Lisa's Eldridge's make up moments: Off with her head! with Valli O'Reilly

Lisa Eldridge's make up moments: OFF WITH HER HEAD! Here is the full article
In this online article, Lisa Eldridge, has interviewed another make up artist, Valli O'Reilly about her work on the set of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.
Reading this article was very helpful in terms of understanding what it takes to be a makeup artist, for example Lisa Eldridge asked Valli O'Reilly what times she would come in, in the morning to work on the actors and actresses and she has replied that often she would get there at 4:30 in the morning. It has also been a good insight as O'Reilly has discussed how she would gather inspiration for the look of the Red Queen on actress Helena Bonham Carter, in this case she got inspiration for the eyebrows from Perc Westmore's look on Bette Davis from a previous Elizabeth film that we have looked at! This article has also proved that you have to be prepared for anything in this industry as the original forehead piece that they wanted to use on the actress didn't work with her as she was such an animated actress and moved her head and face too much, therefore O'Reilly had to come up with something better that would suit the actress.
All in all from this article it looks like O'Reilly had a wonderful time working on the set of this film and this article was exciting to read as somewhere in the future I could be doing something like this!

Valli O'Reilly on set with Helena Bonham Carter.

All images and information sourced from this article http://www.lisaeldridge.com/blog/26587/make-up-moments-off-with-her-head/#.VIXIRBaPl69

Practice for the assessment.

Here is the outcome from the practice round of the timed assessment.

I think the eyelashes and eyebrows worked very well within this look and I feel they really give the look an Elizabethan feel but with a twist. I like the eye shadow as I feel the gold represents a sense of royalty whilst the pink tint compliments the red lips well. This practice for the assessment has highlighted to me that I like the pale base I had decided to use, but that I feel the pink eyeshadow might be a bit too pink and that for the actual timed assessment I will incorporate more gold into the eyes as I feel this will compliment the overall look better than that of the more pink base. 

Eyebrow inspiration from Givenchy and Cara Delevingne

Images sourced from this article

When researching how I can create the historic Elizabethan eyebrow look in a contemporary way I remembered seeing an article about Cara Delevingne having her eyebrows bleached by Pat Mcgrath for the Givenchy show at Paris fashion week. This reminded me of an Elizabethan look with the way that you can not see her eyebrows (Elizabethan's had pale, thin eyebrows). Another thing that I find wonderful about this look is the killer cat eye flicks that Cara has been given. This has inspired me for the eye look in my own design as when I look at the images I see elements that link to a historic Elizabethan look and how I can add a contemporary twist to the overall design with something like a cat eye that is a trend now.

Although Cara is well known for her large, dark eyebrows I feel the bleached eyebrow look actually really suits the model. 

Experimentation for my final designs

Over the past few days I have been discussing with my partner Samantha the timing element of the assessment and what my design involves. We decided to get together out of class over the past few days to practice our designs.
When experimenting with the designs for my Elizabethan look I thought it would look quite effective to have white eyelashes and eyebrows for the contemporary. The inspiration I got for this element of my look was from the fact that the historic Elizabethan looks normally feature a pale complexion so I wondered how I could translate that paleness in another way and on another facial feature which was when I came up with the idea for making the eyebrows white instead of blocking them out and then making the eyelashes white.
Here is the outcome of this experimentation.

I think the outcome was good and I especially like the eyelashes, therefore I think that feature will definitely be a part of my final design. 

Inspiration for my final design: White eyeliner.

When looking into one of the contemporary elements of my final design, I wondered how I would translate the element of white and being pale, without having a solid white complexion. Therefore I decided to do some research into some catwalk looks that involved white eyeliner. 

Image sourced from google images, originally from here

The first image I came across was this one of Cara Delevigne wearing white eyeliner at a fashion show in Milan. I then found this image from the same show. 

Image sourced from google images, originally from here

Another thing that I liked about this look was that they have decided to place the false eyelashes on the bottom eyelashes, quite low onto the lash which gives the models a very doll eyed look. 

Image sourced from google images, originally from here

Another version of white eyeliner that I found was an image from John Galliano's 2013 show. Here they have chosen to apply the eyeliner thickly across the eyelid with black smudged liner along the bottom. The white really sticks out in this look and I like how in most shows they will tend to have one focal point with the make up, this being the white eye. 

Image sourced from google images, originally from here

I then stumbled across this image. Although the eyeliner is black, I like the placement of the eyeliner on the crease of the eye and think this gives the overall look a structured yet minimalistic feel to it. Below I have practiced at home, using white eyeliner for my final design. 

Experimenting with Elizabethan makeup styles: Blocking out eyebrows.

