Practice on my final desin

In preparation for the assesmente in role of a designer, me and my partner who is going to be the make up artist , have practiced several times my design on me:

I think it isnot bad from a general point of view,but I think the base is very patchy( as you can notice especially on the nose). Also the lips are a bit smudged. Another thing I wanted is the contouring to be bolder, so she needs to apply more colour while making the contouring. When applying the eyeliner, Vicku needs to pay more attention at simetry because the distance from the inner corner of eyebrow to the eyeliner is different on each eye.

Another practice:

In this final result of practising, there are some mistakes: first of all again the base is patchy(even if much less then the last time) and the contouring isn't as bold as it has to be, even if I told her that it needs to be much bolder then that. Also I think that here the eyebrows are not blocked very well because you can still notice the texture. Another little mistake is that the lines  of the eye liner are too thin and the line that goes on the sides of the nose are going too down.

After this we tried to practice the design at home as well, in order to improve the skills for the timed assesment. Here is the result:

I think this time was much better then all the times before because the contouring even on the fore head is bolder and the base is not patchy. The only problem this time was the application of the eyeliner because the lines aren't straight and again the ones from the sides of the nose are going too down. Also, the eyebrows are not blocked very well, but I think it was because she was afraid not to manage to do everything in time. Anyways the improvemt is noticeable.

Final evaluation in the role of a make-up artist

   The title of the assesment for this unit was "The New Elizabethan". We had to act in two different roles: one as a designer, and the second one as a make-up artist. The designer had to create an original make-up design which will reflect the Elizabethan make-up with modern aspects, while the make-up artist had to show their skills in applying the make-up. 

    During the assesment on the 24th of November, I was in the role of a make-up artist. From my point of view, the design I had to work on, was original and it followed the task. Thanks to the number of the times I've practiced the design I found it easy to make on the assesment day.In addion, my partner prepared step by step instructions including pictures of every step I had to do. 

    In the end, I was happy with the final result even if there were some mistakes. First of all I didn't block the eyebrows as well as it should be and I've noticed it when I was  applying the base. Another mistake was the way I applied the foundation on the neck, because on the assesment day, she brought a collar for completing her look and before the assesment she told me to apply the base only under the chin because the collar would cover the whole surface of the neck. So when I went to apply the collar I realized that You could still see my model's skin, and only blending the base under the chin like my designer told me to didn't produce enough coverage. To correct the mistake I just took the foundation brush and applied the foundation on the uncovered surface of the neck, but I didn't manage to blend it very well as I was running out of time. This is why in the end, the base on the neck appeared patchy.

Final design

Final design

http://www.afterthecircle.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/lana-del-rey-born-to-die.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Darnley_stage_3.jpg

For creating my final design I was inspired by one of the Elizabethan portraits, famous as the "Ditchley portrait" and the famous singer and songwriter Lana del Rey. So for the look I wanted to have the white complexion which is the basic element in the Elizabethan look. I also wanted a heart-shape contouring on the forehead and under the cheekbones, with a pinkie shadowing underneath the blue contouring; to smooth the lines and texture. I have chosen "Blue" for contouring because i was inspired by the blue roses on Lana del Reys picture, and also for its psychological meaning: Blue- means conservative, reliable and trustworthy, reflecting the qualities and essence of Queen Elizabeth. I included the deep-pink blusher to reflect the Elizabethan rosy cheeks against the pale complexion. I found that the lips were the most difficult  part of my design to finalise, as I kept changing my ideas on the colour to use. I began with a deep red to a light pink, then silver. In the end I decided to leave them red because, after all those experiments i found that the make-up didn't look as bold and striking as I wanted it to be. So to give it a pop of colour, I chose to keep to my original idea of Red, but in a different shade. Also, red lips are one of the iconic elements for the Elizabethan look as well as Lana Del Rey. On the eyes I thought to include the eye-liner in the final look, but in exagerated way, in order to make it more personal and original. So I'm going to make 4 layers of eyeliner that are going above the eye-brows. In the end of every line  of the eyeliner I want to apply a pearl to create the illusion of a crown, symbol of royality. Underneath the eye on the bottom eye-socket I wanted to apply more pearls for an esthetic reason and also because the pearls are the symbol of purity- which characterize Queen Elizabeth.
 

Contemporary image as inspiration for the New Elizabethan look

For finding the contemporanean image for the inspiration of the Elizabethan  look I was searching a lot, I have downloaded applications where you can find images by typing in the topic and surfing different websites, magazines. Then once I was listening to one of Lana del Rey songs, called " Born to die" and I remembered about her. So I rewatched some of her videos and started looking for her images. From my point of view she looks very Elizabethan, especially in the song's video- Born to die:

http://www.afterthecircle.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/lana-del-rey-born-to-die.jpg

  This picture was decisive, because when I saw it I was sure that my  New Elizabethan inspiration will be Lana del Rey. It is an image full of symbolism in my point of view. First of all the sitter is on a throne wich already gives the idea of royality.She is wearing a kind of crown made of flowers, so the crown gives again the idea of royality and also the flowers used for her crown are blue which mean  trustworthiness, confidence, intelligence and unity. She is also wearing long white dress- symbol of purity. And as already known, the Queen Elizabeth wore also accessories,such as pearls that would symbolize purity, as she was the Virgin Queen. The two tigers on the sides are also iconic because they give the meaning of power, confidence and fearless. All the candels that we can see on the background are probably made of gold- symbol of wealth.
  From the point of view of the make-up Lana del Rey has a whiteish complexion and red lips as usually is present in the Elizabethan look. The element that was symbolic for me in her make-up was her eye-liner, that's why I've decided to use it in my Elizabethan final design, as the eye-liner is an element iconic for her avanguard look.

