Monday, May 7, 2007

 Makeup

 Makeup artists say work isn't about glamour :
Local : Albuquerque Tribune
Login  (Related)  Login  | Contact Us  (Related)   | Site Map  (Related)   | Archives  (Related)   | Subscribe to the paper  (Related)  Subscribe to the paperObituaries  (Related)   | Classifieds  (Related)   | Homes  (Related)   | Cars  (Related)   | Jobs  (Related) 
Home  (Related)  
› Business  (Related)  
› Local Business  (Related)  Makeup artists say work isn't about glamour Workers: Makeup artists

 Julie Medina / Special to The Tribune

 

Monday, May 7, 2007


 Photo by Erin FredrichsTribune

 Tribune

 As photographer Andy Reynolds takes aim, makeup artist Kelly Miller blows on model Elias Gallegos' makeup to speed up the drying time. Miller, who has an extensive resume as a makeup artist in the film industry, travels to locations in her RV, which is full of her tools and whatever tricks she may have up her sleeve to remedy the mishaps in makeup.

 Photo by Erin FredrichsTribune

 Tribune

 Make-up artist Kelly Miller performs some touch-up work on the fake blood she has placed on model Elias Gallegos. Miller's makeup has covered actors, models and even President Clinton. "There's not a lot glamorous about this job," Miller said. "You meet celebrities once in a while, but it is a lot of hard work."

 THE INDUSTRY

 Size: An exact figure is hard to come by, since makeup artists work in varying industries: weddings, local theater, print advertising, etc. There are about 58 artists registered with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees in New Mexico who do makeup for television and movies.

 Getting started: New Mexico does not currently require a cosmetology license for makeup artists. Makeup artist Tarra Day suggests attending as many classes as possible. She said going to Los Angeles for schooling is best, however, the local union - IATSE Local 480 - is starting to organize classes here.

 Average Income: According to IATSE, about 50 percent of the registered makeup artists earn between $30,000 and $50,000 per year. Some are approaching the six-figure mark. Many supplement their income by cross-training for hair, wardrobe, script continuity and more on the set or by working a regular job at a salon.

 Challenges: Consistently finding employment and riding out the down times in a cyclical industry presents unique challenges. Learn to budget carefully and always be flexible.

 FYI: Laurie Hudson, with IATSE Local 480, said that work on photo shoots generally requires beauty, while work on films involves more cut and bruise special effects.

 Makeup artist Kelly Miller still vividly remembers the bodies strewn everywhere - covered in fake blood and faux earth - from one of the most traumatic film sets she has ever worked on.

 It was not traumatic simply because of the gory details, she said, but because everyone knew that what was emerging on the set was a glimpse of the harsh reality that actually occurred in Colorado during the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864.

 "I had to pour blood all over children and make them look butchered," Miller said, shaking her head and sniffling as she looked at photos from the day on her Web site, www.kellymillercreations.com. "There were a few (children) that were very, very quiet. It just made you ill to think about what they did to the women and children - and to have to create a visual picture of it."

 In a profession that is not as glamorous as it might first seem, Miller said days like that from the set of the 1993 short film "Blood Memory" will always stay with her. But when the day ends, she packs up her makeup and moves on to the next assignment.

 Miller is not alone in her quest for the next assignment. There are about 58 makeup artists registered with the local union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 480 - a tenfold increase from just five years ago.

 "Within the last three years we have had a significant number of people move to New Mexico, or back to New Mexico," said Laurie Hudson, secretary and treasurer for the local union. "It has been very interesting. A lot of people have come home - particularly in hair and makeup."

 Film fluctuations

 New Mexico's film industry saw success in the 1990s as a location for westerns, she said. Then, interests changed, westerns were no longer the "flavor of the month," and the film industry moved on to other locations.

 Many artists, like Tarra Day, who relied on movies for work were forced to seek employment elsewhere.

 Day, who has been a makeup artist for 17 years, said she moved to Los Angeles in the Õ90s when all the work here disappeared.

 When New Mexico began offering incentives for movie producers five years ago, the work began to return.

