Education and Special Skills
"I suggest taking art classes," says Raleigh. "Take illustration and take
sculpting classes. Take color theory. Also, go to a makeup school. A lot of
makeup artists have gone through cosmetology school. If you're going more
into special makeup effects, I suggest chemistry and psychology. Since
you're working with actors all the time, you need to understand them."
Advice for Someone Seeking This Job
If you want to be a makeup artist, Raleigh suggests buying books by
makeup artists and studying films and television shows, then begin
working with whatever products you can get your hands on and learn by
trial and error. "I think that is one of the best ways to learn. You're able to
think on your feet when you've gone through all the mistakes and come
up with the right answer." He suggests that attending one of the many
film and television makeup schools is beneficial.
"From the beginning, start building your portfolio. Take photos of
everything you do and replace them with better photos as your craft
improves. Take student film jobs or whatever, just to build a résumé."
Once you're ready to look for a job, he says, "Start banging on people's
doors and constantly cold-calling places. A lot of times you'll send out a
résumé and never get an answer, but I feel if you can back it up with a
phone call, more times than not
you'll get an interview. If you
can get the interview, you'll
get the job if you have a good
personality."
Professional Profile:
Justin Raleigh, Special Effects
Makeup Artist
From a very young age,
Justin Raleigh knew he wanted
to be a special effects makeup
artist. In high school, the
Louisiana native got a job
doing beauty makeup for a
portrait studio. "I had never
done beauty makeup before--
I wanted to do special effects--but that was the one job [where] I could at
least get a start doing makeup."
What do you like
least about your job?
"Not having a set sched-
ule, and all the hours
you put in, in a day."
--Justin Raleigh
What do you love most
about your job?
"What I love most is that it is constantly
changing; you're never doing the same thing.
Even if you've done something similar, it's
always different because each person you
work on is different."--Justin Raleigh
VOICES OF
EXPERIENCE
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