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

In this the 8th installment I was going to go into the basics of marketing yourself as a media makeup artist (which was going to be my last installment), but a lot of you wanted me to go back and pick up on what I wrote about Testing.

OK, so here’s what I wrote previously;

“When you’re first starting out and have not yet started to book jobs, you obtain these photos by doing what are called “Tests” which is where you, a photographer and most often a hair stylist and a wardrobe stylist will collaborate along with a model in order to get photos for each of your books. “

That’s it. That’s all a test is. In theory.

The difficulty testing is the practical reality of what makes a GOOD test. Seasoned artists already know most of what I’m going to say so I’m going to assume that most of the fine people reading this are newer artists to the game. Here then are my suggestions for putting together portfolio worthy test shoots.
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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.

In the previous installment of STWBAPA I talked about building a portfolio and I made mention of the difference between an “off the shelf (or off the rack)” book and a custom portfolio book but I didn’t go into it really. Well, several folks wrote in asking for clarification so here you go;

Off The Shelf

stock photo - Itoya Professional Presentation Portfolio Book - inset bound

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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.

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, Lessons For Aspiring Artists, makeup, makeup lessons, makeup schools, makeup to go, makeup workshops, 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 →

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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.

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 →

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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.

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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