… was for a comedy show about the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence, to be held in September this year. Exciting times – the referendum AND my makeup work being on telly. Yippee!
The show’s called Blethering Referendum and will be broadcast on Monday nights on BBC2 at 10:30pm, starting this Monday coming. Tune in! My hands are also in it, not sure if that scene will be in this first episode but look out for me pretending to shampoo someone’s hair.
what my paws looked like at the time
Speaking of filming, I’ve been away for a week up on the Isle of Lewis, helping make a short movie called TIDE for Edinburgh College of Art film directing student Gordon Napier. I also hit the Insane Championship Wrestling again this weekend just gone, so stay tuned, absolute BEASTS of flog posts coming up shortly!
Now sing yourselves to sleep with some Aussie rock.
I don’t put makeup on myself or other people because human faces are so gross that I can’t deal with them bare. I don’t spend money I don’t have on £40 lipsticks because I believe on some level that it will transfer some of Beyonce’s magic onto me, and nor should you. My own laziness – ie NOT my self-loathing – dictates how much makeup I (don’t) put on in the mornings.
I think we’re all aware that the media and the fashion and cosmetics industries are evil giants blah blah blah. I can’t speak for everyone obviously; perhaps you DO sob in the mirror every morning, applying your lipstick, heart heavy with the sheer misery of not looking like Emma Watson.
Just saying, I really like makeup and I don’t think it’s because I’m insecure. I enjoy the art of makeup, I am intrigued by the craft and the science of it too. I don’t paint Ziggy-Stardust style makeup on myself because I want to swap my face for David Bowie’s. I just really like the creative, transformative, expressive nature of it. ‘Sfun.
It’s my big-girl version of how I used to tie a towel around my neck as a cape and pretend to be a superhero (I actually had a Superwoman colouring in book as a kid, and one of the super things she did was cleaning. I’m not even kidding. Obviously this attempted brain-washing had the reverse effect.)
Anyway. Makeup. Not expensive self-harm. A creative expression, with a temporary nature. Actually, that’s my favourite thing about makeup – it comes off.
A few weeks ago I went to the AHT UK Trainee competitions at Coatbridge; I entered the ‘team bridal’ event, myself doing the makeup and my classmate Rachael doing the hair. Our classmate Sophie was our model, and what a good sport she was.
It was a long day with lots of competitors in various events…
…and some truly talented folk about.
Rachael and I were up against I think 19 other teams, and the standard was HIGH – I was happy with my work but also not surprised we didn’t place, against some of the others.
Others in my class placed, in the bodypainting and the vintage makeup category. Here’s Saoirse who came 3rd in the 1950s makeup category.
This weekend I was supposed to be going to Blackpool to compete in the national competition for colleges (this time doing drag makeup) but I’ve withdrawn this time round… I just have way too much on with college work. Next time 😉
I must thank YOU, dear flogstars, for your patience while I just don’t post. I hope you are getting your fix/keeping abreast of all things Imogen Maxwell over on my Instagram and Facebook, which have been more requently updated than this poor neglected flog.
I have been busy doing lots of exciting things, so I have lots to show and tell you – sadly I have also been very busy doing lots of shitey boring things like working, doing homework etc so I haven’t had much time to flog it all up for your reading pleaure.
This week just gone was the Glasgow School of Art Fashion and Textile show, held in the new Reid building.
Myself and classmate Angie were the ones liaising with the organisers at the art school on behalf of our class, and if anyone ever asks YOU to take that task on, I highly recommend you scream “NO” in their face and run far and fast in the opposite direction. My grievances are college-related and shall be detailed in GREAT detail in my evaluation of the whole experience, which is the final part of this assessment, so you shall be spared, flogstars.
Anyway. Despite all that, the end result – the actual catwalk show itself – was a resounding success, very professional-looking, and received national media coverage for days. The fashion and textile designs were stunning, and everyone behind the scenes (the fashion students, models, organisers, hairdressers) was a pleasure to work with.
Everything was alright on the night, as they say – and that’s all that actually matters. And ON the night, it must be said, I really enjoyed the work, the backstage atmosphere, and being part of such an interesting and creative production.
So here are some photos for ye. Annoyingly I don’t have the designers’ names etc so I’m not sure who did what, but these are just to show the overall feel of the show anyway. If you’ve come across this and know who I can credit for any of it, drop me a line!
space was at a premium so we ended up doing makeup in the corridors
walk-through to check timing
Angie doing between-show touch-ups
waiting to go on
view from the makeup room upstairs above the catwalk
Ciao for now, flogstars – I’ve got so much homework to do I think I might go and have a little cry and eat some chocolate.
