Where were you born?
The suburbs of Chicago.
Where do you live now?
I go between Los Angeles, NYC and Atlanta depending on what project I’m working on at the time.
What’s your sign?
Scorpio
When you were a young, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I was a dancer from when I was a child through high school and although I knew I would want to be in the performing arts in some capacity, I wasn’t quite sure where I fit in if I wasn’t trying to take dance to the next level. I wasn’t aware that makeup artistry was even an option as a profession until I was in college for theater studies at Florida State University; we didn’t have any makeup courses in the program so a makeup artist came down from Broadway to show me how to do beards, mustaches and wig prep/resets etc for our production of Hamlet. It truly opened my eyes as to what I had been looking for — a creative outlet where I can help create all the characters in the story versus performing as one. It’s insane to me that this complete stranger swirled into my life for only a few hours and changed the trajectory of my life in such a profound way.
How did you know that the makeup artist industry was where you wanted to be?
When I first started in LA, I called around to established artists to see if anyone needed assistants. I was super hungry for knowledge. Back then without social media, without smart phones, laptops had to be plugged into a wall to check email, it took a lot longer to get responses. I paid my bills working in the health and fitness field while trying to get work as a makeup artist. I got odd jobs here and there for LA Fashion Week, an artsy fetish photographer was a consistent collaborator, doing makeup in the adult film industry etc.
But LA wasn’t kind to me back then. I needed to clear my head and when I went to NYC I started getting hired for indie films and that’s when I knew I had found my true calling. So much energy in the collaborative process. I’m glad I trusted my gut on what the universe was trying to tell me. The prep meetings of figuring these characters out with the director, the costume designer, the production designer, the actors themselves, that’s where the magic is. Seeing the final cohesive project is never lost on me how lucky I am to be surrounded by such incredible artists whose work only lifts up my own to create such a well rounded world for people to lose themselves in.
If you hadn’t gotten into makeup what do you think you’d be doing right now?
No clue. But if I were do go back and do it all over again and I couldn’t pick makeup; stunt driving. Without a doubt.
What was your first memorable work as an artist?
I think personally my first indie film I was proud of was James White. The makeup designs I got to do on that were shot so well and the actors really sold it with their performances. I don’t think I had seen my work in that way yet in my career and it blew me away.
What makes you a good makeup artist?
Maybe that I’ve lived in so many places and met so many people from different walks of life it’s easy to pull from people I’ve met or know when designing.
What is a big lesson you’ve learned along the way?
There’s so many variables in deciding what goes into the character and so much of it is beyond your control. Knowing to let go of things you can’t control and knowing to focus on things that you can is one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in the industry. In that vein, an actor once told me, it’s not our job to make the film good. It’s our job to do what we were hired to do. We’re the expert that was hired for that craft and beyond that, it’s out of our control.
What should someone who is looking to develop a career in makeup know before getting into the business?
I don’t know if I have proper advice on people trying to get into the business this day and age, haha I mean I hardly got in myself back in the day. I think having experience from outside of the industry can be helpful to utilize ie: sales helps in the pitching world and in knowing how to qualify your customer as to what exactly is entailed with each choice they have to make. Knowing lighting is very important on how it affects the colors of what we use, knowing that certain colors in the set design will reflect onto the actors skin. I’ve had so many small jobs before coming into this as a career and I truly think each one of them is utilized in some capacity. Mixing paint at the Home Depot had my color theory and color matching on point… you never know what might be useful down the line.
What are some of the most important qualities that a makeup artist can have?
I feel like knowing your tools, knowing your team, reading the room, and knowing how to get things done within the timeframe, budget while still managing to have fun is what makes a marketable makeup artist.
How do you continue to grow as an artist?
I feel like there’s something new to learn with every job whether it’s the people we are studying and designing or certain methods to which to pull something off specific to the needs of a show. When I stop learning and being challenged I feel like I might have hit the end of the makeup artist road.
Do you have a project that you’ve done that you are especially proud of?
Oddly two of my indie movies, for different reasons. A film called Her Smell, because I was asked to design the hair and makeup by a long time collaborator/director and hand it off to my good friends Elissa Ruminer and Emma Strachman to dept head hair and makeup respectfully. What we had tested prior to the film had been elevated by their talent and the choices they made as they were filming. I’m very proud of the work that was done. And secondly, a film that is about to come out called The Life of Chuck by director Mike Flanagan. I can’t say why I’m proud of it as it isn’t out yet but there’s hair/makeup collaboration I’m very proud of and I cannot wait for the world to see it in June. When a director turns to you almost speechless and says ‘thank you’ in the most heartfelt way you’ve ever been recognized for your work. It hits different.
