a mosaic of my makeup work, © respective photographers all rights reserved

When I first started the Makeup to Go! blog and had no readership whatsoever, one of the first article series I wrote was the “So You Wanna Be A Pro Artist” (SYWBAPA) series. It’s hard to believe it has already been 2 years since I started the series! The “So You Wanna Be A Pro Artist” series was written both in response to the numerous inquiries I had received about embarking on a professional career and because I was leading up to a LFAA™ Workshop and I wanted to establish some groundwork.

As “So You Wanna Be A Pro Artist” is an informative and well-written series – if I do say so myself – and as I also am working on scheduling a new round of Workshops, I would like to revisit it for those who may not have seen it when it first ran. Also I want to bring some of the information and Resources up-to-date as a lot can change in two years.

So You Wanna Be a Pro Artist – Preview
Pretty self-explanatory, this is just an overview of what I had in mind with the series.

So You Wanna Be a Pro Artist 1 – Getting Started

So You Wanna Be a Pro Artist 2 – Now Why

So You Wanna Be a Pro Artist 3 – How

These three articles – Getting Started, Now Why, and How are overviews designed to get readers to think about their approach to their careers. Students often kind of buck me on this or they just ignore it but then invariably a year later of freelancing under their belts they come back and tell me I was right. I know I was right LOL! I know because the people who told this to me were right. When I find myself at a career plateau I often go back and re-visit these steps in order to make a plan of what I should do next.

So You Wanna Be a Pro Artist 4 – Good Instruction
I am not as anti-school as I used to be (I mean, I do teach at a makeup school, after-all) but I am still adamant that you cannot trust your career to the first school with a fly website (some schools do not even have that). IF you decide that makeup school is the best way for you to learn this craft, you must must must vet a makeup school thoroughly.

So You Wanna Be A Pro Artist 5 – Going it Alone
Many makeup artists never go to makeup school, including some of the best to have ever worked in the profession. It is entirely possible to be a self-made makeup artist and eventually work at the top of the field.

In this installment I listed a lot of books because I am a fan of makeup books. Many of the books were old and hard to get then, so they are older and harder to get now. Here is one alternate book, as well as two newer books that were not out when I first wrote my article;

Making Faces – Kevyn Aucoin
In the original article I listed Art of Makeup by Kevyn Aucoin. That is my favorite and in my opinion the most instructional of his books, however it is long out of print and if you do find it, it is expensive. Making Faces was Kevyn Aucoin’s second book and I would also probably say his most popular book. It, too, features many great break-downs, photographs and instruction.

Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: For Everyone from Beginner to Pro – Bobbi Brown
Of all of her books this is by far her best, in my opinion. It is well photographed, has clear explanations, and covers a gamut of looks on a wide array of faces and complexions.

Makeup Your Mind: Express Yourself – François Nars
This is a visually stunning book using a really innovative overlay technique to demonstrate how to achieve the looks. François Nars is a true master so there is a lot to be learned in this book. This book may be a bit advanced for the average consumer but it is perfect for aspiring Artists.

So You Wanna Be A Pro Artist 6 – Kit Building
A newly updated version of my Preferred Products list is available for purchase. My own actual working kits have actually changed quite a bit since this post was first created, so I will likely do a new story on that altogether.

So You Wanna Be A Pro Artist 7 – Portfolio Building
So You Wanna Be A Pro Artist 7.5 – The Actual Portfolio
The two articles concerning Portfolios illustrate how much the world has changed in two years. Back then I stated: “Many predict that the newly released Apple iPad will become popular as presentation tools for in-person meetings, but that will remain to be seen.” HA! I cannot live without my iPad. I do still advocate, however, for artists having print portfolios. Many agencies still require them and I still run into people who aren’t into the iPad presentation and would rather see a printed book. My print portfolio book nowadays;

(click to see larger size)

…as done by House of Portfolios. They actually got the spelling of my last name incorrect as you can see (it’s Russell with two “L”s), but they immediately shipped me a corrected book at no extra charge.

So You Wanna Be A Pro Artist 8 – Testing
So You Wanna Be A Pro Artist 9 – Marketing Basics
The final two installments of the original series focused on the nuts and bolts of building a book and promoting yourself for work. Needless to say these two topics are intertwined: you gotta meet people to develop a portfolio and then you gotta go show your portfolio in order to meet people to get hired for work.

Most of the resources listed are still valid. If you do read the article, you will see that I have crossed Wix off as one of my resources, they just are not adequately reliable and professional looking in my opinion. Resources I would add:

Weebly
Even on the free end, these are very good looking and easy to navigate Flash websites with a mobile “back” to work on iPhones, iPads, etc.

Moo.com offers high-quality yet affordably priced printing of business cards and postcard (promo cards). They also allow you to order in “packs” where you can have multiple card designs in one order. To try a free sample pack click here. (offer good as of the time I wrote this article. Moo may end the offer at any time…)

I hope some of my newer readers, or folks who may happen to just be drifting by on the internet, take a moment, make some tea or coffee and read through this series. I tried to really make the series both engaging and and chock-a-block with information. If you are interested in working as a makeup artist this series of articles is designed to help! Now that we have revisited the original series, look for future installments coming soon…

Previous Installment: Basics of Marketing

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

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My collection of Set the Pace Publications

At this point you’ve studied – either via school or DIY, you’ve built your kit, and you have the beginnings of a portfolio. You have now reached the point of the big NOW WHAT?

Well, young Grasshopper, Now What is marketing and promoting yourself to get work. Welcome to the Rest Of Your Life as a freelance makeup artist. This is the point where the rubber really hits the road. There are a sad number of really great makeup artists who do not work, and there are a lot of good not great makeup artists who work all the time. The difference is that whether you’re amazing or good or even not that great; those who are smart and who work hard at their careers will persevere. Whether or not one will make it to the lofty heights of the Pat McGraths or Joanna Schlips of the world is unknown (and to get to that level you really do have to be a great artist), but you can certainly be a working artist if you put your mind to doing so. For too long I, personally, fell into Group A: Everyone thought I was really good and really talented yet I didn’t work. This was because I am a naturally shy person and putting myself “out there” is not one of my favorite activities. Well, let me qualify, I’m actually a singer and I have no problem getting up and singing in front of people. Put a phone in my hand and tell me to call someone, however, and to this day I still have to psyche myself up to it. The difference is, of course, rejection. Yes. You will be rejected. Be it for meetings, jobs or tests you will not always get what you want when you want it. But as the Rolling Stones said “…you can’t always get what you want but if you try, sometimes, you’ll get what you need”. Eventually you have to eat and pay bills so you’ll have to decide – as I did – to either pursue your career with gusto, or go back to the office grind. With that said, here are my suggestions for getting yourself going… 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.

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.

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 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;

Outside cover of my Portfolio Book

An inside page of my Portfolio Book

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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 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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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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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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a Makeup to Go! Lessons for Aspiring Artists™ Workshop in progress

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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OK – now begins the series starts in earnest. So you’ve decided you want to be a professional makeup artist. Congratulations! It’s a great profession. Reality, however, is that a lot has changed over the last several years, and there are more people involved with the profession than ever. Does that mean that becoming a professional is Mission Impossible? No. But it does mean that becoming a working makeup artist is increasingly Mission Difficult. However, any profession worth having is worth working for. The issue, however is to work smart. Continue reading →

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