I know I promised you a juicy flog post all about my long weekend in Denmark, but… The vodka and energy drink has erased my memory of most of it, and my camera had a nice relaxing holiday in Kastrup airport’s lost property office for the whole 5 days I was away, so there is no pictorial evidence either.
Apart from phone-photos. And this is the type of photo I take on my phone.
So today’s flog post is STORY TIME, from the What I’ve Learned archive.
This, flogstars, is a photo of my free ticket to the Steel Panther concert.
Irene and I didn’t have regular tickets, because we’re fucking hustlers and also really disorganised and forgot to buy them in time. So, humiliatingly, on the night of the concert we were stationed out the front of the venue, next to a bunch of strippers handing out flyers. (The strippers were handing out flyers, we weren’t.)
We were begging people on their way in to the venue. Irene and I were hoping people would have spare tickets to sell. One person had one. One. So we bought it for 250DKK, then swiftly resold it for 300DKK because we are dirty dirty scalpers.
We wisely used that 50DKK profit to buy two mostly-empty beers (pictured) from a couple who had already been inside, and they also kindly threw in a look at their wrist-stamp too. I scanned the stamp with my photo-laser eyes, took my eyeliner out of my purse and replicated it on our wrists.
Then we marched right on inside with our beers held high to signify that we had already been in, flashing our ‘stamps’, and quickly melted into the crowd.
we knew our place: up the back BEHIND all the paying-people, spending lots of money at the bar to atone
Stealing from performing artists isn’t cool, kids, but the fact of the matter is that I am practically a shareholder in the Steel Panther franchise, having paid to see them live thrice and having bought five copies of their first album and 3 of their second album (I’m not even kidding – copies for each vehicle in my fleet plus gifts to friends).
So while I’m not suggesting that you start pirating about all over the place, that’s how to sneak in if you ever have the need.
Next in the What I’ve Learned series: How To Get Backstage. Here’s a sneak preview. Step one – have blonde hair and big boobs. Step two – just go back there, seriously, there’s usually nothing or no one to stop you, and if you’re not screeching/being a dick/stealing their beer, they’ll usually let you stay.
… but if, like me, you’re doing a shitload of TFP (time in exchange for pictures) shoots, you’ll be working with professional photographers, models and possibly stylists or other creatives, and at the end of the (long, hard day in the freezing rain) you all want the same thing – shit-hot photos for your portfolio.
models: Ieva at Model Team and Lauren at Superior Model Management makeup by me, photography by Bryce Powrie, threads by One For The Wall
All of us – the photographers, models and makeup artists – all need up-to-date pretty pictures to show off our mad skillz. Which is why lots of us spend half our lives running around like blue-arsed flies on these TF photoshoots.
They’re great fun, and there’s something nice about a wee gang of you working together with the same vision, not for money but for the love. Not to say we’re not all getting something out of it, but anyone doing anything for free is displaying some level of dedication, and that’s nice to be around.
All the pretty pictures for me are ending up in my portfolio, which is actually an official thing getting assessed at college next week. With an interview and all. We need a minimum of 8 photos from a minimum of 4 photoshoots. I’ve done 6 photoshoots and pics from 5 of those are going in my portfolio.
I think if I didn’t have a clear idea of what I needed, and if I hadn’t been lucky in landing shoots with reasonably experienced and professional people, that number might not be so high. As it is my final task for portfolio production is showing some uncharacteristic restraint and editing down my selection to best highlight my makeup work.
None of this putting photos in just because they’re cool and I like them. Is it a photo that showcases my makeup work, or do I like the photo because the model’s hair looks swishy or because there’s a cute puppy or because the clothes they’re modelling look really good? All wonderful things, and important components of a good photo… but FOCUS, IMOGEN!
doing the no-makeup-look on a guy is harder than you think, but you’re not even looking at him are you. This is an example of a photo that doesn’t reeeeeally do my makeup work much justice. photo by Bryce Powrie, model Nicolas Garcia-Minaur, puppy not mine sadly
Which led to me Googling “how to have a not-shit portfolio” which took me all sorts of interesting places on the internet. Here is one of the more useful things I read, copied and pasted because you’re more likely to read it if I do it like this, aren’t you.
A test shoot is a collaboration in which all parties involved should benefit from the pictures received. I don’t go in for contracts or think you should come across like a demanding diva when approached about a test shoot but you do need to discuss a few things with the photographer before the shoot so you can be sure what you receive later will be useful to you.
Here are some questions you should have answers to before any pictures are taken to insure that the image files you receive after the shoot are suitable for printing.
1. Can you get some close up shots of the makeup?
Always ask the photographer to get some close up shots of the makeup as part of the deal and remind them on the day that you need some head shots. A great beauty shot next to a full length image can look fantastic in your book and will show your skills as a makeup artist more clearly.
