From Tina to Mona: Corrie star gets makeover

Here's Corrie's Tina McIntyre (actress Michelle Keegan) as you've never seen her before - posing as the Mona Lisa.

Recently voted Britain's sexiest soap star, the actress was transformed into the subject of the 500-year-old portrait to promote a travelling exhibition about the Italian artist, Da Vinci - The Genius which opens next month at the Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI) in the soap's home town of Manchester.

The exhibition's promoters picked Keegan, 22, for the promotional photograph because her Mediterranean complexion and long, dark hair provided a good base for transformation. They sourced period dress from Manchester's Royal Exchange theatre, perfected the hair and make-up, and tried to get the lighting just right so the shadows matched those in the original.

Describing the transformation process, Keegan said: "I had to be really pale and they powdered me down so much because I'm quite dark. "They had to frizz my hair up and backcomb it and put it in little ringlets.

"It was a very long process which took a good two hours. I think most of the time was spent on my eyebrows.

"They had to put wax on them, then make-up, then wax again so that they disappeared. I always paint my eyebrows on so to have them erased was quite strange!"

She said the experience has made her want to see the original Mona Lisa in the Louvre in Paris, but she wasn't so keen on her 16th Century complexion.

She said: "It was the palest I've ever been in my life. I didn't like it at all!"

Make-up artist Armand Beasley said: "We found that Michelle's face fitted the profile beautifully - the bone structure was practically the same."

To create the finished piece, photographer Paul Jones took a photograph of Keegan against a blue screen and dropped it over an image of the original painting.

He then used Photoshop effects to match her with the background, add a Renaissance quality and blend out what was left of her eyebrows.

Jones said: "Very little digital manipulation was required to make the two elements fit seamlessly together and create a convincing modern day update."

Opening at MOSI on November 14, the exhibition features 1,000 sq m of exhibits devoted to Da Vinci's work, including giant and infra-red versions of the Mona Lisa, and some of his inventions, such as his scuba diving suit and helicopter.