Reflective log
Introduction
I have recently finished my first year of study, during this time I completed hair and makeup projects that involved; photography, makeup and hair skills and techniques, photoshop, writing skills and independent learning. In this reflective blog I will be focusing on my high and low points throughout my first year, my experiences, and new skills involved in being an industry makeup artist.
Reflection
Before starting this course I had some skills in makeup and hair design that I had learnt myself through; videos of makeup and hair and experimentations of makeup on my face and on faces of family and friends. Makeup has been a passion of mine for a long time as I believe it brings confidence and personality to the surface. My attitude towards makeup and hair design has changed over the period of my first year, as I now believe I have become more confident on working on other people and I have a more professional approach. My overall attitude towards being a professional makeup artist has become prominent, and has brought out a confidence in me that I didn't expect. I have learnt basic skills in makeup and hair that would be helpful in a freelance industry, and I have also been given the opportunity to show my own ideas and idea process to makeup for fashion, TV and film and photography. I have leant how to show my ideas in a clear and artistic way using mood-boards and how to finalise a photo using photoshop.
I think my change in attitude, confidence and progression has come from working with new people; making new friends and being in a whole new environment, moving house and having to become independent. I also enjoy all aspects of the course and the fast paced learning, this has encouraged me to work fast paced and to blog all the time; helping me to learn quickly and use my time to experiment and practice. Gaining confidence in my self and my work has also been a change; when I received my first grades of A's and B's, it was a shock to me and it made me want to push myself to continue to get good results. Also living independently has encouraged me to be more confident in myself and my work, and has improved my overall independent learning.
I feel my biggest improvements have been in the special effects aspect of the course, this is one of my best aspects as I enjoy it the most. Below is an image of an experimentation using a gelatine mould, I used Kryolan super-colour palette, pus and scab makeup that brings out the strong colours and dried blood in an older scar such as this. I was pleased with the outcome of the placement and the colouration of the design. To improve on this I would blend out the edges as much as possible to get rid of any harsh lines and spend more time blending and using subtle colour changes in the outside parts of the mould.
Another example of my improvements is shown below, it is clear to see how I have improved on the colouration on my special effects design. I have used gelatine again for this design. The first image shows a large burn with pink and purple tones, I have used the colours too intensively and although I like the darker areas of the burn, the overall colour has too many purple tones. The second design is much more realistic, the colours are light and more transparent, the skin looks rough, hard and shiny which also gives a realistic appearance to the design.
I am happy that I can clearly see what improvements I have made during my first year of study, and I am proud of all the improvements I have made. I have done this by taking the advice and constructive criticism from lecturers o how to improve and develop, and by practicing these techniques outside the classroom on friends. I have had a very supportive group of friends outside the classroom who are happy to model for me which has made it easier for me to practice and develop my skills.
What I am doing well at and what needs to change
I feel I am good at blogging about my ideas and practice, I enjoy offloading everything in writing so I can refer back to it in the future or show other people. I like to have everything I have competed on a blog so I can go back and look at what needs to be improved and what I am doing well at, it also helps with practice; so I don't forget how to execute a makeup or hair design professionally. I feel I need to develop confidence in myself when it comes to presenting my own ideas; I dread presenting in front of a lot of people even if I think my idea is a good one. I also need to practice and develop my camera speaking skills, for example, when I become the photographer for one of my makeup designs, I have an image that I want to create but find it difficult to connect with the model to ensure a fantastic and relaxed image. I feel that if I create more of a team to help me take professional pictures, the overall experience will come across more professional and therefore create a better image. I also need to improve on my photoshop skills as I had never used it before coming to university.
I need to spend more of my time developing my makeup skills; practicing on friends and willing models. This will enable me to work quickly but confidently and experimenting with different products before I use them in a project will ensure I work professionally, knowing how to use each product. I need to take more time on my face chart designs to make sure each one is clear and professional. To do this I will spend more time on creating a base for my face charts instead of using the white background, although sometimes the colours smudge and blend, I will have to experiment with different products working with layers to build colour.
Work experience
I was given the opportunity to take part in a work experience placement for one day, where I shadowed the makeup artists for an ITV advert. I was happy to see Sarah, the makeup artist, was using the same makeup brands and products that I have been using in my practice, and she talked me through some other brands that are used in TV. I mainly watched and followed the artists and the production team during the day, but I was also given a brush and powder for the frequent intervals so I could get rid of any shine on the actors during the filming. This experience has helped me to get a real image of what it is like to work on a set, as I want to progress and work with tv and film this was a really interesting for me. It made me realise how many people come together to make an advert, the filming started at 7:00 and finished by 23:00, this is so one advert can complete filming in one day. It has also helped me to become more 'get up and go,' Sarah was very confident with her makeup skills, she worked fast and managed to get everybody done very quickly.
What would you have done differently given the chance, and what factors influenced the decisions you made this year?
