Practising Quentin's Look and his Final Face Chart

Eyebrows

One of the improvements I wanted to make on the last practise was his eyebrows. I thought they looked very messy and over grown and therefore distracted from the rest of the makeup look. I decided to pluck and trim my model's eyebrows to make them look slightly neater. I didn't want them to look too plucked as I still wanted them to look natural. Below are the before and after images. I am really happy with how the eyebrows turned out as I think they still loo very natural, but are a lot less messy.

Before.

After.

Quentin's Hair and Makeup

Equipment:
-Foundation in Fair Olive
-White skin base
-Stippling brush
-Flat brush
-Big fluffy brush
-Loose translucent powder
-Grey eyeshadow
-Blush brush
-Wine coloured eyeshadow
-Small flat brush
-Blood paste
-Cotton bud
-Hair gel
-3rd Degree makeup
-Spatula
-Silver chains
-Supra colour palette
-Orange stippling sponge
-Effervescent health salts
-Water in a spray bottle
-Pipette
-Fake liquid blood
-Fangs kit
-Red eye contacts

Step by step:
1. I first applied a mixture of foundation in the shade 'fair olive' and the white skin base with a stippling brush all over the face. I made sure not to use too much product as I wanted the skin to look as natural as possible. I also made sure to blend it down the neck and over the ears.
2. I next took some more of the same mixture and applied it under the eyes and on the eyelids with a flat brush.
3. I then powdered the whole face and neck with a big fluffy brush and some loose translucent powder.

4. I used some grey eye shadow from my eye shadow palette and a blush brush to contour under the cheek bones, on the temples and either side of the nose.

5. I blended some wine coloured eye shadow along the lower lash line of both eyes with a small flat brush.

6. I applied a small amount of the blood paste to the centre of the top and bottom lip and asked my model to rub his lips together.
7. I brushed some gel through the sides of his hair, sweeping it backwards.
8. I then added some gel to the top section of his hair to make it sweep to one side. I wanted to keep his hair looking natural so I didn't flatten his hair down too much.

9. I mixed some 3rd degree makeup together to make a gooey mixture and I then smeared it all over the area where I wanted to burn with a spatular. I made sure to blend the edges of the mixture with a spatula out so that it blended in with the skin.
10. When the 3rd degree makeup was still setting, I wrapped the silver chains around my model's neck, making sure that the chains sunk into the makeup so that it looked like it was burning the skin.
11. After the 3rd degree makeup set and hardened, I applied some red supra colour with a flat brush all over to give an overall colour.
12. I then blended the edges with more red supra colour and an orange stippling brush.
13. I then remembered that the supra colour would stick to the 3rd degree makeup better if I had powdered it first, so I added some translucent powder over the top.
14. I then went back over the burn with some red supra colour to intensify the colouring.
15. I added some depth with some dark brown/red supra colour mixture and added it to any parts of the burn that went in.
16. I used the blood paste to add to any of the parts where the chains actually made contact with the skin.

17. I sprinkled some Effervescent health salts on the burn.

18. I sprayed some water over the salts so that the salts fizzed and made it look like the burn was having an acid reaction.

19. Once the burn stopped fizzing, it had a very wet look, as you can see by the images below.

20. I used a pipette to drop some fake blood against his tear duct to fall down his face.

21. I then applied the fangs by melting the fang adhesive in some boiling water, pushing it into the fangs, pressing them on his teeth and then taking them out to harden. 

22. I then applied the red eye contacts in both eyes.

Below I experimented with different ways my model could pose with the fangs in to make them look as good as possible. 

 I was not very impressed with how the fangs were looking because I thought they looked very chunky and they were a different colour to his natural teeth. I thought that they looked too big for my model's face. My favourite image out of the images with the fangs in above, would have to be the image where his mouth is closed but you can still see the fullness of the fangs underneath. Below is an image without my model wearing any fangs and I think that his mouth shape looks more natural and less like he is pouting slightly. I think in my final image I will not use fangs as I think the look is busy enough, with the blood tear, red eye contacts and the burn, and I don't want the look to end up look messy.

