I have always wanted to just try to do this idea. I've seen it done in many ways (as I'm sure you have also seen) so I found a willing participant in Anna Kathryn who is a model for Ursula Wiedmann Model Management from Atlanta to let me try it. I decided to set up a couple of lighstands (I actually used my background stands) and A-clamp a drop cloth to it for the back ground. A friend of mine is a painter so she had plenty of authentic drop-cloths for this. I used a pack of craft paint bought from a hobby store that was labelled as washable (water based) and once the backdrop was in place I dipped a brush in each color, reminded Anna to close her eyes and I then splattered her with color.
Did we get stares? Sure. Here's a behind the scenes pic of Chad holding the light and where and how we setup the shoot.