Survey of Great Photos and Trends of the Painted Bump

Mar.21, 2009 by Marcie Taylor
Art and Paintings, Baby Photo Contests, Baby Photography

Welcome to part 2 of our 3 part series on Pregnant Belly Painting. Today we will survey great photos and trends of the painted bump.

Apparently it’s been going on for a while and maybe I didn’t notice because, well, I’m not pregnant. Or maybe I’m just not hip enough. I’m talking about pregnant belly painting, which seems to be all the rage these days. And why not — the ubiquitous pregnant belly or bump as people like to call them are no longer meant to be hidden in big baggy clothes but instead are celebrated – in tight fitting clothes, in sheer clothing, and in many cases, no clothing!

Mozy at 38.5 Weeks

Take a look at the woman above getting her belly painted. An artist is painting the logo of Mozy on her belly. She has capitalized on the recent advertising trend of selling ad space on your own body. I’ve seen this done as a stunt on the back of people’s heads, but this is a first for me to see good old American capitalism on one’s own pregnant belly!

As a photographer I’ve seen a rise in nude maternity photos. Old- fashioned ideas about covering up your swollen abdomen have gone out the window. More and more, mothers-to-be are either baring ‘em or painting ‘em! Indeed for the lucky stretch-mark-free expectant mothers, the pregnant belly is a canvas for art.

From what I’ve seen there are two ways you can go about decorating your bump:

Go more traditional and have someone who typically “face paints” do the same exact type of painting on your stomach (you end up with pumpkins for Halloween and other obviously-round objects – a basketball, a bun as well as pirates, princesses etc. the way you’d get your child’s face painted at Disneyland).
Go to a tattoo artist/henna body artist to paint intricate abstract designs using henna, a plant-based dye similar to a black tea dye, traditionally used in ritual skin painting in Indian culture. Of course, these days henna has been adopted to make temporary tattoos. Like the ones cropping up on these pregnant bellies.

Henna Pregnant Belly Art

Here are a few other notable pregnant belly paintings we discovered on Flickr:

Obama Inspired Belly Painting

Lullaby Lane Painted Belly Cast

Cosmic Belly

Sacred Geometry, a Buddhist mendala painted on the belly by Bethany Greenier

The belly that you called Star of David Belly is actually named ‘Sacred Geometry’ it’s a Buddhist mendala painted on the belly. The piece is by Bethany Greenier. Please make a note of the correct title and artist in the photo.

A quick informal survey of my friends and random strangers, however, revealed that what was cute to some was creepy to others. What do YOU think?

You can read the rest of this 3 part series by following links below

Part 1: How to Videos

Part 3: Popular Belly Painting Contests you can enter!