creating a dark and poisonous appearance.
To recreate an Art the Clown makeup look, you’re going to need both black and white face paint. For this sort of full-coverage look, with the entire face and neck needing to be covered, we recommend our Stargazer Liquid Foundation (White). With the white foundation, you get plenty of product and ample amounts of coverage! Use a larger sponge from our Accessories collection to save time when getting the base down; you can go over any patchy or missed spots afterwards, and use a smaller sponge for detailed areas. You may want to try glueing down your eyebrows for a smooth surface to apply the paint to, but you can also just paint over them. Or, use your natural eyebrows as a guide when painting on Art’s more rounded and ‘surprised’ eyebrow shape.
The Stargazer White Liquid Foundation has a smooth and creamy application, with a water-based formula that blends flawlessly. This foundation has a lightweight feel, and can be built to cover any more difficult areas without feeling heavy or chalky, or caking. Get a long-lasting, flawlessly white base with this liquid foundation.
Stargazer is a cruelty-free makeup and hair dye brand established in 1979, and their foundation formula has been perfected since the 80s! Moulded by the punk spheres in London, Stargazer is known for its bright, long-lasting colors.
We currently have a 3 for £5 Accessories sale - ideal for Halloween! Get everything you need for your Halloween costume (from makeup accessories to contact lens accessories) at Crazy Lenses.
Once the base is down, unfortunately, this makeup gets a bit more difficult. Mistakes will show up more overtly due to the dark layers on top of the lighter colors. To keep the makeup grayscale, mix your black and white paints to create your contour shade, or use the Mehron SFX Colour Cup in Monster Grey. We recommend starting with a lighter shade and then building up more depth, so you may still want to lighten the Monster Grey shade with your white in order to create a lighter shade.
Mehron is a well-established and trusted brand, particularly within the SFX and stage makeup community. Known for their easy-to-blend and buildable, creamy formulas that are well pigmented and easily flow on the skin, this SFX makeup brand is a favoured option. This top-quality makeup brand doesn’t skimp out on pigmentation (one of the reasons it's loved by stage crews around the world), so you can be assured that this product will last you a long time, both on the skin and in the tin. The Mehron Face and Body Paints are water-activated, easy to blend and reactivate once they’ve dried down. They also dry quickly, and are easy to wash off!
Art the Clown’s most distinctive makeup is the dark paint around the mouth and in a rounded, extended smile, the dark eyes, and the tall, rounded eyebrows. However, before we move on to that, we should add some definition to the face.
@ladyparadox uses a shade of grey to contour the nose, following the top of the sides down from the bridge of the nose. Grey paint is also added to the creases where the nostrils join the cheek. Emphasising these lines adds a sharper appearance to your face. Art also has a fairly long, hooked nose shape, so if you don’t naturally have that, a little bit of contour is a great way to create the resemblance. To finish the nose, add a black dot on the end.
Contour is extremely useful for changing the shape of your face, as you can add new shadows and dimension where there wasn’t any before. We can see this in the way @ladyparadox has added grey to the outer corner of the undereye, where the edge of the socket meets the cheekbone, to give a more sunken-in appearance. Lighter grey nearer the eye and a darker line around the other edge give a new shape to the face.
Add black liner around the rest of the eye, with two lines appearing to bisect each eye straight down the middle, to complete this character’s eye makeup. As these lines are all quite thick, you also don’t have to worry about having the steadiest of hands! There’s plenty of space to correct any wobbly lines, and the pure black surrounding the entire eye means that it’s fairly easy to achieve this look.
@ladypardox also creates a sharp line on the cheek, with a darker line at the top edge of the contour and light grey blending underneath for a harsher appearance. To achieve this, we recommend applying your light grey contour as you normally would and then applying your darker line to keep it crisp. @ladyparadox adds an additional dark semicircle just below the temple to once again create a strong contrast, giving your face a cutting and sunken-in appearance to match the demonic clown Art.
To really complete an Art the Clown costume, what you need is copious amounts of SFX fake blood to match the gory, slasher story of this homicidal maniac clown! In last week's blog, we covered everything you need to know about SFX blood this Halloween. Check it out for some detailed tips and tricks. For an Art the Clown cosplay, we would recommend the Paintglow Red Fake Blood Spray to get the perfect blood splatter across the face and costume.
To make sure everything goes smoothly this Halloween, we also recommend our Halloween Accessory Kit! This kit includes a Crazy Lenses contact lens case with air-tight lens containers, a small mirror, handy mini-tweezers (ideal for handling your lenses), and a silicone lens inserter. You’ll have everything you need if you’re travelling to celebrate Halloween this year. Besides our contact lens travel case, we’ve included a full-sized bottle of all-purpose contact lens solution for cleansing and safely storing your lenses, and some fake blood to help add the perfect finishing touch to any Halloween costume!
For an alternative scary clown costume this Halloween, try replicating @ladyparadox’s Art the Clown costume using all the tips we’ve included in this guide! Or, check out our other blogs and tutorials for plenty more Halloween costume inspiration.
If you have any questions or concerns about using contact lenses (especially if this is your first time doing so this Halloween!), then make sure to check out our FAQs and guides.
And, if you do decide to create your own Art the Clown Halloween costume, make sure to tag us @crazylensesnow!
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