My Final Look

I am so happy with the overall look! I didn't make the burn go all around the neck because I would have run out of the 3rd degree makeup and I needed it for the final shoot. I am so much happier with the burn using this 3rd degree makeup than I was when I just used liquid latex. I found that when I used the liquid latex, the chains just sat on top, whereas I was able to push the silver chains into the 3rd degree makeup, making it look like the chains were burning and melting the skin. I therefore think that the 3rd degree makeup makes the burn look a lot more realistic. I am also really happy with the colouring of the burn and how it looks very wet. I like how thick and gooey the 3rd degree makeup looks around the silver chains as it looks very painful and raw. I might add some more black supra colour around some of the chains to give the burn more depth and to add a dirtier look, however I without adding the black colour, I am still really happy with the outcome. I found that when I sprayed the burn it fizzed more effectively than in my previous trail, however the fizzing still didn't last for very long. I will therefore try and get an assistant to spray the water on the burn just before I take the photos so that I can try and get the fizzing in the image. However I still really like how the burn looks after the fizzing has stopped, so I will continue to take photos after the fizzing has stopped.

I brought the pale base colour all the way down the neck so that the face and neck were the same colour and I am so happy with how natural it looks! I didn't want it to look like he was wearing foundation because I doubt the male vampires would wear full on foundation on an everyday basis, so I only used a very small amount and made sure to blend it in really well. I really like the grey contouring around his cheek bones and temples because it makes him look more gaunt and hollowed out, and therefore weaker. I also like that it is grey as it doesn't add any warm colours to him. I really like how the wine coloured eye shadow along the lower lash line, together with the red eye contacts, makes him look very blood thirsty and it makes his eyes look very raw and sore. I really like how the red tear will make it clear to the audience that Quentin is a vampire as this is a feature that all vampires in True Blood have. I think that the tear looked more effective and realistic when it was dripping down the cheek instead of after it has settles, so I will try and add the blood tear just before taking the photos.

I am really happy with how laid back and natural the hair looks because the vampires in True Blood do tend to try to look like a normal human being as they are trying to mix in with them and so I don't think Quentin would have a very dramatic hair style. I was considering giving him a very gelled back look, however I don't think that would have fitted in with the timing of the tv series. I am really happy with how the overall look turned out and I can't wait to add the styling to the look and do the photo shoot!

I have created a new face chart to show what my final makeup for Quentin is and I will use this when creating my final look.

Practising Claudia's Makeup, Hair and Styling

I wanted to practise Claudia's hair, makeup and styling at the same time to see if they all worked together. This is not the model I will be using, as she was not available, but I still wanted to practise the completed look. The model I will be using has a much stronger jaw line and she is very pale with fair hair, so I think she would work better for Claudia as I think she will look a lot more powerful and dominant. 

Make-up

Equipment:

-Foundation palette

-Buffing brush

-Concealer brush

-Big fluffy brush

-Translucent powder

-Contour palette

-Fluffy contour brush

-Disposable mascara wand

-Red supra colour

-Fluffy domed eye shadow brush

-Black eye shadow 

-Red eye shadow

-Small angled brush

-Dark red supra colour

-Rigid collodion

-Small flat brush

Step by step:

1. I first mixed foundation colours Fair Olive and G177 to get the colour I wanted. 

2. I applied this all over the face, ears and down the neck with a buffing brush to even out her skin. 

3. I then used a concealer brush to get the foundation colour right up to her eyes and all over her eyelids. 

4. Using a big fluffy brush, I then applied translucent powder all over the face and wherever I put the foundation. 

5. I then contoured her cheekbones with the medium brown shade from my contour palette and the a fluffy brush. I didn't want her contour to be too harsh, but I just wanted it to look very natural. 

6. I brushed through her eyebrows with a disposable mascara wand to neaten them up slightly. 

7. I dabbed some red supra colour all over her lips with my finger and smudged it round the edges slightly to make it look like she had maybe eaten something and it had smudges or something.
(I blended this out further later on)

8. Using a fluffy domed eye shadow brush I patted some black eye shadow onto the lid and used the excess to blend it out. I used the same brush to blend the black eye shadow along the lower lash line as I want a very messy and smoked out look.