2. Can you start the day off with a really clean beauty look?
You should be focusing on clean beauty when you start building a portfolio so if you get roped into a test that doesn’t involve clean beauty see if you can do a quick beauty look at the start of the day which you can build on after to achieve something more adventurous. This way everyone should get something usable for their books right from the start and you get more looks out of a days shooting.
3. Will you get Hi-Res files?
Make sure the photographer is going to provide hi-res files so you can print nice sharp images for your book. Low-res files are only suitable for posting online so they don’t take too long to load.
4. Does the photographer have watermarks on all his/her images?
If the photographer you are working with uses watermarks on his/her images check that getting files without the watermarks won’t be a problem so you can print the images for your book.
5. How many images should you expect to receive?
Discuss how many images you should realistically expect to receive and whether these files will have been retouched. Unless you are shooting a big editorial story it is unlikely that you would really need more that 5 images from a shoot.
6. Will you have any input into the final picture selection?
Often all parties involved are looking for something different for their books so it’s great if you all have some input into the final image selection. If you are given a choice of images think about the composition in your book so the images you pick go together on a double page.
If you are unsure about any of the following points discuss them with the photographer in an email. Emails are great as it gives everyone a record of whats been agreed on to refer back to.
I stole that from http://whattheprosdo.blogspot.co.uk/ – which sadly hasn’t been updated in nearly 5 years, but still has loads of really handy tips for the nascent makeup artiste.
It’s a UK based site however a lot of the stuff on there would be useful for anyone starting out – things like what to think about when putting together your website and business cards, what to carry with you (bottle of water and a banana because no one feeds you on photoshoots – so true, and the reason my makeup kit is a suitcase is really so it can fit all the muesli bars in it that I require for a half-day on the go).
So there you have it flogstars, a bit of practical know-how for ye.
Here’s Steel Panther with The Burden of Being Wonderful. Watch it and next post I’ll tell you all about the weekend I’ve just had in Denmark partying at them. Not with them. At them.
You know, I’m writing this in bed, and myself and the laptop aren’t the only two things in here.
I’ve got next to me a foot-high tower of books (half of them about David Bowie, half of them about makeup), a teetering pile of folded laundry, the suitcase I am currently using as my makeup kit (not even kidding), two supermarket bags full of groceries, and … nah, I’m not putting that last bit in, on the internet for all you sickos to see for all eternity.
In my makeup suitcase, I have a brush roll, and in that brush roll there are several makeup brushes by Crown Brush UK. If you, too, would like several Crown makeup brushes, buy ’em online and enter this code – FINAJ2014 – for 10% off your order from http://www.crownbrush.co.uk for the month of February.
When your brushes arrive, you can create artfully massive overdrawn lips like the ones I did on Shinnerz here.
I have been sitting here for a few hours now, trying to think of how to start this flog post, and more importantly how to end it. As dedicated flogstars will know, I could talk about Bowie until the cows come home, but I am without cows so it’d be a bloody long wait. I still don’t think I’d run out of things to say about David, his greatness and how much I luuuurve him.
So, this post is all pictures, not because I have nothing to say, but because I feel slightly overwhelmed by how much ground I could cover. We’d be here all night. And day. And then all night again.
I took these today on my camera but the real photos will be even better – these are just a cheeky little sneak peek, just close-ups of makeup but you just wait til you see the fully styled and finished shots.
Today’s team was:
Mega-babe models: Rebecca Goldie and Aaron Bird
Photographer extraordinaire: Paul Wylie
Hair magician: Gillian Cleminson
Wardrobe/styling genius: Kim Wallace
Bowie makeup specialist: Imogen Maxwell (that’s me, kids)
Location: The Buff Low Cafe, Glasgow (who very kindly allowed us to shoot on their premises when our first location fell through at the very last second!)
she was winking, you just can’t see it
my dedication to Bowie rivalled only by Aaron’s – shaved eyebrows. My hero.
Goldie by name, goldie by jacket/lip colour/forehead circle.
I’m messy and I take up ALL the space and I’m NOT sorry
I had the best day doing this; normally there are some butterflies that come with rocking up to a shoot not knowing anyone, not knowing how it will turn out, who will show up, what the atmosphere will be, whether my work will be good enough etc etc etc. But this was my total happy-place in every detail: doing my very favourite makeup amongst calm, focussed, organised, dedicated, professional creatives at work. Now, to find a way to get paid for this shit! 😉
Thanks to all those who were involved in making this shoot happen; I can’t wait to see the finished shots! Now just watch this just quickly.
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digital imologue 