Makidada…

I knew I wanted – needed – to do something to represent The Color Purple” for black history month. The grass in my backyard had reached a nice hue of green (which is rare) and I decided to take advantage of it. I found the flowers in my garage from a backdrop that I had made for easter two years ago, and the hat is something that has been lying around my house randomly (seriously, I don’t know where this hat came from). I originally thought I wanted to wear a dress. But going through my mother’s closet, I found a sweater that I thought would fit the tone that I was looking for just as well. I grabbed my camera, lens and tripod and headed to the backyard. I think I captured the essence of what I was looking for, but I would really like to try this again with two sisters. I think the true power in that movie came from the relationship between two sisters. I’m already generating ideas on how I can do this again, but better.

Nikon D3300 (18 – 55 mm kit lens).

It’s Black History month. I’ve decided to use this month as a means to prompt myself with different photos in celebration. It’s been fun, but challenging.

The above is a photo I took a few months ago. I printed it out and had this idea that I wanted to paint on it. I wanted to see the messy, streakiness of the paint. There is something about that that really excites me.

I was driving through the neighborhood, headed to a makeup store that I had been wanting to visit for some time. Glossier. It’s a store that’s “deep” in L.A., and by that, I really just mean that it is in an area of L.A. that I don’t bother with. L.A. is huge after all. Driving there, I was inspired by this runway of palm trees and I thought to myself “this is so L.A.”. Consequently, it started a movement for me to snap pictures of other things that remind me of L.A.

Inspired by Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem. Adding the zipper piece to my face turned out to be harder than I thought. I was inspired by some of the makeup looks I had come across on Instagram months ago and new I wanted to use that same method to interpret this poem.

I used eyelash glue to try and make the zipper stick and I used a powder highlight on my nose and lips. I realized I needed a little more pizzazz, so I added some jewels to my lips.

I wanted the feel of the photo to convey a message that says that we wear a mask that hides the true beauty that we really are as African Americans.

Golden, glistening and jeweled.

Much love,

Whit

“Unleash your inner artist.” -James Charles

Tried my best to recreate a look that was inspired by James Charles. I’ve just recently started watching his YouTube videos and have been eating up his entire artistic vibe. Makeup is his art, and not just his was to hide flaws that the world says to hide and I dig it. I want to start having more fun with makeup as opposed to depending on it.

The drawings on my face are supposed to be honeycombs. They aren’t great, but with practice, they’ll get better. I added in some bronze and black jewels to help with the effect as well as some real honey to drizzle down my face for more of a pop (also inspired by James Charles).

When Euphoria aired on HBO this past Spring I was instantly intrigued. The creators of the show were not just telling a high school drama with words, actions or even clothing, they were doing it with makeup.

I’m a lover of the Cinematic Arts and all that goes with it. Writing, cinematography, set designs, costumes, makeup and music. So the fact that the show was using makeup as a means to pull me in further into the story of a few teens was such a unique thrill. I am even more excited to see that there are YouTube beauty gurus providing tutorials on how to do these looks. I knew mine wouldn’t do it justice, but I still wanted to try. So I used a combination of two different ABH palettes (Jackie Aina and Soft Glam), some NYX glitter, and some crafts jewels to try my best and these are the results.

How surprised she was when she learned that she had never been a duckling at all. She was, in fact, a swan.

Decided I wanted to make 2020 the year that I reach new heights with my creative itch. Because, well, “why not”? I purchased some jewels from Michael’s and some eyelash glue from Ulta to try and achieve the “black swan” look. This was my first time attempting to do my makeup any way other than my norm, so while it didn’t come out perfect, I think it got the point across.

I also rented an 85 mm Tamron lens for the day  to pair with my Nikon D3300  (I am thinking that the 85 mm and the Nikon D750 will be my tech purchases for 2020). I wanted to see if if it would give me a different look. I was slightly thrown off by how close to my face the photos felt (I work in a really small corner), but with a little maneuvering, I was able to find the positioning that I liked.

I am now curious to see how else I can use makeup to tell a story.