My "Classroom" Work Space

I cleared out my sewing area in my craft room and re-designated it as my makeup area. Although, this area will continue to be re-designated over the next few months. But I figured it was better to have one permanent place that served one purpose at a time, rather than one area that had a random assortment of "craft stuff."

Since I don't have that much right now, I keep most of what I own on the desk. I picked up a few cute bowls from the dollar store and use one for small eye shadows, one for blushes and bronzers, and one for lipsticks. I lined an old chocolate gift box with pretty paper and use it to store my liquid foundations, concealers, primers etc.






I pretty much re-purposed containers from all over the house, including an old shot glass that was perfect for q-tips. My brushes keep moving from my roll out case to a cup because I can't decide how I want them yet. I keep extra sponges, wipes, makeup remover, tissues, and disposable items in the shelves of the desk, along with my makeup case, and a scrapbook carrier that I also use for storage.


I set up a mirror behind the desk and stole one of my husband's clamp lights that I attached to the top of the mirror. I would love to use natural light, but I work during the day, so I have to practice at night. I read that lighting that is too cold will lead you to over apply, but if the light is too warm, you will think you look great when you don't. (You know you've been there, getting into you car and seeing a line or a streak you couldn't see in your bathroom.) Luckily he helped me pick out a natural light bulb from his collection.

I was going to add two smaller clamp lights on the side, but apparently Home Depot decided they are not safe and doesn't carry them anymore! The lighting I know is not perfect. I can't always see what I am doing perfectly, and sometimes it is a real problem for pictures. But this is where I have been practicing and I hope that as I keep working and develop a better sense of what I need, I can make adjustments as needed.

Committing

Committing to a project, piece of cake! Committing to a look, well that's a bit trickier. I think part of the reason it is so hard to commit and just go for it, is because when you are working on your own face, it's really hard to stay objective. Not every look is right for every face, and when you know a look is so wrong on you, its hard to keep working and really commit for the sake of practicing.

I've been working backstage on "Chicago" with the Torrance Theatre Company, so I was inspired to try a 1920s look.

Here is the image from Glamour Daze that I used for inspiration. Below that, is what I ended up with.

Glamour Daze


I like how glowy my skin looks and I think it's a pretty look, but it's not what I was going for at all. I tried a much darker eye and sloped my brow down, but you can barely see either in this picture. I could blame the photographer (me) but really it was my inability to commit to a look that wasn't exactly "pretty." I washed it all off and resolved to try again, and not let my personal aesthetic get in the way. But I had to commit, and take it much further than I was actually comfortable with.




In stepped Clara Bow as my new inspiration. She had the 1920s look I wanted, but was too afraid to try the first time. Not pretty, but beautiful in its boldness. (NNDB)

So here is my version of Clara Bow. It wasn't intended to be an exact replica, just a way to push beyond my comfort zone. I used glue and powder to block out my eyebrows this time, so I could draw on a sloping brow. I made sure to darken the inside of my eyes to really drop the eye and went for the full cupid lip. My blending around my brows was not great and my lips could have been a little sharper. I also had a hard time lighting my face properly. But overall, I was much happier with this look because I stepped out of my comfort zone. It doesn't have to be perfect the first time, I just have to do it. The bold, the grotesque, even the ugly is not something to be feared. It is only makeup after all...it always washes off.

Trip to Philly and Browsing Magazines

I took a few days off to attend a friend's wedding in Philadelphia. The bride was beautiful as always, and it was amazing getting to see old college friends. The humidity was not nearly as bad as I anticipated, but still worse than I would have liked. Living in LA, I very rarely have to worry about the humidity so my personal makeup choices generally don't take humidity into account. However, I would like to find a few new products that can withstand the heat, especially heat from professional lights. Bright lights don't really make things humid, but they sure do make it hot and sweaty. "How to avoid the makeup melt" will now be adding to my makeup curriculum.

On our flight home, I had a chance to browse through the September issue of Glamour. I flipped through with new eyes this time. I wasn't looking for clothes I can't afford or even a standard of beauty I couldn't personally achieve. I was looking for makeup trends and looks to try. I flipped through slowly, evaluating each face and paying particular attention to highlighting and contouring. I was looking at blush placement and color combination. I dog-eared my favorite looks, some bold and some very natural, like this beautiful coral lip on Selena Gomez.



(Glamour.com)

I never once felt envious, only creative and excited to get home and get started. Good thing I already have this little guy (NP gloss in Tangerine Slice). Now I just need a nice coral lipstick to go on the bottom.

Photo Shoot Tests

We spent most of last Sunday at a park called, La Tierra de la Culebra. It's a tiny little park in Highland Park, but it has a great arts vibe.


A friend and I are planning a hair and makeup "Test for Print" shoot next month. We spent the day scouting locations and taking a couple test shots. Thank goodness our photographer came along, because I am useless with a camera. Here are just a few samples.

I am excited to see what this becomes, once we add hair, makeup, wardrobe and a few bounce boards to the our shoot. Stay tuned for uploads from the actual shoot.

Using Color to Create Symmetry

This is the first dreaded "No Makeup" test shot.
My face is clearly not that of a model, nor of an actress. I do not have amazing bone structure nor do I have perfect symmetry. One eye is slightly smaller and a little droopy, my nose is slightly crooked, and I have Vitiligo (absence of melanin) which affects the left side of my face mostly around my eye, but also my cheek area. When you practice makeup on yourself, you tend to notice these things a lot. Even so, with all my flaws, I like my face and it's a canvass all the same.