9. I applied some red eye shadow, with a small angled brush, along the lower lash line of just the eye I wanted to add the scars to, to make it look sore.
10. I then drew some slanted lines across one of her eyes with a small angled brush and red supra colour. I made the lines about two or three brush strokes thick.
11. I then added a straight line of the darker red colour along one side of each line.

12. I then brushed some rigid collodion along each line, making sure not to get it too close to the eye. I applied it above the eyebrow, a little bit under the eyebrow and then I left a gap before drawing it under the eye. 

13. I added about 6 coats of this until I was happy with how the scars looked. 

14. Once the rigid collodion had dried, I then applied some foundation over the scars with a small flat brush and then rubbed it in with my finger to give it a more natural look.

15. I then added some colour to her face, with a fluffy brush and the golden brown shade from my contour palette, along her cheek bones, down the bridge of her nose and around her forehead.
16. I then intensified the contour by adding some of the darkest brown shade under the cheekbones and on her temple with a fluffy brush.
17. I added some highlighter on the tops of her cheek bones, in the centre of her forehead, down the bridge of her nose, and on her chin. I did this to give her a more blowy finish.

Hair and Styling

Equipment:

-Paddle brush

-Tail comb

-Dry shampoo

-Hair elastics X2

-Fluffy coat

Step by step:

1. Brush the hair with a paddle brush.

2. Add some dry shampoo to give the hair some texture and lift. 

3. I created a middle parting with the tail comb and continued the centre parting all the way to the back of the hair line.

4. I then pulled the hair to the back of the ear on each side. separated each half into three and plaited both sides of the hair. 

5. I secured both plaits with an elastic band. 

6. I then pulled out any shorter hairs and rubbed the top of the hair to make it look a bit more messy. I also pulled at the plaits slightly to give the sam messy look. 

7. The model then put the coat on to complete the look. 

I am really happy with how the look came out! I really like that I made her skin pale, but not as pale as Quentin's because it shows that there is a contrast between a vampire's skin and a human being's skin. I added to the contrast because I of the bronzy shades I added to the cheeks and the highlighter I added to the face. I added the highlighter because I wanted the vampire to look very matte and then the human to look more dewy and healthy. I may experiment with spraying a light spray of water over the face to give a more sweaty and dewy look to the skin to intensify the contrast. I think the smudges lips look very effective because I would imagine that Claudia would rub her lips out of excitement or fear from watching the horror films and I think she would have been drinking too. I also really like the messy black eye shadow around the eyes because it looks like she just quickly shoved some black on her eyes to imitate one of the characters she was watching, but she didn't spend ages blending it out perfectly, which is what I think the reality would have been as she seems quite a hectic character. I am really happy with how the scars came out around her eyes because I think they look very realistic and painful. I like the hint of red under her eye with the scars too because it adds a painful and watery look to her eye. In my final assessment I will add a milky white eye contact to her eye with the scars, but I couldn't use them in this practise as I needed special contact lens solution which I didn't own. I will try to use the contacts in my next practise though. I like that the hair is a reflection of Annabelle the doll, which is the character I think Claudia took a lot of inspiration from because it adds a slightly playful, yet sinister feel to the look. I think I will add red bows to the ends of her plaits to emphasise the reference to Annabelle and I also think it would look effective as it would put more emphasis on her red lips. I decided on Claudia wearing a fur coat because I think she wold have taken inspiration from another character in one of the other films she was watching. I chose Claudia to be inspired by Scarlett Johansson in Under The Skin as she had a red lip and wears a gorgeous fur coat. I like that the coat adds majority and elegance to the otherwise messy and childlike look because it shows how confused and disorientated Claudia can be.

Developing Quentin's Look

I first wanted to experiment with using liquid latex and cotton wool to create the burn. I had ordered the 3rd degree makeup but I still wanted to see how well the burn worked on the neck and after the chains were added. 

