Professional Development Statement

 

During my studies in makeup I have gained a greater in-depth view on the role of being a makeup artist. I have learnt numerous skills acquired and further developed and improved these during my level 5 studies. My knowledge and skills in prosthetics have progressed and improved since level 4. During level 4 I had a lack of knowledge regarding the prosthetic field, and on how to sculpt. I recall sculpting for my character ‘Hopper’, with a basic knowledge around the processes of mould making. My sculpts at this stage were on a more basic level in comparison to my sculpting skills at the moment. Since then, I have learnt various moulding techniques such as fibre glassing and injection moulding; this has enabled me to create a much higher standard of prosthetic work. For the first project of level 5, I felt a lack of confidence in making the prosthetics; it held me back in regards of my project. My pieces had very obvious edges and I struggled to perfect my moulding techniques. During my current project I feel I have made a noticeable improvement on my prosthetics, and I am much happier with the results of my sculpting. I will endeavour to continue on improving these skills further, and I hope my career will involve some form of prosthetics either with sculpting or with application. The most noticeable improvement with my prosthetics would be within my edges. This is a vital part to a convincing prosthetic so I have focused to improve my techniques on this. My prosthetics are consequently becoming more convincing and are helping to strengthen the illusions in my transformational makeups. I feel this improvement is due to lessons learned through my own mistakes, class workshops and in-depth research on how to perfect the techniques taught so far. I feel more confident in this area and strive to develop these skills further to improve my career prospects.

 

The first two projects in level 5 have been a mental struggle for myself, I feel what has been most detrimental to myself and my work is my lack of confidence, and poor time management. Before starting level 5 I always believed my natural skill set would lie within prosthetics and sculpting. However, as I attempted the mould making process myself, I began to discover the multiple errors that could be made, or even the misfortunate occurrences that can happen during the mould making process, which had a knock on effect to my confidence level within my work. I had to re-sculpt several pieces numerous times due to a fault with my prosthetics such as creating a fine blendable edge. This was very frustrating as I enjoyed the sculpting part of prosthetics but could not reproduce this into a prosthetic. For example, for the jowls I sculpted for ‘Dramatic Context’ I focused on keeping them anatomically correct, and I was very pleased with the result. However, due to problems during the mould making process I was unable to produce this convincingly in my prosthetic.

 

My general working style is to work hands on and expressively. I felt that sculpting is a great example of this, and is one of my strengths that I would like to build upon. As I am a visual learner, I feel using reference material really helps me to produce a realistic sculpt, as well as watching tutorials on sculpting techniques. I plan to progress my skills in this area further in preparation for level 6.

 

Mould making is most definitely my weakness within prosthetics. This process seems to be somewhat different to my style of working which is why I struggle to perfect the techniques. The precise stages and neat working style essentially needed within this process is very different to my own personal working style. Consequently, causing the mistakes I often make resulting in poor quality prosthetics.

 

Despite my struggle in these areas, I am proud that I have continued working and developing these techniques. I am able to see a noticeable difference from when I first started with these techniques up until now. My prosthetics are progressively improving and I am now able to produce prosthetics with more of a blendable edge. This improvement shows particularly in my current project. I was pleased with the improvement on my sculpting skills and moulding techniques, which inevitably resulted in an overall better standard in my final makeup. I intend to practice my prosthetic skills even further for level 6, in the hope for a higher standard of work for my portfolio.

 

During this current project I have worked on various fashion based projects such as, a hair show and the fashion show for graduate students, which was a great experience for myself. I enjoy working with fashion briefs, especially if they are for creative productions. This could be an area I would go into for my career, however, I would like to keep my specialist field open for the time being.

I have also worked on a ‘green screen’ film during this project, collaborating with first year acting students and MA students. It was a great experience to be working with a range of people and I really enjoyed the working environment within the team. The film is currently still being edited but I have seen some of the edited shots, which look really effective. It is rewarding to see the end product of your work on screen.