I went down to Limerick a couple of weeks ago to give a helping hand for Hallmark’s: An Old Fashioned Christmas Story. It was great fun, I got to work with beards and moustaches again. It was set in Bunratty Castle and was a lovely location to work in.

Here is a little test I did with the airbrush, just wanted to see how the colours lasted. I am using Graftobian F/X Aire Colours in Blue and White with the Graftobian Magic Set on top.

So far it is transfer resistant and quite matt, looks like it might just last the day. I am going to go outside and see how it holds up to the rain

I will have some step by step instructions of the AVATAR MAKEUP soon.

I have been a bit delayed in posting this, these are shots from a couple of weeks ago, but I guess better late than never. These are some behind the scenes images of the feature film that I am the Head Make-Up Artist on. It is directed by Phil Winston and is an independently funded film being shot in Coolock. The working title of the film is 166.87.66.6, but I am hoping that they go for something simpler like Uri-el. The story centres around a young boy called Daniel who discovers that human beings aren’t the only beings on this planet and is brought right into the middle of a fight between Angels and Demons.

I would just like to take this opportunity to say a BIG THANK YOU to my wonderful assistant Stefania, I couldn’t have done it without her

Film: http://www.uri-el.com/index.html
Director: Phil Winston
Make-Up: Emma Farrell Make-Up
Assistant Make-Up:  Stefania Maniscalco
Hair: Jane Akkerman

A while ago I told you guys that I was going to do the Make-Up of Avatar for halloween. Well I have had a really busy schedule which has meant that I haven’t been able to put aside as much time for this as I would have liked.

Anyway I have started the process and here are a couple of shots of me during my lifecast. We used fast set alginate and plaster bandages. First you vaseline all the back of the head and any hair in the front like eyelashes, eyebrows, nape of neck etc. Then you apply bald cap, in this case we just used a swimming cap as we had a bit of a disaster with our bald cap! You then build up the back half of the head using just plaster bandage as the detail of the cast doesn’t have to be that defined. Then you mix a small amount of alginate and do the nose first so that you can breath out of it. Then you go ahead and mix the rest of the batch of alginate and cover the entire face including eyes, ears and mouth. Be extremely careful that the noseway is kept clear at all times…you have to breath! After the alginate is set you then cover this with plaster bandages to strengthen and support the structure. You can then start to wriggle your face and pull apart the mould. All going well you should have a perfect cast of yourself.

Word of warning! Don’t wear make up while doing the life cast, for some reason whatever make-up I had on my eyelids really liked adhering to the alginate and made for a REALLY uncomfortable few minutes when I thought I wouldn’t be able to get it off!  Also this lifecast was done by professional Make-Up Artists (myself and my friend). We are highly trained, we are just sharing the information with you, so please do not attempt to do this at home!

This was a short film that I did last year. It is a surreal film around the theme of Easter.

I went to see Avatar directed by James Cameroon the other day, all I can say is WOW! I thought that it was absolutely fantastic . They did a really good job of creating an ethereal enchanted world which to be honest I wouldn’t mind living in.

Anyway I have decided that I would like to go as Neytiri for Halloween this year. I know what you are thinking, that I must be mad talking about Halloween…but every year I make a half arsed attempt at a costume on the day, which is a bit ridiculous considering I am a Make-Up Artist. Here are some examples:

So this year it’s going to be different and I am going to pull out all the stops! Myself and my Make-Up Artist friend have agreed to do each other’s make-up for Halloween. The reason for this is it is kinda hard to lifecast and apply character make-up to yourself.

She is going to apply a full prosthetic character make-up to make me look like Neytiri. I will blog the process as we go along with some pictures and instructions for anyone else who would like to know how it is done. I will also be doing a charcter make-up on my friend. She hasn’t decided what she would like to go as yet. I am trying to convince her to go as the borg:

Or if you guys have any other suggestions of characters that she could go as that would involve prosthetics, let me know. Anyway, watch this space as I will let you know how we get on xx