Equipment:

-Liquid latex

-Cotton wool

-Sponges

-Supra colour palette

-Tweezers

-Small flat brush

-Blood paste

-Liquid blood

-Vaseline

-Alka-Seltzer tablets

-Water spray

Step by step:

1. I first applied a layer of liquid latex over the area I wanted the burn to be. I applied the latex with a sponge.

2. I then spread out some cotton wool over the liquid latex to give the burn some texture.

3. I covered the cotton wool with more liquid latex to get rid of the fluffy texture and so seal the cotton wool down.

4. After I let the liquid latex dry completely, I started to pick holes into the latex with tweezers. I did this to give the burn more depth and texture. I found I have to be quite rough with this, especially where the cotton wool was.

5. I used my supra colour palette to colour my burn. I dabbed on some red supra colour with a sponge all over the burn, followed by patches of yellow supra colour.
6. I found that some of the white cotton wool was still showing through, so I used a small flat brush to go over those areas with some foundation colour.

7. I then wrapped the chains (these are not the ones I will be using in my final look) round the neck so that I'd know where the chains would be digging in. 

8. I added some blood paste, with a cotton bud, to any of the areas where the chains were touching the skin. 

9. I then asked my model to lie down and I sprinkled the crushed up Alka-Seltzer tablets all over the wound.

10. I then sprayed water all over the wound to make the burn fizz. 

11. I then asked my model to sit up to see how it'd look, for example, if the blood would drip down too far etc.

If I'm honest, I'm not completely happy with how this turned out. I don't think it looks very realistic because the chains look like they are just sitting on the skin, instead of sinking into the skin, which is what would happen if the chains were melting the skin. I will therefore use the 3rd degree makeup and push the chains into the mixture before it dries so that it looks more like the chains are sinking into the skin. I am also not completely happy with how the fizzing is working. It seems to fizz as soon as I put the water on the tablet, but it only fizzes a little bit and for a very short period. The tablets that I used were very old so this may be effecting their performance. I will therefore buy some new ones and also get some different makes to see which work the best. 

Face Makeup

I wanted to experiment with the makeup look by trying to recreate the makeup look on the face chart I created. The model that I was planning on using said he was now unavailable, so I had to find a new model. My original model did not have facial hair, so I had to make adjustments so that the same makeup look would work on my new model. 

Equipment:

-Foundation palette

-White skin base

-Matte primer

Step by step:

1. I first applied a matte primer all over the face so that no oil would shine through under the foundation.

2. I then created a mixture of foundation in colour Fair Olive, white skin base and matte primer. I added the matte primer to make the foundation slightly less pigmented and therefore more natural. 

3. I applied the foundation mix very lightly all over the face and lips with a stippling brush, making sure to blend it well around the facial hair. 

4. I made sure to blend it all round the eyes and lightly over the eye bags. I used a small blending brush to do this. 

5. I then powdered the whole face very well using a big fluffy brush and loose translucent powder. 

6. I contoured the cheeks and temples with a grey eye shadow and fluffy brush to give the face some shape, but still keep the cool tones.
7. I then used some wine coloured eye shadow and applied it softly along the lower lash line with a small flash brush.
8. I added a small amount of the blood paste to the centre of his lips and blended it out to make it look very natural, as if he has bee biting the inner parts of his lips.

9. I then took some fake blood on a cotton bud and tried to drip it down his cheek. 

Final look.

Note: If I were doing this for my assessment, I would have used the light coloured foundation all over his neck and chest before applying the burn, however I just focused on the face makeup in this practice as I had already done the burn. 

I am happy with how naturally pale the skin looks, however I think it would look effective if I made the skin even more pale, by adding more white skin base to the foundation mixture. His under eyes look slightly dark, as if he has got bags, but I quite like that because I think it would look more unnatural if his skin was completely flawless. I think I should make the contour stronger to make him look slightly more gaunt, which I think would make him look more vulnerable. I will still use a grey colour for this so that I don't give him any warm contour tones. I really like the wine coloured eye shadow along his lower lash line as I think it makes his eyes look almost blood shot and painful. I think his eyebrows could look a bit neater because they are such a prominent feature of his look. I think because they look so messy, they are quite distracting and therefore take attention from the other aspects of the look. I will therefore neaten them up by plucking some hairs, cutting some hairs and also brushing them through before my next practice. I am not happy with the bloody tear; I don't think it looks realistic enough. I don't like the fact that the tear comes above the tear duct as this would not happen and I don't think the tear would have naturally fallen towards his nose, I think it would have fallen slightly to the right because of the ridge of his nose. I think I should possibly add some water to the blood to make it more runny as I felt the tear didn't run down the face very easily. I will also experiment with using a pipette to make it easier to drop the blood tear exactly where I want it. 

