Assembly & Blood

Using this image as reference, I began attaching my artificial flowers permanently to the holes in my mannequin's head.

I used a hot glue gun to meticulously add flower after flower.

The fast drying nature of the glue made it easy to attach the flowers just as I wanted them, how I wanted to, where I wanted to. All I had to do was hold them in place for a few moments for the hot glue to set.

This was the result once I had added all of my flowers.

I am pleased with the outcome. I used many more flowers than I have done before, as the glue allowed me to do so without knocking any of the others away.

I enjoy the effect of compiling many different kinds of flowers, as it gives me a vast range of colours. It also works metaphorically, as this woman is an embodiment of Mother Nature, and Mother Nature does not discriminate between her children. They can all coexist harmoniously (in nature, or on her head!)

Left side view: The axe is completely concealed from this angle.

As lovely as this is, I almost felt that it was too lovely (even with the axe).

I had long been toying with the idea of adding fake blood to the axe, but was not sure if it would be "too much" or "cliche" to do so.

Now that I have reached this point, I decided that I definitely want to add fake blood. I feel that it would add to the piece, rather than take away from it.

I intentionally constructed my flowers in a way that there were many poppies, scattered across the head in order to create a good, balanced spread of red across the piece, just in case I did want to add blood later on. 

I ordered some fake blood from eBay. I've had experience with a lot of fake blood, so I was expecting  the blood I ordered to be a cold tone red, that would dry to a dark red/brown. Like real blood.

What I actually received was a very warm tone, almost pink tone red, which did not dry differently at all. When diluted, or used on the skin, it left a dreadful neon pink stain behind. This was the total opposite of what I wanted.

I decided to add it anyway, after much contemplation. It was an incredibly vibrant red, and I thought that this would compliment the red flowers very well, in the long run.

I bit the bullet and went for it.

I placed the nozzle of the fake blood tube directly beneath the blade and squeezed. I did not direct the blood, I just allowed it to drip naturally down the curvature of the mannequin.

I added more very slowly.

The drips appeared very natural, and very fresh. Surprisingly, the fake blood appeared much better on the white surface than it did on human skin. It looks much more realistic once applied. I'm glad I took the risk and went for it.

Here is a short video of the application of the blood. It's interesting to watch how it drips naturally with gravity.

The drips began to pool at the base of the mannequin. It was at this point that I gave them a helping hand in reaching the edge of the plinth.

I enjoy the simplicity, but also the brutality of the blood drips. They look incredibly realistic.

I find it slightly eerie that the mannequin's expression remains completely blank, despite all that is happening to her. She is suffering in silence. As Mother Nature herself does.

I am eager to report back to the condition of the blood after leaving it for a week. I wonder if it will dry this way, or if I will need to reapply it. Or whether it will drip further down the plinth, or smear, or change colour, or anything like that.