Make-up artist pays respects to First World War fallen soldiers with body paint tribute of Tommy Statue

Student Philippa Gibbons took her inspiration from the Tommy statue at Seaham to paint a moving scene on her own chest, neck and shoulders.

The East Boldon woman said she has had an amazing response to her artwork from all her followers on social media.

Philippa, 20, a former pupil at Whitburn Academy, said the artwork took more than four hours to complete with it being a bit more difficult to paint on herself.

She said: “I wanted to pay my respects through the way in which I know best, art.

“I wanted to show my respects in my own way.”

Philippa, who is currently studying media make up at Northumbria University, said she wanted to remember those who gave their lives so we could live ours.

She said she also wants to honour the soldiers who are still serving today and those who are struggling from the battles they have been involved with.

The young artist said: “I bought a couple of poppies and started to think about what I could do with them.

“I was just sitting in my bedroom and started the painting on myself.”

Looking in the mirror, the artwork took Philippa four and a half hours to complete and she was really pleased with the result.

But, because the painting was body art, Philippa had to wash it straight off.

She said: “I spent all day doing it, just to wash it off.”

But, before removing the artwork, Philippa took photographs and uploaded them to her social media accounts.

She said: “The feedback from it was amazing, everyone was saying great things about it.”

Philippa, who works as a make-up artist in her spare time, said she hopes her university studies will lead to a career in television and film creating all forms of artwork, including props and make-up.