Claudia's Scars

I was so happy with how the scars looked on the cheek, so now I wanted to test the same technique out across the eye. My model had mentioned to me that when the rigid collodion was drying it felt like it was tightening up her skin and stung slightly as it was drying; she was therefore sceptical about using the rigid collodion around her eyes. We discussed what would be the best option and we decided it would be safest if I drew the red supra colour across her eye and then only put the rigid collodion above her eyebrow and I left a gap under her eyes. I wasn't sure at this point if it would be harmful to the eyes if it got too close so I wanted to be careful with the positioning of it. 

After I had put about 3 layers on as it was drying.

Red supra colour only. 

After I had put about 5 coats on, let them dry and
added a bit of foundation colour on top. 

Above is the final result. It is clear that I only put the rigid collodion above her eyebrow and under her eye bag because the other parts of the line aren't indented. I would have liked there to be more scarring closer to the eye so I will look into how harmful it is closer to the eye. However I am happy with the results and I think the scars look realistic. My model said that she could feel when the rigid collodion was tightening up her skin, but it only stung on the outside of her eye. This is not the model I will be using in my final assessment, so I will practice using the rigid collodion on my model before the assessment.

I looked it up on www.paintandpowderstore.com/proddetail.php?prod=MM-1318 and they said that you can 'not use any collodion product in or around the eye, nose, or mouth area'. However some people argue that you can put it very close to the eye without any irritation, so maybe it is advised not to be used round the eye, but it is different for everyone. I will therefore ask my model what she is comfortable with after informing her of the implications. 

Experimenting with Claudia's Scars

After doing research on YouTube I found this video, below, of how to create a realistic looking scar and I loved how it looked! I was really excited at how it created a 3 dimensional look, making it look very effective and real. The girl used rigid collodium to create this look and below I will show you how my experiments with this went.

Equipment:
-Small angled brush
-Red supra colour
-Rigid collodium
-Foundation colour
-Small flat brush

Step by step:
1. I first mapped out where I wanted the scar to be with a small angled brush and some red supra colour.
2. I then made it as thick as I wanted it to be.

3. I then applied the liquid collodium, with the brush applicator it comes with, along the red line.
4. I let the first layer dry and then applied another coat.

5. I added more and more coats until I was happy with the depth of the scar.

6. I then took some foundation on a small flat brush and lightly covered the scar.
7. I smudged and blended the foundation out with my finger to give it a more natural look.

I am so excited with how this came out! I love how the indentation in the skin makes it look so realistic and I think the colouring, with the red supra colour and foundation, looks very natural too. I would love to experiment with adding loads of layers to see how deep I could make the scar and I also need to experiment with using this product around the eyes, as in my Claudia design there are scars going across her eyes.

My Claudia and Quentin Presentation

My Chosen TV Series

I have chosen True Blood because I was intrigued by the supernatural aspect of the series, with all the vampires, fairies and werewolves, and I thought it would be fun to take inspiration from so many different creatures. 

It is set in the gothic town of Bon Temps, Louisiana.

Audience Demographics

This show is aimed at adults and the audience is predominantly women. 

The producer, Alan Ball, says it is appealing to women because of the “story telling and the romance”. Women may be attracted to Bill and Sookie’s relationship and the sexual tension between them and other partnerships in the series. The struggle of the fictional rights movement could be interpreted as a reference to the real world struggle of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual movement, which would therefore attract large audiences from that group.

Claudia
-How do they fit in with the series?
Claudia would be Sookie’s cousin that she doesn’t see very often because she never leaves her house. She inherited money from her parents who dies when she was young. She wants to have full control over her imaginary boyfriend because her parents had such control over her before they died and she wants to rebel and be the one in control.

-How will the setting inform your character?
Claudia would be very social awkward and nervous around new people as she rarely comes into contact with people other than her neighbours or Quentin. Her kitsch decor is full mementos from her parents and so she finds it hard to let go and is very messy. Some of the stranger mementos, e.g. trolls, sometimes spark hallucinations. 