I have learned to appreciate the things I do have. I have really clear skin, and I have never had to deal with acne. That is also probably why I fell into makeup late. While everyone else fussed over covering blemishes, I used to pop on a little gloss and and maybe the occasional smokey eye for parties. It was not until a few years ago when I developed Vitiligo that I started looking for ways to cover it. The truth is, no one is perfect. Everyone has hangups about tiny little imperfections that in reality no one notices or cares about at all. That's why I like working on faces, because I am reminded that everyone is imperfect. My job isn't to mask that, rather to smooth out those imperfections so people can focus on your best features.

That being said, the following picture is my own face corrected for symmetry. I went in with a darker foundation color to thin my face a bit and used a bit to contour my face a bit. (Kandee Johnson had a great video on this). I didn't spend too much time on this part, because the real focus was straightening my nose and a bit of work on my left eye. ( I didn't work out all of the symmetry in my eye, my eye brows or my lips).

I used the same principles of contouring on my nose. I added darker foundation along the sides. I used my right side as my standard, and duplicated the shadows I saw on that side onto my left side. I went back in with a really light concealer stick and highlighted down the center of my nose. It is definitely a little straighter and narrower. Could I do this every day? Sure, but luckily, I am not a model so I don't have to. I'm not trying to fool anyone into thinking my face is perfectly symmetrical. I'll keep working on it though for the sake of learning it. Because while I may not need to do this for myself, symmetry on screen and in photographs does matter.

Thrift stores = Biggest bang for your buck

For this scene in Chutes and Ladders, the hair was kept pretty simple, a thin braid that started on one side and wrapped around to the other. I'm lucky to have a friend (Ella Maria) who is an amazing Hair Dresser that I can call up before a shoot and make sure I am fully prepared.


The costume was a lot of fun to work on too. The vest started as an ugly puffy vest with fur trim on the hood (Think J-Lo circa P. Diddy). I promptly removed the trim and sewed the hood back together. I also wanted to add a little edge but had to find a way to do it cheaply. Taking a bit of inspiration from Project Runway a few seasons ago, I purchased the longest black zipper I could find, and broke it apart. 2 dollars well spent to add a metal trim up the front of the vest.

My favorite part however was the belt. I cleared out the rack of belts at the local thrift store. Four black belts, some with broken parts, were fasted together into this giant mega belt. To save time, I ditched the task of sewing through leather, and went straight for my card hole puncher. I snuck into my husbands desk and stole a few of the little brass fasteners used for scripts. Turns out, they are great for fastening pretty much anything. I told you I was resourceful. I was pretty pleased with the overall look of the final product. I think she is ready to kick some ass, don't you?

Making use of my bruise wheel

This was for a project I worked on recently, Chutes and Ladders, a web series my husband created and I helped produce along with one of the actors (Datta Dave).

Cuts and bruises have always been one of my favorite things. I am pretty clumsy myself, so I generally have plenty of real life samples to base my work on. I watched a few tutorial a few days before this particular day, but I didn't really find anything that was different from what I was already doing. I also searched for images I liked of fake bruises. If you can stomach it, I recommend searching for images of real ones too.

I used Ben Nye's Cuts and Bruise Wheel, layering on the blue and red tones with a nylon stippling sponge. Layering the two helps create the uneven purple tone found in real bruises, pale in some areas and almost green in others. I went back in with a little extra red to create fresh scratches and a little yellow in the center to make it look a bit swollen. I used a basic translucent powder to set it, also from Ben Nye. Brushes won't work here, bruises call for velour powder puffs so you can really press it into the skin. A little stage blood and in our case, a little bit of dirt and ashes, and you are ready to go.

Creating this look is fairly easy, because it's ok if it looks a little haphazard. However if continuity is going to be an issue, plan ahead and practice on your own face a few times. Getting it just right and exactly the same each time takes some practice. I like my cuts and bruises, but there is definitely some room to grow, so it's back to my make-up area until I get it "just-so."

Why crowd learning? Why now?

My mother is a Jill of all trades, and she taught me well. I grew up writing, doodling, sewing, and generally crafting my way through summers. I made some of my own clothes and even took a floral design class once. But at some point in High School, I arbitrarily decided that that part of me wasn't worth keeping. Maybe because I didn't have time, but probably more so because it didn't fit in with my image of a "smarty-pants." And so I went to college, got a BA in History and Span Lit. I ended up teaching High School English for a few years and then went back to Grad School to get an MPP.

I've always been a bit of a workaholic and a part of my kind of enjoys being stressed out. I kept dabbling, but always with a purpose. I took on a DIY attitude and played with other mediums like painting, drawing, makeup, costuming and re-purposing anything from thrift stores and craigslist. I painted my bedspread, added a trim to the shower curtains and hung them in my bedroom, and transformed dusty picture frames into jewelry holders. I never knew what I was doing, but that never mattered. And then I found myself on a set, where I was able to put all those years of practical dabbling to good use. I was a true DIYer, and I spent hours on-line learning to make things, mix things and do it cheaply.

I do a lot of things, and I do most fairly well, but I am certainly not an expert. I thought about maybe starting over, going back to school, but I honestly don't know where my true artistic passion lies or what I am really good at. I don't know if there is something out there I could potentially make a career out of. But I plan on spending the next year discovering what I can do and how far I can go, using easily accessible resources. This means on-line tutorials, websites, books I find on amazon etc. I am going "back to school" but I will be crowd learning, taking bits and pieces and creating my curriculum as I go. This will include beauty makeup and out of kit special effects, sketch work, and sewing.

This isn't new obviously, lots of people are self taught in a variety of fields. I'm taking that same journey, but I am documenting it and will be showing you my progress along the way. I hope you enjoy it and maybe pick up a trick or two. "Classes" start September!