Critical Thinking

I think overall I'm doing well on this course as my skills and passion for my studies have continued to develop over time. I think the main element of what has improved within my first year has definitely been my application of makeup, obviously one of the most important skills to learn as a makeup artist. When I first began this course I had no idea just how many makeup brushes there were let alone what they all did, the types of makeup available and how to use them properly. I found the whole prospect rather daunting but now its becoming more natural to me as i continue to learn about both products and the industry. In regards to what can be improved upon I think a little bit of everything, nothings perfect so you have to keep pushing forwards. But from my experiences last year I do feel I still need to have more confidence in myself, this is something that will only come from balancing my time better and practice. Continuity was an element that I defiantly struggled with but that is just a matter of repeating my processes when applying makeup. In addition I always think I can find room to read more, conduct more in depth research of a higher quality because that is where I seem to find my favourite ideas, often in the pages of really old books or critical essays. I find literary criticism is a big aid in creative design so I know I should use that more within my research and design process.

Julian Kynaston sharing
some of my work.

If I could have done my first year differently, how I managed my time and myself would be number one on the list! Although I put a lot of effort into my studies, it was my inability to find balance during my first term that caused me to burn out after the Christmas break. This had a negative effect not only on the amount of work I was producing but also the quality, simply because I was too tired to put that same amount of passion into it. At the time I knew I was letting myself down, which got to me quite a bit and made the situation even worse. Reflecting back on it now, yes I'm still disappointed that I allowed that to happen but it happened. I hit a wall and like I told the first years its okay for everyone to find that point where they struggled. The fact that I got over it and still achieved a fairly good grade at the end proved to myself I'm capable. This year I can safely say I will find the time to keep myself more organised, simple things like taking a lunch break and just doing a little bit of work each night I think will help me keep moving on track. I’ve realised that how ever much effort you put into yourself reflects in the work that you produce. 

Final submission for the end of my 1st year.

In all honesty I would consider the fact that I hit my targets within my first year of study enough of a success on its own, but of corse throughout the year there have been some real high points. The first is probably my two final images that I submitted though out my first and second assignments. The first image is a makeup look that I completed from my partners design, I had never worked to a brief before and the fact that I was able to execute the makeup to a standard that my partner was happy with made me more confident in my ability. Secondly was the fact that the image was then recognised by Illamasqua, thats something that has never happened to me before and really boosted my confidence in my abilities to apply makeup. The second is my own design and was my first real go at creating a character but also male makeup, something which I have found to be incredibly fun as makeup just seems to look so much more interesting on men. The whole concept for the look was something quite disturbing yet artsy, think Tom Hardy’s Bronson clown and you get the idea. The whole aim of the look was to make people uncomfortable and yet for them to be drawn in still, most people who saw the image said they for some reason enjoyed looking at it so as far as I was concerned that was a success. 

Another high point of the year was being part of a team competing in the SolentTV 48 hour film competition whereby we had to produce a short film based around a selection fo key words and themes. This was slightly daunting for me at first because continuity wasn't my strong point within the second year but I still gave it a good go. I found the whole thing a lot of fun and in the end the team came away the winners of the competition and the film was even featured in the Independent Film tent at Glastonbury music festival this summer. The fact that I am able to put my name as a makeup artist towards something successful such as this was a really amazing thing to walk away with at the end of my first year at Solent. 
"The comedy element of the film was created through the main character 'Jamie' who is a hopeless mess at being an urban cyclist and therefore a fair amount of simple special effects makeup was required. This consisted of nose bleeds, grazes and a black eye that were all results of numerous accidents throughout the film. As I was working on the go I was unable to use any complex products to create elements such as the cuts and grazes and therefore had to rely on my more artistic skills to produce the illusion of wounds. Despite this I feel that I did a sufficient job at creating the injuries and was particularly pleased with how my black eye turned out which was meant to be rather fresh looking with an onset of bruising. From doing the film it proved to myself that I am capable of creating special effects makeup despite how I struggled in my technical classes, by completing the film it boosted my confidence in my professional skills and has made me more open to attempting projects that are outside my comfort zone."