Oh my god, this is going to be so fab! That was my first thought when I was called and asked to join the team for a TV commercial for Veikkaus. I was so excited to hear the stars of the film and my models would be horses! I had never painted horses before, but I was up for the challenge.
Of course we’d have to work on the horses’ terms and do everything the way that would be the nicest for them. I asked a little advice from my German collegue who had painted a horse before and got some good tips from her. It was good we also had a test day before the actual shooting days to see how the horses liked us and the whole idea of being painted. I was a little bit nervous in advance, but for no reason. Our furry friends were totally relaxed!
The designs were discussed and planned together with the Creative Director and the Film Director. I was given a lot of freedom to use my body painting expertise to create the visual impact. I really appreciated that they trusted my judgement and allowed me to push the concept further.
Holding your ground
The initial sketches from the creative team were quite small in scale. But horses are not.
I felt strongly that the paintings needed to be much larger in order to work visually on such big animals. I discussed this with the director Mari Mantela, who trusted my judgement completely. She simply said:
“You’re the professional. I trust your expertise.”
That trust meant a lot. On the first shooting day, when the horses stepped onto the track under the lights, someone from the creative team came to me and said:
“Good thing you held your ground. These paintings look incredible. The smaller ones would never have worked.”
For me, that’s where professional experience really shows: knowing when to speak up and standing behind the decision.
The paints we used were water-soluble cosmetic paints designed for skin, so they were safe to use on the horses as well.
Making-of video of this huge production
Two days of filming and painting
We had two long days and altogether we painted 6 different horses. They were all so well behaved and such lovely characters. Some of them couldn’t care less we around, some were more curious and some almost fell asleep under the brush. At the end of the day they got a bit restless, because the trotting scenes of course got their adrenaline rolling. But they were still absolute stars and for us the two days were pure animal therapy!
This was one of the most memorable commercial body painting projects I’ve worked on, and I’m so happy it got a lot of attention in the media too.
Here’s an article about the project, I was interviewed and got to share the artist’s view.
Iltasanomat:Taiteilija maalasi hevoset kauttaaltaan hohtaviksi tv-tähdiksi: ”Barbie on varsinainen missi”.
Here (below) is the killer final TV commercial we created.
I think we are all so proud of this outcome. This was the best way to finish the year 2017.
CREDITS
Body paintings: Riina Laine
Painting assistants: Minja Konttori & Mari Pylkkänen
Creative director & Agency: Tuomas Kotialho / Miller & Lean
Director: Mari Mantela
Producer: Taina Sirola
DoP: Jean-Noël Mustonen
Music: Erkka Lempiäinen
Projects like this show how body painting can transform an unexpected idea into a memorable visual moment on screen. It’s also one of the most versatile art forms to work with in creative campaigns – adapting to different concepts, environments and productions. If you’re planning a campaign or commercial and looking for a distinctive visual concept, you can explore my commercial body painting services.
