Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: For Everyone from Beginner to Pro (35 page)

Live Performance

This field includes work for theater, dance, and musical theater, as well as for live concerts and road tours. The artist works under time pressure and needs to maintain continuity. An artist sometimes stays with a production for months or even years.

Fashion Show

Applying makeup for the runway is both adrenaline boosting and exhausting. It involves collaboration with a designer and models. Work begins with a pretest to discuss and try out the look. On the day of the show, another pretest is completed with the actual runway lighting for final designer notes and approval. Then the work becomes incredibly hectic and fast-paced as all of the models are made-up. Makeup artists obtain work in this area by sending out their book and through reputation and connections.

Remember when I said to be nice to everyone? Often assistants become editors-in-chief.

the BUSINESS of MAKEUP ARTISTRY

While makeup artists are first and foremost artists, they also need to be businesspeople.
Makeup artists need to be talented, confident, and charismatic, as well as effective entrepreneurs who are able to effectively market their talents.
To begin, you will need to find ways to gain experience, develop effective work habits, create a business system, and build a portfolio and résumé. Eventually, you will want to secure agency representation.

Your success is completely up to you. This means you need to attract and keep clients, develop and maintain several portfolios and a résumé, handle the business effectively, and stay current.

DEVELOPING A PORTFOLIO

A portfolio is a book in which you keep photographs of all your work as a makeup artist. The book can be low-cost plastic or high-end leather with your name engraved on it.

The first step in finding work is developing a great portfolio you can show to potential employers. Having professional photographs taken of your work can be prohibitively expensive and is probably not worth the investment when you are first starting out. Instead, try to find an aspiring photographer who might also like to have photos for his or her own book, and help each other out. Call every modeling agency and ask if you can do makeup for testing. Testing is when a model, photographer, hairdresser, and makeup artist all do a shoot for free to show others their work. The payment is a photo for your portfolio. It’s also an excellent way to learn how to build rapport with a team at a photo shoot—an important lesson, because the same team will often work together repeatedly on jobs.

After the test, getting pictures from the photographer can sometimes be a challenge. It is up to you to confirm when the pictures will be ready to view. Set a date to pick out your own shots, and crop them if needed. Since most photographs are now digital, you can collect and store them on your computer. Prints can be made in a lab or with your own printer.

Your book should include at least fifteen amazing test shots before you show it around. Whenever possible, use professional models and photographers. Amateur work is quickly evident. Once you begin to find paid work, you will be able to include tear sheets (published work) from magazines, book covers, television commercials, and other jobs. You can begin looking for agency representation when you have at least ten to fifteen tear sheets that show a variety of work. Building a portfolio takes time. It will take at least six to nine months of consistent work to develop a book that you can show to clients. Once you have the book together, you need to show it to everyone—photographers, other artists, producers, and art directors. Get their advice, and listen to it. Thank them for their time and help.

PUTTING TOGETHER A PORTFOLIO

Presentation counts for a lot in this business, so your portfolio needs to make a brilliant first impression.

It is a representation of you as an artist.
The book needs to be neat, well organized, and an accurate reflection of your aesthetic and personal style.

Portfolio books themselves are available in a variety of sizes.
The two most popular sizes are 9" x 12" and 11" x 14". Art supply stores are a good source for portfolio books. Look for one that has plastic or acetate pages into which you can slip your photos. You will also want at least one pocket (on the inside back cover) to hold a résumé, promotional cards, and business cards. Include several of each so that whoever is looking at your book can take and keep a copy of your résumé and card. Some agencies prefer receiving portfolios on a CD rather than in book form, so always have several electronic copies available.

Keep one portfolio with all of your original photographs in it.
High-quality color copies are used in books intended for mailing. Tear sheets should be originals, so if a magazine prints your work, buy lots of copies of it. Have at least two books ready to be sent out at any time. Consider having four or even five copies. It is also not a bad idea to carry a reduced version with you in case an opportunity to show it presents itself.

Promotional Cards

A promotional card is an essential addition to your promotional arsenal. These cards are postcard-size and have one to three photos of your work, as well as your name and contact information. Also referred to as a comp card, a promo, or a leave-behind, these cards show your artistry and style. Both print and electronic versions of the cards are necessary for self-promotion. Promo cards have four-color photographs on one side, and your contact information in black and white on the other. As photographers own the rights to their photographs, you must obtain their written permission to use any photos and credit the photographers on the card. You can send out the cards in the mail and have several in your portfolio for the editor, photographer, or agent to keep on file. That way, art directors and fashion editors always have a sample of your work on hand. Also keep the card as a PDF file on your computer, or better yet on a flash drive. This will allow you to e-mail a copy almost instantly, wherever you are, to potential employers. Carry several with you in your bag for those unexpected opportunities.

Web Sites

New artists are using the Web to promote their services. Make sure you hire a reputable Web designer to help you design and launch your site, or lease space on an existing site that will help you build your own. Some makeup agencies offer such space to their artists. Remember that the quality and style of the site, not just the content, directly reflect who you are as an artist.

On the Web site, include your promotional card and a PDF version of your résumé. Include current portfolio content. Determine how large you want the site to be and how often you will want to update it. Consider how you want people to contact you and whether you want to include links on the site. Build a site that is globally accessible.

Successfully managing your site means that it is always current and can be easily accessed. If your Web server does not automatically list you with search engines, try using Addme.com. This is a free Web site–submission engine that will add your site to the top thirty most popular search engines.

Reels

If your primary goal is to work in television, music videos, or movies, you will also want to put together a reel. A reel is a compilation of your styling work for film, television, and video on a master tape (actually a DVD), edited to several minutes that includes the best footage. Choose music for your reel that creates the perfect mood. The reel will need to be professionally edited to include transitions and titles. Make copies of the reel, and create case labels with your name, address, and phone number for identification. Most producers do not return reels, but making copies is inexpensive, and reels are great promotional tools.

Résumés

Résumés let the Decision makers know the full range of your credits. A résumé needs to be complete, accurate, and professional. Pick a font that is easy to read, and print the résumé on good-quality stock. Write a clear, concise cover letter to include with the résumé when mailing your résumé or portfolio. While a cover letter and résumé are important tools in your self-promotion efforts, it is the portfolio or reel that will get you the job. In film and television, a listing of your experience in résumé form is the first thing that producers look at. They might interview and see the portfolios of only a few artists. In print work, a look at your portfolio usually precedes an interview.