http://famousface.us/wp-content/gallery/lana-del-rey/lana-del-rey-15.png

http://copenhagenish.me/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/lana-del-rey-flowers-in-hair.jpeg

Here is a face-chart made by me in which I tried to create a kind of Elizabethan/Lana del Rey's look:

Elizabethan portrait as inspiration for the make-up design

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Darnley_stage_3.jpg

The "Darnleu portrait" is the portrait I've chosen as my inspiration for the final make-up design. The pale complexion, the red lips, and rosy cheeks, are definitely the elements I want to use in my final design, as these are the basic elements for creating the Elizabethan look. Paying attention at the details that the Queen is wearing in this portrait, I was thinking that it would be very interesting to include some small details into the final design in  order to  create an original look and symbolic at the same time. So let's observe and analyze the portrait above:

    The Queen is wearing a  luxurious silk  dress and silver gilt thread on the sleeve that reflect her wealth and style.  The exquisitely painted pendant jewel hanging from the queen’s waist is a large red ruby surrounded by Roman gods. Minerva (the goddess of wisdom) is depicted at the top, Jupiter (ruler of the gods) of at the base and Venus(goddess of love), Cupid and Mars (gods of love and war) at the sides. Elizabeth was highly educated and it is possible that this jewel refers to her classical learning. The fan as made of exotic feathers would have been imported from the New World, they show in her portraits how successful she was at world exploration and expansion. Her majesty is also wearing pearls which were used to present Elizabeth as the goddess of the Moon(because of their resemblance to the Moon). They also are considerated symbols of purity. On the top of her head, the sitter is wearing a crown that seem to be made of pears as well and it symbolises royality as well as it is significant for what She was called- " The virgin Queen"(because made of pearls).

    Of course I cannot put all these iconic elements into my make- up design, because it will be overfull of details,that's why I have chose to use one of the symbolic accessories- The Pearls. I've chosen the pearls because I believe that they are the most symbolic for the Queen as they are used in the majority of her portraits. In addition I'm thinks that Including the crown in the final design would be a good idea as it is made of pearls and the most important thing is it's meaning- Royality.

Here is a facechart in which I tried to represent an Elizabethan look including some iconic elements like white complexion, red lips, red cheeks and pearls:

The white dots are interpretated ast pearls.

Reference for symbols: http://www.npg.org.uk/assets/files/pdf/displays/concealedandrevealed/panel3.pdf

Elizabeth- The Golden Age

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c5/Elizabeth_golden_poster.jpg/220px-Elizabeth_golden_poster.jpg

 
  In 1998, the Indian director Shekhar Kapur has brought to the screen the news of the accession of Elizabeth I in an acclaimed and highly successful, "Elizabeth." In 2007, almost a decade later, Kapur turned back to tell us the story of the famousQueen Elizabeth in the film named: "Elizabeth - The Golden Age." The action, this time, is located in 1585 (much later than the events of the first film), but to assume the role of Elizabeth is still Australian actress Cate Blanchett. The remainder of the cast sees confirmed Geoffrey Rush in the part of the Queen's loyal right-hand man, the secretary of state Sir Francis Walsingham, busy foiling numerous plots to overthrow the throne of England.

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    The screenplay, written by William Nicholson and Michael Hirst focuses attention on the so-called "golden age" of Elizabeth and divides the plot into two distinct sections. On one side shows the historical and political context of Europe in those years, when the Queen is forced to juggle the dark conspiracies hatched by Philip II of Spain , who thanks to the tip of the Church of Rome manages to eliminate the hated opponent and to restore Catholicism in England. On the other hand, however, we see the private and intimate life of Elizabeth, committed to reconcile her identity as a woman with the responsibilities  as a Queen. and so, as her beauty begins to fade, you will find the sovereign love of the intrepid Walter Raleigh , but decides to sacrifice his own feelings to devote himself entirely to the service of the state. And in fact, the main theme of "Elizabeth - The Golden Age" is the representation of a figure always immersed in his public role, but at the same time must deal with their own weaknesses and fears, and bear the burden imposed by a "unlimited freedom".
    Apart from the plot, I found this film very interesting for it's small details which in reality were essential at the same time. We can notice how worried she was for her ageing process, we can notice the way she care about the appearence and how her suffering and unrealizable desires lurk within her.
    In this film, there was a detail that imprisoned my attention and it was: " the blue dresses" .The dominant color of Queen Elizabeth's dresses was blue. Blue is the color of heaven and authority. This color is one of trust, honesty and loyalty. It is sincere, reserved and quiet, and does not like to make a fuss or draw attention. This is also a color that will be present not only on my final Facechart for the Make-up assesment but olso for my hair design.
   

http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/31700000/Elizabeth-The-Golden-Age-elizabeth-the-golden-age-31785862-334-500.jpg