Wednesday, 4 December 2013

Timed Assessment - Cara's Direction

Cara took a while to perfect her initial design but when she did it was a brilliant design that I had fun doing.
 
Meeting one: In class, briefly discussed each others ideas and asked initial questions, showed material that linked to our ideas/first face charts.

Meeting two: In the Library, exchanged noted and went into more depth about our ideas, began to get a clearer idea of what we both needed to do.

Meeting Three: In class, exchanged final face charts and went over any loose ends.

The rest of the week was spent emailing each other and discussing products and kit.


Above is the face chart that Cara sent me but I didn't feel confident that I had enough information so I asked her to do me a product list and method as I had given her. Below are the notes she supplied me with and I felt a lot more confident after that.
Makeup you will need:
 
Foundation (a range so can apply right tone)
Illamasqua white foundation
A red Lip stick
Red eye shadows (two or three if possible different shades)
White eye Shadow
Black Eye shadow
Eye liner
Mascara
A darker brown eye shadow or blush (to contour)
Powder Blush
Dark brown pencil
Black acrylic paint ( I will bring that in)
 
Hair you will need.
 
Brushes
Pins
Clips
Hair band
Gel or water
 
Make up process:
 
Apply a base foundation matching skin tone, etc.
 
Powder base.
 
Start to contour the face with the brown
 
Contour down the nose
 
Contour the temple just about the outside of the eye brows
 
Contour the jaw line and underneath the cheek bones
 
Blush the cheeks,
 
Start to create a smokey eye with the red eye shadows, lightest colours first
( I would start with a white and then from the outside corner of the eye start to blend inwards with the lightest red and then with the darker red go into the crease more so and a little bit blended inwards and then with the black right in the corner going into the crease a little bit)
 
Underneath the lower lid at the out corner blend a small bit of red shadow under the eye into about the middle and then over the top  go over with a black but not as far into the eye (going from black in the outer corner to red)
 
Repeat on both eyes
 
Now do the eye liner (a thicker line) on both eyes and slightly underneath
 
Place mascara on top and lower lashes
 
Now draw on the eyebrows in the shape on the face chart (basically follow and fill my eyebrow shape) but blend in the middle without a harsh line so the look natural.
 
Highlight areas like the nose and above the cheek bones the chin and the lower lip, underneath the eyebrow with illamasqua white foundation
 
HAIR
 
Pull all hair from one side over and then back into a bun wet it down or gel down to help. Basically a slick look into a bun using clips if you need too.
 
Hand Mark
 
Paint your hand or someone with a small hand with the black acrylic
 
Make sure its really smothered don’t worry about painting all of the palm though just around the outside and slightly in.
 
Place on the side of the face so that your fingers are mostly flat and the palm is as flat as you can get it.
 
Press down firmly.
FINAL IMAGES:


PEER REVIEW:
Makeup Artist Name: Jenny Higson

Assessment of Designer: Cara Haywood

Initially it was quite hard to get hold of Cara but when we did she was always good at replying to my questions and request to meet. I felt it was a bit confusing getting it together at the beginning because Cara changed her design and only sent me the face chart the night before the assessment. The face chart was more of a drawing and although it was beautiful I found it quite hard to read. I also had to ask her for more information like a product list etc. that she was quick to supply. When I contacted her with any questions I had she was always quick to reply and very helpful.
Cara had a fabulous design, which was exciting to recreate. It presented a wide selection of skills that challenged me but excited me at the same time. Cara was able to give me advice if I needed it and was happy to meet when we needed to.

Cara’s main strength was in her design and she went into detail when explaining method though out emails prior to the assessment. I feel this is good in a designer because it made up for the design being done quite last minute and prevented me from feeling as though I didn’t know what I was doing. I would improve her time management so I had longer to look over the notes and probably would have got her to make the face chart a bit simpler too. I think Cara has learnt to time manage too. From my point this was the only issue we had.

As a makeup artist I have learnt to communicate if I have any issues with the design or am unclear about anything. I think I was successful in adapting when there weren’t things specified on the face chart and made the look work and look complete. My strength was problem solving to make the look work; for example the hair was to be put in a side bun but the notes didn’t specify what type of bun or how high or low it should sit on the head so I problem solved by doing what I thought would work with the look best. My weakness was failing to spot these things before we went into the assessment to ask Cara about them.  To improve next time I would try the look out on myself before the assessment but this was down to time management on both our parts. All in all I am happy with the look and I think it looks good, although it is slightly different to what Cara had in mind but I think we made it work between us.



Timed Assesment - My Direction




For my timed assessment I wanted to have a modern androgynous look. Cara and I met an exchanged emails and below are the notes that I gave her on my design.

Meeting one: In class, briefly discussed each others ideas and asked initial questions, showed material that linked to our ideas/first face charts.

Meeting two: In the Library, exchanged noted and went into more depth about our ideas, began to get a clearer idea of what we both needed to do.

Meeting Three: In class, exchanged final face charts and went over any loose ends.

The rest of the week was spent emailing each other and discussing products and kit.

 Above is the face chart that I gave to Cara. I wanted it to be relatively simple so that it was easy to follow, but still portrayed my look correctly. That is why I used this particular type of face chart.

I gave her a product list so that we both had the same colours and textures in mind for the look. i thought by giving her a product list we would get the closest outcomes to each other if for example we were working on the same thing at different times in industry.
I also gave her a "key points" list to emphasise the most important parts of the look that demanded emphasis.


I gave her "method" notes of how I would've done the look because different methods can often make different outcomes and i wanted us to be on the same wavelength as much as possible.


I also supplied her with a very basic hair chart and method for visual help of my ideas.