 A few years ago, Day said she decided she was fed up with traffic and did not want to live in L.A.'s congestion any longer. In 2005, she accepted a position doing makeup for a Steven Spielberg mini-series called "Into the West," and moved back to Santa Fe for filming.

 "It was great for me to be able to come home," said Day, who grew up in New Mexico and graduated from Del Norte High School. She said work has been steady here for her since her return and she knows several different producers from Los Angeles who are thinking about coming to New Mexico to film.

 "For me it couldn't be better," Day said. "My family is here. I can have quality of life, but still do the career I have chosen to do."

 Not a glamour business

 The local union has artists that practice in New Mexico and Los Angeles as well as artists that just stay local.

 The makeup artists registered with IATSA range from people who dabbled with makeup in school to those who have been working in the field for 30 years, Hudson said. She said that while hair and makeup are two distinctly separate crafts, many of the artists specialize in one but can practice both.

 Hudson said New Mexico does not require hair or makeup artists to be licensed cosmetologists, but it is strongly encouraged - especially if the artist is going to be working with hair.

 She said work can be sporadic for makeup artists and many of them supplement their income by working in salons. However, she warned, the hardest thing about transitioning from salon work to movies is to realize that it is not a glamour business. Artists, such as Miller, are sometimes armed with only a spray bottle of blood and sacks of dirt.

 "It's a different world," Hudson said. "It's about creating a look. It's not about beauty."

 Sometimes that idea is hard for even the actors to comprehend. Miller said she has had models go into the bathroom and change their makeup after she had finished with them. She said she hands them a wash cloth and a bar of soap and makes them take it all off and start over.

 "You're not playing yourself here," she said she tells them. "So if you don't like eyeliner, it doesn't matter."

 Other times it is the producer who needs guidance about how hair and makeup works. Miller said she has had to explain to producers that women with straight, fine hair cannot have nice corkscrew-styled hair for extended periods of time. It simply will not work.

 However, Miller said, when you do makeup for celebrities, you have to abide by their wishes and make them up as themselves.

 The most exciting celebrity job Miller said she has done was President Clinton.

 "When they first called, I thought it was a joke," she said. "When someone calls you and says they work for President Clinton, please come immediately to a hotel . . . I took a friend with me."

 She said it was easy to make him look good. He chatted with her about her jewelry while his aid was prepping him about his speech.

 "There's not a lot glamorous about this job," Miller said. "You meet celebrities once in a while, but it is a lot of hard work."

 Sporadic, hard work

 Miller said she started out doing makeup in college and for local theater productions. Then, a low- budget movie in Santa Fe called around to local theaters asking for an intern to help with makeup. Miller quickly accepted the position and soon found herself working 14-hour days, six days a week.

 "I had no idea how much work it would be, but it opened a wonderful new door for me that I really didn't know existed," Miller said. "Who would think that someone in Albuquerque, New Mexico, could become a makeup artist?"

 Miller cautioned that the work is a little sporadic and crazy. Sometimes she will work 15 days a month, and other times she only works half a day during the entire month.

 "When I get money I pay all my bills right away," Miller said.

 Miller spoke fondly of the "semi-organized chaos of my life" when she described how her days are constantly changing. She is always on call for producers and will drop everything at a moment's notice to fit in a makeup job. A little bit of rain could change her entire plans for the week.

 Her grandfather doesn't understand how she works and keeps asking her when she is going to get a real job, she said, laughing.

 "I'm the luckiest person," she said. "My work days are different every single day."

 One of the jobs she said left an impression on her was when she was applying makeup to models who were developmentally disabled for an ARCA commercial. When she finished with one of the model's makeup and handed her a mirror, her face lit up.

 "Oh, oh, I'm so beautiful," Miller recalled the model saying. "Ohhhh!"

 "The genuine emotions that came out of it . . . I just stood there in tears," Miller said. "That made everything worthwhile."

 This site does not necessarily agree with posted comments, they are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. Readers will be banned for posting defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy comments. Read our privacy agreement  (Related)  .

 Add your comments

 

(Requires free registration  (Related)  .)

 Username:



 
Password:

  (Forgotten your password?  (Related)  )

 Comment:

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)