Image sourced from google images, originally from http://www.marileecody.com/eliz1-images.html

Image sourced from google images, originally from http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/9545859

As you can see from the historic portraits above Elizabethan's typically had pale eyebrows that were very rounded in shape and quite high up, to achieve this I have experimented with the process of blocking out the eyebrows in order to be able to draw them on higher and in the correct shape. 

Tools needed for this process were: A glue stick, a  spatula to apply the glue to the eyebrows, pale foundation/Illamasqua skin base, primer and setting powder. 

Here is the final outcome from my first time blocking out eyebrows 

 I think next time I use this to experiment with Elizabethan looks I will use a foundation under the skin base to take away more of the dark colour of the eyebrows. However when taking my final designs into consideration this may be a process I will use as I believe the outcome will be effective if I can find the correct method for blocking out my own dark eyebrows. 

New Elizabethans in todays society

When I think of embodying the new Elizabethan's I immediately thought of the character Blair Waldorf from the TV series 'Gossip Girl'. I feel that she is a great example of knowing all about self promotion. Despite often being portrayed in a bad light by 'Gossip Girl' (a website that essentially reveals secrets about a group of friends from New York) she always manages to come out on top. She has a group of 'minions' that follow her every move and trend and worship her as their icon. The way that the character Blair had been styled throughout the series also reminds me of someone who is royal. This reminded me of the fact that the Elizabethan's worshiped Queen Elizabeth and the fact that she is such an icon even today.

Image sourced from google images originally from  http://difashionista.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/gossip-girl-part-1-fashion-forward.html#.VGZ0dBaPl1M

Another person that I think of when looking into New Elizabethans Katie Piper. I think that Katie is an exceptional role model to all people due to the fact that she has managed to overcome exceptionally devastating circumstances in her life and due to this has had to work at re gaining her beauty. This reminds me of the way in which Queen Elizabeth had to work on her beauty due to having smallpox. Katie Piper has had to have various types of surgery due to having acid thrown in her face whereas Queen Elizabeth decided to wear makeup to cover up the scars from having smallpox. 

Image sourced from google images, originally from https://tv.bt.com/entertainment/tv/tvfeatures/katie-piper-understanding-the-bodyshockers-11363870825278

The taming of the Shrew

Which characters for you represent new Elizabethans?

The taming of the shrew (2005) represents new Elizabethan's in many of the characters.
The overall styling of the film is very Elizabethan in terms of the mise en scene. For example the reds and dark wooden furniture look very luxurious and red is a typical Elizabethan colour. The styling of the characters Katherine and Tim in the opening scene are hold Elizabethan qualities. Katherine is wearing a black suit, with her hair slicked back and parted in the middle much like an Elizabethan woman and Tim is wearing a black suit with a red tie, again very high class Elizabethan colours. This could be a link in the wealth of the characters Katherine and Tim to that of high class Elizabethans as these colours were expensive to import and therefore only worn by the rich.

image sourced from http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/11_november/09/shake_henderson.shtml

One scene in particular stood out to me as being very Elizabethan in terms of a link between The taming of the Shrew and another adaptation of Elizabeth's life starring Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth. This was the opening scene where Katherine was charging through the hallways and all of the other politicians were moving to the side out of her way, this I feel links well to the scene in the film 'Elizabeth' starring Cate Blanchett where she has transformed into her new look as the 'Virgin Queen' married to England as like the politicians from The taming of the shrew, the other characters move aside  and let Elizabeth through. Although this is because she is the Queen in the film 'Elizabeth', the fact that the politicians move aside for Katherine to storm through, reminds me of that scene in 'Elizabeth' very much.
The character Katherine represents a new Elizabethan to me as her hair changed when she met Petruchio. During the first scenes of the film Katherine always wore her hair pulled back whereas after meeting Petruchio she would be seen wearing her hair down. This makes it new Elizabethan for me as when Elizabethan women got married they would then wear their hair up as a sign that they were married and unavaiable, although it is the opposite in terms of hair being up then down as opposed to down then up, I recognise a link between the two.
These two characters have elements in both of them that remind me of Queen Elizabeth. Katherine for being very independent and Bianca for being admired and idolised and not being bothered about marriage this clear from her statement 'I will not get married until Katherine does'.

Image sourced from 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/shakespeare/tamingoftheshrew/photogallery.shtml

Another character from the Taming of the shrew that represents a new Elizabethan to me would be Bianca. This is because she represents an iconic beauty in the film which was essentially what Queen Elizabeth was for the Elizabethans, she was their idea of beauty that everyone aspired to be. Her styling was often wearing gold, another luxurious colour seen on many of Queen Elizabeth's dresses in her portraits.

Another character who's styling represents the new Elizabethan's for me would be Petruchio when he was dressed as a woman on his wedding day. I feel this represents the new Elizabethan's as he has been styled in red silk which is again a sign of wealth and status in Elizabethan society.

