Final touch: Makeup artist Kumalasari Tanara (left) puts special effects makeup on actor Iko Uwais.(Courtesy of Kumalasari Tanara)

Special effects makeup artist Kumalasari Tanara creates prosthetic wounds so realistic that filmmakers are impressed.

Her name may not be on the tip of Indonesian moviegoers’ tongues, but they have likely seen her work in major films, including in The Raid 2: Berandal (Thugs) that became a hit not only in the country but also in the US in 2014.

For the movie, Kumalasari recalled she spent almost four hours to make prosthetic bruises and wounds for actor Iko Uwais from head to toe.

During this time-consuming process, she only used simple ingredients, tissues and fake blood.

She said she could make various types of fake blood, ranging from fresh blood and dark blood to sticky blood from materials such as wax, gelatin, silicon and latex. She created all types of fake blood at her Pabrik Darah (Blood Factory) office in Pondok Cabe, South Tangerang.

Clad in a black T-shirt and jeans with a tiny prosthetic wound on her left cheek, the artist was excited to talk about her career and passion in makeup during the recent Indonesia Comic Con in Jakarta, an event she also took part in.

Kumalasari said she had fallen in love with cosmetics since she was a third grader.

“When I was little, I found my mother’s makeup tools, such as eyeshadow, and used them. I mixed various colors carelessly. The result was something like bruises and I looked like the victim of an accident. I then frightened my neighbors and they thought that I really got in an accident,” she said, laughing.

Fast forward to high school, Kumalasari said her friends had requested her to put makeup on them to imitate various figures like the Mona Lisa and American actress Marilyn Monroe.

Up close: Makeup artist Kumalasari Tanara shows off her creations during the Indonesia Comic Con in Jakarta.(A. Kurniawan Ulung)

After graduating high school in 2002, her father asked her to continue her studies in Germany, the home country of her mother. From so many choices of majors, Kumalasari picked a major in cosmetics and aesthetics at Cosmetic Institute Antonia in Hamburg to follow her passion.

Kumalasari officially entered the world of special effects makeup after accepting an offer from a Turkish special effects makeup artist to become an intern in the production of several film projects in Ireland and Germany.

Among the projects were The Front Line and the TV series The Tudors starring Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers and British actor Henry Cavill.  

Her first salary was €500 (US$561), encouraging her to become a professional makeup artist.

In 2007, she went to the US to study at Cinema Makeup School in Los Angeles.

However, after finishing her studies, Kumalasari decided to return to Indonesia in 2008 as the competition was too fierce in the US.

Her first movie project in Indonesia was Rumah Dara (Macabre) with the Mo Brothers (Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel).

In 2008, she met the duo by accident while accompanying her friend to join cast Rumah Dara’s cast audition. She showed her portfolio and was surprised to learn that they also needed a special effects makeup artist, she said.

“Because of Rumah Dara, I became known as a special effects makeup artist,” the 33-year-old said.

Since 2008, Kumalasari has taken part in more than eight films, including horror flick Belenggu (Shackle) and action movie Java Heat in 2013, action movie Killers in 2014, The Raid 2: Berandal, drama flick Nada Untuk Asa (Nada for Asa) in 2015 and another Mo Brothers’ film, Headshot, which will hit theaters in December.

“We [Kumalasari and Mo Brothers] will team up again for the next movie,” she said, adding that like Headshot, the new film will also be in the action genre.

For Kumalasari, working as a special effects makeup artist is challenging because she has to get used to a world of gory and graphic wounds.

Her references come from either real wounds, sometimes from injured actors on film sets and autopsy books.

 Kumalasari also provides internship opportunities at her office for makeup artists interested in learning about the art of movie makeup. On YouTube, she also shares special effects tutorials through her channel 2 Side Makeup.

When asked about the biggest challenge as a special effects makeup artist, she answered, “We have to convince the audience that the wounds we make are realistic.”