One of the more important investments a performer can make is in really good promotional photos. Be it for an actor, individual musician or band, these photos say much more than what you look like. Seriously, the difference between a the difference between a good and bad promo portrait can be the difference between getting a job or not. Thus, while budget may be a consideration, your promos aren’t the time to go cheap. If you’re planning on getting photos done, fabulous LA portrait photographer Starla Fortunato makes the following recommendations. You’ll notice that Starla recommends investing in professional makeup. I agree. However, if that isn’t possible, you can arm yourself by learning to apply professional makeup for photography to yourself with our Lessons for Performers makeup lessons.

To read Starla’s article, just click image to go to full size ;

Technorati Tags: actors, headshots, makeup, makeup lessons, musicians, portraiture

The “So You Wanna Be A Pro Artist” series is original content conceived and written by Tania D. Russell, all Copyrights reserved.

The next most important step – and challenge – in your progression towards becoming a professional artist is to show people your work. Your portfolio is an ever evolving process. At no point in your career will you ever stop working on your portfolio. HOW you develop portfolio will change, but rest assured, you will always be looking for new work to put in your portfolio.

What is a Portfolio, exactly? Well, good question because in recent years that answer has changed. Back in the day, a Portfolio was a physical book generally 9×12 or 11×14 in size, with printed photos of your work, comme ça;

An inside page of my Portfolio Book

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Technorati Tags: lessons, makeup, makeup lessons, makeup schools, makeup to go, schools, so you wanna be a pro artist

The “So You Wanna Be A Pro Artist” series is original content conceived and written by Tania D. Russell, all Copyrights reserved.

Now we’re starting to get to the fun part about being a makeup artist and that’s actually doing makeup. Needless to say, the major investment of and throughout your career will be your kit. By a “kit” we mean the tools and products necessary to do your job as a makeup artist. What type of kit you need will ultimately be determined by what kind of artist you hope to be. Everyone needs a basic beauty kit, and that’s what most schools will require so you can go through the basic makeup program. If you plan to do Character and FX makeup, then you’ll need to add an entirely other array of products to your kit in addition to your beauty kit. If you plan to start airbrushing, that’s a whole other set of product and tools you need to add. And finally, in most markets you should be prepared to do some basic hair and that’s even more tools and products to add to your kit. Again – the kit is the major investment of your career. Therefore building it thoughtfully will serve you better as an artist in the long run. Continue reading →

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The “So You Wanna Be A Pro Artist” series is original content conceived and written by Tania D. Russell, all Copyrights reserved.

At the end of my last chapter that the next chapter would be on Kit Building. However, a few folks emailed me and asked where to begin if I don’t plan to go to school. This is a fair question, particularly since I’m a partial DIY artist myself (I went to school for film makeup after college, but working on films wasn’t my thing so I learned the print side of the biz all on my own…). Here are a few suggestions to guide you on your self-tour (note: all of these suggestions apply to artists who plan to go take lessons as well, it’s just that a good school or workshop will generally bring these points up). Continue reading →

Technorati Tags: lessons, makeup, makeup lessons, makeup school, makeup to go, school

The “So You Wanna Be A Pro Artist” series is original content conceived and written by Tania D. Russell, all Copyrights reserved.

If you’ve decided that some type of formal education is the way to go for you, the next step in your journey is to find the best education option for you. In this chapter I’m going to mostly focus on schools because schools are the most expensive option in terms of both time and money, but all of the points – with the exception of licensing – also apply to selecting a workshop or private lesson as well.

One of the challenges of finding quality instruction is that makeup instruction is literally the wild west. There are no governing bodies overseeing makeup artistry the way there is for Cosmetology. This means that anyone, yes, literally Anyone can wake up one morning and decide to teach makeup. Continue reading →

Technorati Tags: lessons, makeup, makeup lessons, makeup school, makeup to go, school, so you wanna be a pro artist

The “So You Wanna Be A Pro Artist” series is original content conceived and written by Tania D. Russell, all Copyrights reserved.

Your next step in becoming a makeup artist is to learn makeup. I’m sure some of you think you know makeup but chances are if you’re just starting out you do not, at least not to the extent necessary to work on the high-end projects you are currently coveting. This is not to discount whatever level of experience you may already have, but it is to say that there’s a reason the people who get hired for those high-end projects are the ones who get hired. As the old adage says, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and for the aspiring makeup artist that first step is becoming good (if not great or excellent) at the craft of makeup. The best way to go about doing so depends on the individual but there is one question that comes up over and over again: To School or Not To School – That is the question.
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The “So You Wanna Be A Pro Artist” series is original content conceived and written by Tania D. Russell, all Copyrights reserved.

Now that you’ve gotten it in your head that you want to become a professional makeup artist, the first question is pretty much the same for everyone; Now What?

Well, “Now What” depends on a few things, but let’s take a step back for a moment. Let’s start with a fundamental question: Why do you want to be a professional makeup artist?
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Technorati Tags: lessons, makeup, makeup lessons, makeup to go, so you wanna be a pro artist

When Makeup to Go was conceived, it tried to be a clearing house for all the little makeup services that fell outside of what I book through my agent. Through it’s evolution, however, two distinct services emerged; my services for private individuals, and my Lessons for Aspiring Artists™. The Lessons for Aspiring Artists™ was started out of the belief that it’s better to learn how to be a working makeup artist from a working makeup artist. Firstly, trends change and an artist who was working 20 years ago may not be current with what’s happening today. Secondly, how to get work has significantly changed in even the last five years, much less the last 20. Then lastly, at the time Makeup to Go, Makeup Mentors and other such services were started, time were a lot of fly-by-night schools with unqualified (or totally unknown) instructors. Well, it must be daybreak because a lot of these schools have flow off never to be seen or heard from again. All too typical. All of the legit, stable schools are staffed with working artists as teachers.

But what about schools? Well, I’m not at all anti-school, I went to one for film makeup. Continue reading →

Technorati Tags: aspiring makeup artists, beauty business, makeup, makeup artist, makeup lessons, media makeup