My Final Piece

Final Piece 

For my final piece I decided to create two of my seven designs, Greed and Envy, I am very happy with the outcome of these, my research into theatre makeup I believe was what helped me make these. 

Greed

Envy

7

Makeup design for 7 Deadly Sins

I have created my makeup designs for my '7 deadly sins' series, I'll be creating one of these designs soon, as I've become very aware that it would take me a lifetime to make all of them! 

The seven deadly sins

The seven deadly sins consists of seven acts which are supposedly fatal to our 'spiritual development'. These sins we likely carry out on a daily basis unaware that we are even doing so. So before you pick up another biscuit or decide to spend an extra ten minutes in bed be aware that your probably facing eternal damnation. Will that stop you? No. Me neither.

Greed 

What is it?
Greed is the desire for your own material wealth or gain, ignoring the needs of others, and your own 'spiritual development. Shoutout to whoever raised the prices of freddo's from 10p to 20p, your going to hell.
What will happen to you in hell?
You shall be boiled alive in oil, on the bright side it can be the most luxurious and fancy oil money can buy, but you'll still be boiling.
Symbols associated to it?
Greed is often linked to the frog and the colour yellow.

Lust

What is it?

The inordinate cravings for the pleasures of the body. To put it nicely. 

What will happen to you in in hell?

You shall be smothered in brimstone and hells fire, not kisses unfortunately. 

Symbols associated to it?

A cow and the colour blue.

Envy

What is it? 
The overwhelming desire to have someone else's traits, looks, possessions, life basically. Due to the existence of Victoria's Secret models and Beyoncé I think I've earned a secure place in hell due to this one.
What will happen to you in hell?
You'll be frozen in ice water.
Symbols associated with it?
A dog and the colour green.

Gluttony 

What is it?

The desire to costume more than which one requires.
What will happen to you in hell?
You'll be fed infinite rats, toads and snakes. Hey on the bright side you won't go hungry?
Symbols associated with it? 
Pigs (surprise, surprise) and the colour orange.

Wrath 

What is it?
The act of forceful and often vindictive manifestations of anger. Maybe you wouldn't be angry all the
time if the people around you weren't so god damn irritating.
What will happen to you in hell?
You'll be dismembered alive.
Symbols associated to it?
A bear and the colour red.

Sloth

What is it?
The avoidance of physical and spiritual work to instead stay in that oh-so-appealing bed of yours.
What will happen to you in hell?
You'll be thrown into a pit of snakes.
Symbols associated to it?
A goat and the colour light blue.

Pride

What is it?
Pride is excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with individual recognition of the 'grace of god'.  Buy hey, you can't help that your so god damn fabulous can you?
What will happen to you in hell?
You'll be broken on the wheel.
Symbol associated with it?
A horse and the colour violet.

Theatre makeup through the ages

The arguably rather dull history of theatre makeup 

Earliest use 

The first uses of theatre makeup can be dated back to Greek times, when in a bid to stand out, Thespis, a Greek actor applied white lead and mercuric sulphide, despite them being toxic, to his face to create white and red face paint. Thespis stood out, but he also almost certainly died. Not the best idea.

Medieval use

The use of theatrical makeup really began to pick up during the 1500-1600's. It was used in religious cycle performances to depict character in the 1500's and later in the Elizabethan era they used soot and chalk to help 'aid expression'. The use of elaborate stage makeup was introduced when the Japanese Kabuki was introduced to Western Europe.

Modern theatre makeup 

Theatre makeup has come a very long way since the use of dubious chemical and toxic powders, it has become a true art form in its own right through the use of it to create unusual characterization, animal, period, special effects, and avant garde makeup looks. The most significant improvement being that if you apply theatre makeup it's unlikely you will have your face burnt off!
Makeup through the ages

Pigments and Powders

Pigments and powders were the types of makeup used in the early decades, and they could be described as crude to say the least. Fortunately makeup HAD to be developed when artificial lighting available for productions, it became necessary that performers have a more polished look. More importantly however was the fact that some of the compounds used were genuinely life threatening before the mid 1800's, this obviously was another major reasoning for improving makeup.

Greasepaint

Greasepaint was a unique invention that that was a vast improvement on previous makeup for both stage and film. Created and developed by a German actor, it was made by combining lard and pigments. The result of this was a much smoother and easier application. Much later ready made grease paint started being produced, items such as lipsticks, liquid liners, makeup sticks and waxes were introduced in the early 1900's. This was a huge step forward in theatre makeup.

My first try

Lust Makeup.

Without fully researching into how to apply theatre makeup, or having any background knowledge of how to use it I have tried my first makeup piece. I tried this as I wanted to see how successful I would be without any prior practise or knowledge. The outcome of this was, well, average really. It didn't go completely wrong, however I didn't have the right makeup to create a theatre makeup piece that was close to the initial design. This has shown me that I really need to research before I make my final piece. 

Makeup design

Theatre makeup design

First try

Before trying theatre makeup I knew I would have to create designs, and instead of doing this on paper I have tried using the iPad app 'Adobe ideas'. Although this took an absolute lifetime to get the hang of, the outcome in the end was pretty good. I have created  piece of theatre makeup based on the sin 'lust' this was just a shot in the dark really as I haven't fully researched how to design theatre makeup or into the seven deadly sins. However for a first try it turned out ok. 

Looking at other artists

Sara Tyndall

'Making it' as a theatre makeup artist is a hard task, however there are a few who do succeed, Sara Tyndall being one of these people. She make her break in the the West End, and has worked for shows such as Mamma Mia and Beauty and the Beast, her current job being at the Lion King. 

The Lion King is famed for having extravagant and costume and makeup design. Sara and her team are responsible for creating the makeup that compliments the stunning costume and mask design. 

Sara has been in her present role since 1999, following her successful career in numerous different West End productions. Before this she attended the London College of Fashion and qualified with a BTEC HND in Theatre Studies, Specialist Make-up for Film, TV and Theatre. 

Sara carries the responsibility of deciding and creating the overall look of the show in terms of makeup and wigs, there are 14 very unique characters to focus on each with very different personalities. Sara must use makeup and colour create mood and feeling. The makeup for the Lion King is much more complex and intiricate the most shows, and consequently an artist Sara clearly has had a chance to flourish and show her true capabilities. This is why She is my inspiration during my study of Theatre Makeup.