Tutorial: Zombie Vein Tights

The Geeky Gryphons are getting excited for Halloween! We decided to spend this week sharing some of our costuming tips and tricks to help you make the most out of your costume this Halloween.

With the Sioux Falls Zombie Walk coming up this weekend, we’ve been hard at work creating our zombie magician and assistant costumes for the event. Last year, I was able to find some really cool zombie vein tights for my costume, but unfortunately I misplaced them since then. As a result, I decided to try making my own instead.

I’m really happy with the result and the process was super easy, so I figured I would share a quick guide so you can try making your own!

Items needed:

  • A pair of opaque gray tights (you can also use sheer or a shade lighter than your own skin depending on the look you’re going for)
  • Dark red and blue paint (I used acrylic paint, but you can also use fabric paint)
  • A small paint brush
  • An assistant (optional)
  • 1-2 hours

The first step is to put on your tights. I think the opaque gray tights are a really nice choice for this, since they makes my legs look gray without looking too unnatural.

step1

Next, all you have to do is paint! It helps to use some reference images of veins in order to get a semi-realistic look. In my case, I found an image of varicose veins that I used as my main reference. If you’re not quite as sure about your paint skills, feel free to practice painting some veins first before painting on your tights. Just remember that you’re a zombie, so your veins can be as crazy as you’d like them!

Here’s the painting process I used:

  1. First, I painted some veins using the dark red. I tried to space them out pretty evenly, since these veins would stand out the most. Don’t be too exact with the lines; the more squiggly they are, the better! Note: that all of the veins branch downwards toward my feet.
    step2
  2. Using the same paint brush (and occasionally even mixing the two colors) I added some additional branches in the blue paint. To make some of the base red veins really stand out, I painted the blue along some of the red lines. I also used blue to extend the beginning of the red veins in order to make them fade out a bit more.
    The blue paint really makes the veins pop! step4
  3. Once you get the base red and blue of the veins down, you can start filling in any empty looking spaces with some fainter veins or additional branches. I also took this opportunity to enhance some of the red veins to make them stand out even more. Remember to have fun with it. Zombie veins don’t have to be perfect!step5
  4. When it comes to painting the back of the tights, you can get help from someone else or just put your tights on backwards. The acrylic paint dries very quickly, so you won’t have to wait very long in order to put them on backwards. I just got my husband to paint the back of my tights using the same painting techniques I used.

Here’s the result:final

I’m planning on wearing some ripped fishnets over these tights, so I didn’t go too detailed with the veins. But you can make your veins as detailed as you’d like. Make them your own!

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MrsGryphon

Anna (a.k.a Mrs. Gryphon) is a web developer with various interests including video games, webcomics, sewing, arts and crafts, and costuming.

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