Rankin's seven photographs that changed fashion

This week I have watched a documentary about a photography (Rankin) that was looking to re create seven of his favourite fashion photography images. I really enjoyed watching this documentary as it fascinated me to find out how much technology has improved and the lengths that previous photographers would have to go through to capture the perfect image. This was conveyed through the scene in which Rankin was photographing the singer Sophie Ellis Bextor where she would have to sit for ages and the crew would have to wait a while for the film in the camera to re set to be able to capture the next image.

Watching this documentary has also inspired me in terms of the way I read a photograph. For example I would often flick past and just think the image was nice, however now I am more inclined to think about the image and what the photographer was trying to get the model to portray. Was there a certain mood to the shoot? Was it an easy image to capture? 

One of my favourite images from the documentary was the image that Rankin took in homage to one of his favourite photographers, David Bailey. I think I liked this image because the romantic element appealed to me. This was because Bailey had taken the original image with his girlfriend at the time, so Rankin decided to use his girlfriend in his image.

Image sourced from google images, originally from here

Above are both photographers images, left is the original by Bailey and to the right is the image that Rankin has taken. I really like both images and I feel there is something really intimate about them. I don't know whether this is because I now know who the people are in the image and what they meant/mean to the photographers or the fact that the image is in black and white. I always find that with black and white images there is nothing distracting such as bright colours, the image looks stripped back and has a natural element to it it that I find aesthetically pleasing. Another reason that I feel these images are very intimate are because they seem to have a lot of sex appeal. I feel this is because the women have most of their silhouette exposed and are holding the small of their backs. 

Looking more into Rankin's photography has made me fall a little in love with the work he produces, particularly his many black and white images. When researching more I found this image that he had taken. 

I think the image stuck out to me because I love Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and therefore was drawn to this image. I just find everything about this image perfect, the way her hair is flowing behind her and the slight hazy look in her eyes. I find there is something really raw and real about Rankin's photography believe he has definitely become an inspiration to me. 

Who were the Westmore's?

Image sourced from google images, originally from here

Who were the Westmore family?

The makeup moguls, the Westmore family started with George Westmore, who was born in the Isle Of Wight, who was a wig maker/hairdresser that emigrated to the United States with his family. He then set up the first make up department in the Hollywood movie scene. George had six sons, who also went on to work in makeup and worked for various major film companies including Paramount. George Westmore has quickly become a role model of mine. This is because I feel I owe something to him that I could now possibly have a career in this type of industry. The fact that George realised that actresses and actors were required to apply their own make up, means he understood a gap in the market for makeup artists and hair stylists which I find very inspirational 

Image sourced from google images, originally from here

Danger Dress- Karina Buckley analytical review.

Blog Post here

I really like this blog post by Karina Buckley. I like the way the lighting hits the model right on the face in the fourth and fifth pictures and the way that the lighting almost shades the model in the last two yet gives and aesthetically pleasing look to the image. I like the way that the blue from the background of image seem to fit with the location of the shoot. However this blog post does make me ask a few questions. For example why does the wall say 'surfing cowboys'? and how intriguing it is to be able to  simply place the model against a blue background styled all in white and be able to create some extremely striking images.

Extreme Contour of the face

Contouring is the process involving looking at the anatomy of the face and the bone structure that informs you where to shadow and where to highlight. Contouring is for more editorial work (especially extreme contouring as the right lighting should be used) and not recommended for every day life. Contouring is often misunderstood and too much product is often used which results in the face looking a different colour/texture to the body. You have to use products on all body parts so that it catches the light in the same way.

Places that you should shadow include: Under the cheekbones, under the chin and the temples.
Places that you should highlight include the cheekbones, the forehead, the bridge of the nose, the chin and the cupids arrow above the lips.

Tools needed: Spatula (to avoid double dipping products) optional creme products such as concealer or powder products such as bronzers. You can use Supracolour for a TV white or a product with a pink undertone. Use a stipling brush to apply the product.

The process
1) Apply primer to the face
2) Apply the white colour all over the face
3) Use the bronzing product under the designated areas, get the client to suck their cheeks in to reveal the natural jawline.
4) Repeat with the bronzer on the temples, sides of the nose and under the chin.
5) use a highlighter on the designated areas

Remember to start light and then build up with darker colours and use a clean brush to make sure the products blend.

Outcome from the demonstration. 

My take on this process. 

How can I relate this process to the brief?

I think this process will help me with my ideas when it comes to the contemporary element of my Elizabethan makeup look. This is because the pale complexion looks like that of the typical Elizabethan   makeup, however the fact that the contouring has been used takes a trend that is extremely popular today. When designing my looks I will take extreme contouring into consideration as I feel it will look effective if I use it but in the colour that Elizabethan's historically used to blush their faces with (rouge) instead of the bronzer, therefore combining a historic feature with that of a contemporary look.