My name is Georgina Sreeves and I am a second year Makeup and Hair Design student at Southampton Solent University. In this post, I will be reflecting upon the challenges and achievements that I faced during my first year. I faced a lot of personal challenges that had a negative effect on my progress and abilities, however I feel as if I made some achievements I will carry on into my second year and help me develop.
When I started my first year of university, I was very unconfident about myself about and my abilities. This made it very hard for me to focus on my studies as I did not feel as if I would do well or that I was creating looks that I was really proud of. In addition, I came with very little experience and so everything was extremely new to me, so learning all aspects of being a makeup artist from scratch was daunting and this further added to my self disbelief. However, a year on, I have found myself more confident in the rituals of setting up makeup and the health and safety procedures and feel as if I would be competent in a situation where I had to be professional. Learning these basics were the first step to feeling as if I was on the way to becoming an established makeup artist, but is the first step on a long journey. When looking at last year's blog from start to finish, I am proud of the creative path I went along. It is clear that at the start of the year I was scared to branch out and create posts that showed ideas I had; I would only create posts that I was told to make. However when it came to the last project we had, I was confident in creating my own ideas and having such a broad brief did not actually scare me but propel me to conceive a web of characters and stories. I loved putting makeup and photography techniques we had learnt into practice, although I am aware of mistakes I made and definite improvements next time I do makeup and photography. Moreover, I really prepared with props and clothing which made me feel proud when it all came together and created the look and story that I wanted. This includes making sure I know what the makeup will look like on camera as it won't look the same in person as it does through the lens, and bringing makeup to the studio to touch up makeup if it smudges.
Currently I think I am doing well with health and safety procedures and documenting these, however I need to practice, practice, practice. This includes both makeup and photography, as I don't feel as if I am up to the standard that I should be considering in 2 years I will be out in the world as a professional makeup artist (hopefully). My skills this year that need to be improved are design processes. I feel as if when I have an idea, I stick to that and don't create more when I know a variety would definitely benefit me and I may come up with something better, and it also adds to my practice. However the last project did challenge me and encourage me to come up with more ideas, and if I had the time I would have liked to create all of them and practice all of them. Given the chance, last year I would have taken more time to practice photography and photoshop. I feel photography is so important when exhibiting your work, and bad photography won't show the full detail and potential of the looks you create.
This year I would really like to build up my makeup kit and find products that I really enjoy working with as I struggled with some of the products from our kit this year. I feel like this will enable me to make more elaborate and versatile looks, as I want to experiment more with fashion makeup as I know I will not be doing much this year due to the fact that I have chosen special effects makeup. Despite this, I am very much looking forward to this unit as I have been interested in makeup for TV and film for a long time.
Since first year I have changed in that I feel more confident in my abilities, and that I have a lot more knowledge in conducting myself as a makeup artist. I know that to support my studies this year I need to practice more than what is asked of me in order to improve my skill and make sure that my makeup is presented professionally. I know that living in a house with housemates that do the same course as me this year will definitely motivate me, as living in halls last year was constricting and rather depressing. Now, living in a place where I have space and release will give me more inclination to get out, practice and spend more time researching and getting inspiration for my work.
Over the summer, I visited some amazing places. I went to Thailand, Italy, and Holland, and the one place that inspired me most was Thailand. It is a place of culture, beauty and nature. I felt so free and makeup wise, being clear of that on my skin from that for a while was invigorating, however it also showed me that natural makeup is also beautiful. Minimal makeup at night with a tanned glow was a look I do not regularly don, but on everyone it looked amazing and inspired me for future looks.
On a different note, Instagram has been a real source of inspiration and ideas for me over the summer. In particular, the makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench has been my favourite. I love every single one of her works as I feel she goes beyond the work of others and is not afraid to be different, explicit or perfectly imperfect. With just a glance of her website (http://isamayaffrench.com) it is obvious that her work is stereotypically strange and despite working on fashion she encompasses special effects makeup and avante garde looks that I think look so striking and futuristic. She does not stick to one type of makeup but explores all, and photographs not only in the studio but in exciting locations around the world outdoors and precarious places. Her work is also made digital in some campaigns, combining real world with technology, which I think is very contemporary and current. Currently, she is my favourite makeup artist, and combined with the people that she works with, they all compliment each other perfectly and create amazing products.