-How will the look appeal to audience demographics?
I think Claudia’s look will appeal to my adult audience of mostly females and LGBT movement because the blind, scratched out eye makeup may be too graphic for a younger audience. Also because the audience are either around Claudia’s age or have been that age, they can relate and empathise with her and her desire to be loved and accepted.

-What will you need to change/add to your character?
I don’t yet know what model I am using for this Claudia, so I will therefore have to make final adjustments so that my design works with their colouring/hair type/face shape.

What Key Word did you choose to develop your character?
-Why did you choose your key word?
I chose ‘Save us’ to develop my character because Claudia’s parents dies when she was very young and so didn’t have the same loved and supportive upbringing, I therefore think Claudia wants to be saved by her imaginary boyfriend, Quentin, from the pain of heartache and loneliness. 

-What did the key word inspire you to investigate?
I took inspiration from my key word and suggested that because she felt lonely she wanted to dress up as other characters from films to escape her reality. I therefore looked into different characters from different horror films and adapted their looks to influence Claudia’s. 

-What scene do you see your character in?
I see Claudia in her apartment, watching the Conjuring in ore and amazement, dressed up as Annabelle the doll, but still in her furry coat. I the see her calling Quentin to come over and give her some company and to have someone to share the film with. I see him resisting to come over and her then plotting her revenge for his disobedience. 

Female character from Under The Skin.

Annabelle the doll from the Conjuring.

-What else do you now need to do?
I now need to finalise what model I’m using and make sure I find the right clothing and accessories to back up my design. I also need to practice the hair and makeup look before doing my final shoot. 

Quentin
-How do they fit in with the series?
Quentin is the imaginary boyfriend of Sookie’s cousin Claudia. Quentin’s job is never mentioned as he is only seen when in Claudia’s house. His aim is to make Claudia happy, however he is not always happy about getting controlled around by her.

-How will their settings inform your character?
Quentin’s surroundings always reflects on what Claudia has decided to turn him into, meaning it is a knock on effect of what Claudia’s surroundings are. 

-What will you need to develop for your character?
I know that Quentin will wear black or dark colours, but I still need to finalise exactly what he will be wearing. I will also need to clarify how to create the blood tears and how to apply his fangs. 

-How will his look appeal to the audience demographic?
I think Quentin’s look will appeal to True Blood’s audience of mostly female and gay adults because he will be attractive and sexy, but also loveable and caring, without being too soppy. I think this will entice many females or gays that also dream of men like this. 

What Key Word did you choose to develop your character?
-Why did you choose your key word?
I chose 'Red rave' because, to me,  red raves are very chaotic, out of control, overwhelming, claustrophobic and energised. 

-What did the key word inspire you to investigate?
The rich red colours of the raves immediately made me think of blood, pain and torture, but lead me to think of blood thirsty vampires. The chaotic and out of control energy reflects how Claudia wants to control Quentin and how he is always on edge as he doesn't know what Claudia's emotions will be and what she will turn him into. I think the strobe lights of a rave could represent how quickly Claudia could change his appearance, just like how you can see someone in one flash but by the next they could be gone or in a different position. I also think a red rave could reflect his love for dark and shocking horror films and how you can lose your imagination in the film, just like you can lose your sense of reality or control in a rave.

-What scene do you see your character in?
I see Quentin in a scene where he has been called round to Claudia’s house and he is anxious to know what mood she’ll be in and therefore what she will turn him into. 

-What else do you now need to do?
I now need to learn how to apply the fangs, purchases any products I don’t already have and finalise what he will be wearing. 

What now?
-What do you now need to do?
I now need to practice the makeup looks I have created on my face charts on the models I will be using. I also need to finalise what they will be wearing. I will need to decide what location I will shoot in for Claudia’s image, as I will be shooting Quentin in the studio. 

-What are your concerns?
My concerns are that my model for Claudia that I am considering won’t be available for me to work on her and also that I won’t be able to stick the fangs on Quentin, as I tried to for halloween and I found then really tricky. 

-How can we help you?
Please let me know, honestly, how I can improve on my character creations.