If I were to retake this year, the things I would have done differently are; practice my writing skills, from having some time out from education I found it hard to write essays. I spent a few weeks on writing and re writing my essay to get it to better quality, but having tutorials and doing my research wasn't enough to get a good result. I was disappointed to get a D on my essay, but I also didn't expect to get an A. I need to spend more time on improving my writing skills to get my overall grades to a high level, I can do this by spending more time on my research, reading books on essay writing and english skills, and choosing to have more tutorials.
I also would improve my confidence, I want to this because I have seen how important it is to have confidence in my own work. I will do this by reaching out to different people to collaborate in our work, and competing projects outside of uni in freelance work. I also want to spend more attention on hair designs, as most of my ideas are makeup based, I feel I need to include better research and idea generation in hair design; I can improve on this by practicing different designs on my friends, family and models, hair collaborations will also help me learn new techniques.
Most of my decisions and idea generation came from my research, I spent a lot of time on searching different and new makeup and hair designs to inspire me. I would change this because I feel, although research is good, it would be better if most of my ideas came from experimentations, next year I will improve on this by spending more time playing with makeup products to find the best use for them. I have found that talking about my ideas to friends and tutors has helped me to progress, I like to get different views on my ideas to understand the peoples takes on my development, this helps me get further because new ideas always inspire new ideas. I then would make my ideas into mood boards which was a good was to illustrate my plan.
Some examples of mood boards I have made during this year
What were the most successful moments in your year? Why?
I feel the most successful moments for me during my first year of study were; creating an A grade sketch blog, I collected all the work I completed and blogged everyday about my experimentations, written work, images and research. I was proud of completing the on time and to a standard I was happy with, it was clear and easy to read, and it will be easy for me to refer back to it for future designs.
I feel that another successful moment for me was the continuity assessment. After reading Dorian Gray and developing my ideas to create this character, I then found a model I thought looked perfect for the costume and makeup. He also had an eccentric personality and was happy to pose for the pictures making the charter more believable. Below shows the two images from both times I created the character and although the makeup is strong and may be more fitting for a theatre production, shows aged skin and hair, yellow teeth and dark tired eyes. I was proud of this design because I thought of all aspects of the character, the hair and makeup, I also provided a shirt, bow tie and top hat to fit the wide style of hair. I practiced this design on my friends first then once I found a model, I then used him to practice on before the assessment. I could see my gradual improvements made each time which was teasing to see because I new I could do better each time and made subtle changes to the design, developing my skills each time.
Continuity assessment
Experimentations and planning
Another successful moment for me was overcoming my difficulty with using photoshop, I had never used it before coming to university, but was pleased to learn it quickly from the help of friends. I then used it to finalise my final images for digital image production. One I was particularly pleased with was for my Givenchy and fleeting project, I found this very difficult at first because I had no ideas for how I could represent fleeting. I did my research but wasn't coming up with anything inspirational, but after development and practice and more research and talking it out with friends, I finally came up with an idea that combined both my concept and my brand, and I created an image that I was pleased with and that looked good next to the brand logo. I use Matida as my model because I needed someone who could look sophisticated but sexy, and I think I did a good job at this.
Editorial and advert for Givenchy brand and fleeting concept
Unedited image - Digital image production, model: Matida Salmon, Photographer and Make-up artist: Rebecca Southerden
Furthering my studies
I feel I am changing all the time in terms of confidence and responsibility, I am becoming more independent and reliant on myself. I also look into the future a lot, what will I do after university? What stage will I be at in my life? Will I stay on at university to complete a Masters degree? Where will I live? These are all things I think of a lot of the time and I would like so see more support in what happens after uni. To further my studies, I want to take part in a teaching english as a foreign language course, this way I can keep my future open to travelling, which is something I would love to be able to include in my future career. This has always been my passion and hasn't changed, but has intensified with the support of friends who also want to take part in the course.
Conclusion
Everything that comes with the learning and independence of moving away to university has had a huge impact on the person I am now, and the person I will become. I have had some great experiences with making new friends, finding a house to live in, learning new skills in makeup, hair, photography and becoming independent, organised and gaining much needed confidence. I believe all these factors are needed to become a well rounded person aspiring to be a makeup artist, and I am very happy that I made the decision to be a part of Solent university. These experiences will help me in my second year to progress further and develop my skills and ideas regarding making and hair design. II will be more confident to work on many different models, I will think about my photoshoots with more detail; the clothing, setting and set up, I will also spend more time writing and blogging about that I learn and want to learn.
After competing my first year, I have found that I need to work on my writing skills, this may be something that I struggle with in the future or I may have to spend more of my time planning and writing professionally. I also want to work on my confidence, this way I will be happier working on new clients everyday and branching out with collaborations throughout my second year. By doing this I will build more contacts and confidence, developing my skills and listening to other students' ideas and wants and bringing them to life.
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