FINAL OUTCOME


TIMED ASSESSMENT PEER REVIEW


Designers Name: Jenny Higson

Assessment of: Cara Haywood (Makeup Artist)

Cara and I discussed my design briefly in person and communicated a lot though email if she had any other questions. She was proactive in attempting to meet and we did so in the library to discuss. She was good in that she came to me to ask anything that she was unsure of and was happy to meet when it was convenient. I felt that she engaged with the face chart and I know that she took notice of my notes because she asks questions and showed that she was taking everything in. She readily accepted challenges such as using products that she wasn’t familiar with and approached this with eagerness happily. She was able to problem solve when one particular product gave her trouble and calmly kept working at it until it went right. When I was in the chair I felt relaxed and taken care of and she was chatty and gentle and I felt she had the correct demeanour as an artist. Technically she was aware of all basic skills and if I was a model I would definitely go back to her.

Cara was very good at the shape of contouring and creating the skin tone that I wanted. She was able to communicate any problems she felt she had with the design or anything she was unsure of. This was good because it showed how good she was at communication. Her application was good and I, as a model, felt she took good care of me when I was in the chair. She was happy and talkative, as well as being gentle throughout the application of the makeup and hair design.
The only thing that I would improve would be that I think she slightly underplayed the makeup. The face chart I gave her was a lot more dramatic and her final outcome was subtler, though all the necessary features were there. I think the makeup artist has learnt some more product knowledge, as there were some products on the product list that she was not familiar with. If I had to say what she needs to learn from this assessment it would be to tie everything together at the end with things like bonding lashes to false lashes with mascara and making sure contouring was visible from the front if that was the desired look.

As a designer I have learnt from this experience. I have learnt to go into extreme detail in my notes even when its something that I thought was well known as the artist might not think to include it, such as binding lashes to fake lashes with mascara or priming the face. From my successes I have learnt that simple drawings are key in translating ideas. I created a product list for Cara of what I would have used and I think this saved us and hindered us simultaneously. For example it meant that colours matched and the looks would’ve been the same if we were both doing the same look, but some of the products that I wrote down on the product list were unfamiliar to Cara which meant she didn’t have correct knowledge on how to use them. Although we corresponded to solve this story, it meant that the first time she got to experiment with these products was during the assessment.
As a designer my strengths in this assessment lay in giving thorough notes to the makeup artist, including a product list and method of how I would have gone about creating the look. I did this because different methods can lead to a different outcome and I wanted Cara’s work to be as close to my design as possible. My weakness was not considering to emphasise some steps that would bring the look together such as bonding lashes to fake lashes to round off the look. I didn’t think that the other makeup artist might not have considered doing this.
To improve my skills as a designer I will keep my strengths and work on my weaknesses. I will concentrate on the techniques that round off the look as well as the application of makeup. All in all I think Cara represented my look well but a few things were missing. Next time I will specify things like bonding lashes and how dark and deep the contouring should be.

Wednesday, 27 November 2013

A Question Asked by Diversity Now...

"WOULD SEEING A MORE DIVERSE RANGE OF BODIES IN THE MEDIA IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM?"

This is the question that we are asked to answer for the Diversity Now campaign. It's a hard question because it runs a lot deeper than it originally is portrayed. The short answer is yes, it would. But I feel as though there is only so much that can be done to make all bodies equal because our own insecurities play a huge role in the way we see ourselves and others.
For example, the weight issue. This is what comes to the forefront of everyone's mind when they hear "diverse" models. It is undeniably true that if bigger models were to become the norm used in media then the majority of people who were unhappy with their weight would feel more excepted and more confident in their frame, and that can only be a good thing. The same could also be said for age, gender and height.
But I think that there are some things that are a long way off from being accepted so easily in fashion. Its all very well and good having more plus sized models, or older models, or culturally different models, but my recent research for my project has showed me that there are no models pictured with birthmarks or skin conditions of any type. Weight and gender can be changed. Age can be improved with surgery if the individual really felt it was needed. Skin cannot be changed.
I bring this point up because I have had quite bad eczema for 20 years. It has good phases and bad phases, and I've been thought every pill, cream and diet that has been thrown at me but it still remains. I have searched and searched in the media for someone with similar symptoms but to no avail, which was worse because it felt like it wasn't just me thinking it was ugly. If its not being shown on television or movies or on beautiful models then it MUST be ugly, right?
I think that if I had been more exposed to people in the media with eczema when I was growing up then I wouldn't be so self conscious about it now. When I was growing up I never really worried about my weight too much because my eczema took up all of my worry and there wasn't room for any more, so that was never really an issue. I do appreciate that aspect of it though, my mother is a Slimming World consultant and I used to go to work with her and grew up watching women worry about their weight. So from my own experiences, yes, seeing a more diverse range of body's would definitely improve my self esteem. If I saw people that thought nothing of it, that flaunted it and didn't worry about it instead of covering up a lot then I would feel as though I can do exactly the same. But until then I've tried to change my perspective and my way of thinking of things. For example instead of asking what I don't like about my body, I now ask what I LOVE about my body! And really I'm a pretty good catch (wink wink).
If we carry on the way we're going with diversity in models and get a wider range of bodies out there for people to look at and appreciate then I think that future young adults can grow up not feeling so insecure. If we set the example now tht it's okay to be you, then others will follow.

THAT'S NOT MY AGE

When researching older women in fashion I fabulous blog called THAT'S NOT MY AGE by a former freelance fashion journalist and editor. The blog is ll about looking good when you're slightly older. She is the brains behind the Magazine Land shoot that featured Daphne Selfe.

"My name is Alyson, I'm a freelance journalist/former fashion editor of a well-known magazine and I strongly believe that you don’t have to have youth to have style."



Browsing her blog is really showing me all the different types and styles of older model there is. its really getting me excited to start shooting my own age related images.