What do you love about working in makeup?
I love that our work lets people immerse themselves into the world we’re creating and either inform them of a world they never knew or just plain escape from reality if just but for a moment of time. I truly love watching movies and television and seeing what stories and artistic choices are made. Being a small part of it is something I try not to take for granted.
How has social media affected your career or work?
The addition of social media in our craft has been exponentially helpful in curating mood boards quickly and being able to post the process for other people to see how we do things. Learning from other artists to fine tune the craft and being inspired by others we wouldn’t normally be exposed to without it. It also had me realize I’d like to privatize my personal life on social media and only put out publicly what is work related.
How do you approach designing a big show like Stranger Things or Poker Face?
Different shows bring out different strengths in my artistry and each have very specific looks, as well as shoot schedules and prep that require a different kind of approach.
Stranger Things was a big ensemble cast, a period piece, and a sci/fi character driven designs. Lots of research to keeping the period with the tattoos, the color palette of the beauty makeup, the details of California being the trendsetters and Hawkins being a beat or two behind because it takes a little time for the trends to get to the mall in middle America. Creating slimes, goos, bloods, wounds from a make believe perspective was fun.
Whereas a show like Poker Face you have one leading lady and every ten days you have a new cast, most of which are cast within a day or two of being put on camera. The turnaround time to pull off these looks keeps you on your toes and keeps you resourceful.
Any other project where the makeup design stands out as really special from a storytelling standpoint?
No Good Deed is a great example. A contemporary ensemble show where you really get a chance to figure out the character arcs and have fun with each character. We took Linda Cardellini from a snatched Real Housewife to a fully deteriorated version of Margo, the layers coming off as she started to lose control and her true identity was coming through. Melting half of her face for the final scene ‘two-face’ reveal was really fun and it’s always super fun to collaborate with my friends from Autonomous FX on stuff like that. Denis Leary’s character starts off looking pretty normal, a little pale from having been in jail, tanner for his flashbacks, but then he gets whacked in the head with a fireplace poker and ends up detoxing with all the color drained from his skin, the dehydration of the skin from all the loss of water through sweating, all on top of bruising from a fight. These transitions really help propel the story. It’s fun to figure out the beats. It’s also wild when on paper a character doesn’t seem like it might be that interesting of a design but ultimately it ends up being some of my favorite work on the show. It also gives an opportunity to work closely with other depar tments, ie: Denis’ prosthetic gash had to go into his hair from his forehead so Jeanie’s hair team was ready to pitch in to help.
Do you ever get stuck creatively?
When I get stuck creatively I deep dive into the production design and the costume design. I doom scroll through social media waiting for something to click in an ‘aha’ moment. Additionally, stepping away for a minute and coming back to it with fresh eyes also helps. Watching other films/shows that might help you reset your imagination or might be within the same realm to help trigger any ideas. Going to the gym always seems to help clear my head.
What’s something about your process that you find especially unique to you?
I like to include “Easter eggs” in my shows — somewhat hidden references or insider moments. For instance, the tattoo I designed for Elisabeth Moss in Her Smell (which I also have tattooed on my palm) was the tattoo that Natasha chose for Charlie in Poker Face. In my head, why can’t Charlie be a fan of this 90’s punk band and have the blurry cat tattoo from the lead singer? The crossover makes sense to me so why not recycle that design in a new and interesting way. In Episode 4 of Poker Face there’s a heavy metal drummer kid whose tattoo designs were really fun. I really wanted a heavy metal font as a shoulder piece and a director I worked with had made a heavy metal version of his film’s logo. I called him up and asked if I could put that on the kid’s shoulder, he sent it over right away. These little hidden gems are fun for me.
What inspires you?
I think energy is infectious. Seeing a film you could tell people enjoyed making inspires me. Seeing a film where you could see they took chances inspires me. Seeing something on Instagram that is unique in a world where everything seems like a diluted copy of a million other of the same redundant meme of a design. Meeting people outside of our industry who have unique stories inspires me. All the people you meet in life are a collection of happenings and you never know how they might just fit perfectly into a stor y you might be trying to tell someday.
Words Michael DeVellis
Photos Courtesy of Amy L Forsythe
Amy Por trait Keturah Bishop