Egyptian, Cirque & Finished Sculptures

After several weeks working on basic makeup techniques and refining skills in the minimalist makeup look, week six was met with an air of excitement, as it was Egyptian and Cirque Du Soleil week!

Egyptian period makeup meant working with new products and using bold colours in the likes of greens and blues and an amazing gold! Since day one of the course, we have been training our eye to pick correct foundation colours, so trying to change a skin colour tone to suit the Egyptian look was a little difficult at first. How much is too much? Whilst the 'Cleopatra' style was very formulaic, we still had the freedom to experiment. We added an Egyptian wig, jewellery and toga to complete the look and it was amazing to see the regal characters coming to life.

Cirque Du Soleil was a really exciting day! We are very fortunate to have Louise teach us this component. Her time spent on tour with Cirque meant her insight and knowledge on the subject is invaluable. Not only in learning the makeup techniques but also in learning about the culture of the show. Louise cannot speak highly enough about the company, and has got us all thinking about the possibility of working towards a role with Cirque (although we will have to work on our sewing skills first!?). In terms of our own makeup day, we all approached the task with much enthusiasm! We worked from reference and copied existing images. It was great to work with colour and get into creative mode. Once again we were using new products we hadn’t yet touched on and this wasn’t without trial and error but overall we had some great results.



































We had our third hairstyling class, which was all about the amazingly versatile GHD! We learnt how to create a variety of curls and waves and the difference between GHD curls and hot rollers. We used aluminium foil and French Pins to create crimped, zig-zag looks, and realised that the possibilities are endless - you just have to get creative.

As Friday approached we all knew it was the deadline for finishing up our prosthetic sculpts and prepping them for the next stage. It was a very intensive day of working on the last stages of texturing and refining areas that still needed work. We are very fortunate that Nick and Paul are ever patient with us and always at the ready with advice and help. We learnt about the next stage for our characters and set the sculptures up for the moulding process, which we will carry out in a few weeks time. It does seem a little bit of an anti-climax to be finished... how do you know when you are really finished? It's the sort of work that the longer you persist with it, the better the end result will be. I’m sure we all agree that we have learnt so much from the experience so far....

Polly McKay - Student

Glamour to Stage

What a week! We made over each other from film glamour puss’s to stage characters from “Cats” the musical.

We all came out to play this week, between the different styles of make-up; our glamour make-up’s allowed us to play with eyelashes for the first time.

Our stage make-up was a chorus led by Lady Al Al Alice, with a brief visit from the dearly departed (but still very loud) Lucille Ball.





























































But our “Cats” characters were the highlight of the week! I believe Kristin was looking particularly wonderful as the cat “Exotica”, thanks to Jacinta’s beautiful blending, she must have had an interesting ride home on the train. I think the girls pulled this off in every sense of the word, if only we could sing and dance too! But we were trying hard to make our chosen character come alive under Louise’s expertise and all were purr purr perfectly wonderful.

Continuing with our sculpts has become a labour of love for all six girls (so hard to tear ourselves away) watching a character come to life from paper to clay – a 3-dimensional form that will become our foam latex prosthetic character make-up.

Rae Hennessy - Student

Fun Make-up Week

As the weeks have progressed, we’ve settled into the studio and honed our new found skills with all the practice we’ve been having, and have now moved onto the fun makeup. Yay!

Monday we each performed a character makeup and ended up with a full cast for “Days of Our Bold and the Beautiful at M.E.G”. A high class prostitute and a poor homeless person saved a 25year old mum of three from Western Sydney from a politician who was a serial killer by night, who was then taken for treatment with a stern matron, but then they all went to watch a live performance from a Diva that had come out of retirement. It was a fun day with lots of laughs. Everyone did such a great job.

Next we tried the hardest makeup to do, the “no makeup” look. It’s easy putting a full makeup on, but hard to keep it at such a minimal amount. As long as we got a good base and a few tricks from Louise, we did well.

Tanya revisited and got us to practice our hair washing and taught us blow-drying. It’s really tiring on the arms, and trying to get the co-ordination with the blow dryer in one hand and a brush in the other was frustrating.

Thursday was the most fun, we all needed to blow off some steam and get out of the classroom. Visiting the ABC studios and AFTRS (Australian Film Television and Radio School) and their makeup rooms, was good experience for what will be out there when we start working. Louise also took us to a few make-up shops and we stocked up on supplies and extras for our kits. You never know what you might need.

Alice Baueris - Student

Skin Care & Wig Knotting

We started the week with an intensive examination of ‘lips- luscious lips’ by Louise! We completed a full make-up with special emphasis on defining shape and correcting lip lines. Out in the workshop our sculptures that we are creating to make prosthetic masks are taking shape.

We took a comprehensive look at the various types of foundations that can be used for stage, film and High Definition TV. We investigated different brands, colours, textures and discovered how to select certain shades to correct colour imbalances.

The afternoon saw us busy with the guest beauty therapist Liane, who outlined the different skin types and the products needed for their care and maintenance. It's obviously very important to understand the different skin types, skin textures and skin conditions. What goes on must come off!! So we then learnt the correct way to remove all our handy work.

The art of wig knotting was taught to us by Penny, a professional wig maker who showed us how to create our own facial hair-pieces such as moustaches, sideburns and eyebrows. It's quite tricky as each hair is individually knotted with a wig-knotting hook through a fine lace backing.

It has been an intensive and enjoyable week, full of new experiences!

Jacinta Christos - Student

Hair, Make-up & Sculpting

Week two into our course has been interesting and exciting.

We had our first hair class with Tanya, instructing us on how to shampoo, condition and give a great head message. We completed the day learning how to do different hairstyles.

Next in the make-up chair was eye shapes with highlighting, shading and blending, and designing some fun colorful looks on the eyes and face.

We spent time in the workshop with Nick and Paul, sculpting and bringing to life the character designs we had selected. It was the first time sculpting for many of us. We all found the process to be therapeutic and creative.

All six ladies are enjoying this wonderful new experience.

Jennifer Kuehn - Student

First Class of 2010

Six ladies from varied backgrounds thrown together to embark on a five month journey in the pursuit of careers as make-up artists…

Initial make-up tasks were met with an air of excitement and apprehension, but given extensive personal guidance and coaching from Louise, we gained confidence in leaps and bounds!

Jayne’s art class was daunting for some, but the small class size meant plenty of one on one attention and support and the class steamed ahead.

The make-up and hair kits are amazingly comprehensive with nothing overlooked and each day brings the promise of new experimenting and learning which we eagerly await!

Polly McKay - Student

Graduation and A New Career

After an exhausting week of exams we all sat down and worked through some of the business and presentation side of the industry. We designed letterheads, C.V layouts, business cards and chose photos for portfolios.

The students had to dress the part for the Job Interview Session. They brought in their hair and make-up kits and experienced their first taste of applying for a job.

We next had an accountant come and talk about tax, superannuation and setting up a business. A great deal to think about, but very important to start this next part of the journey the correct way.

The students have been involved in short films with the AFTRS and have commenced the beginnings of a solid portfolio that reflects the great work they have done throughout the course.

Graduation was attended by family, friends and the Master Class Tutors. An exhibition of the students work was displayed at the studio. To see how much solid work they had completed in these 6 months was astounding and we all feel very proud.

GOOD LUCK to everyone…