Final Unit Evaluation

This unit I have really enjoyed learning new techniques, especially the mould making. I found it really interesting to use low tech materials to create the appearance of body modifications, and really enjoyed creating different effects using materials that either weren’t intended for make up, or that we had used to create different looks with previously. I think it was really important for us to push the boundaries with make up so we know what we can do and what we are capable of. I am really happy with how my first and second anthropological images went, especially the second one, and feel that they look good together as a pair with the similar but not identical designs. I enjoyed using wax and cutting into it, but did struggle with blending it into the skin and making it pick up the same as skin under the studio lighting, which I practiced and improved slightly, so will continue to practice and improve. I found that with this brief I found so many things that inspired me, so at times I did find it hard to narrow down my ideas but through practices and research I managed to get down to 3 designs; anthropological image 1, anthropological image 2 and the final design using a mould. I feel that I really understood and enjoyed the mould making process, and I am definitely happy that we learned this as I can use this process for so many future tasks and feel that it is great knowledge to have. I did struggle with the blending of the prosthetic when I first tried, but I know why this was so I can work on it and improve. I redesigned my mould so that it would better fit on the forehead area and won’t need as much space to blend out. When creating my final mould image I found it useful that I had tried it before so I knew what to do to blend it well. One of my prosthetics took a little more time to blend as the glue wasn’t fully dry but the left hand prosthetic went on well and blended into the skin really successfully so I am happy about that. I have been enjoying experimenting with drawing and collaging more this term and will definitely take this into next term as I found it was a good way of trying things out and playing around with application techniques. I struggled to find inspiration for my final mould design more than one or two images, but I still feel like I managed to create an interesting and unique design with the teeth impressions. I enjoyed looking at contemporary fashion uses of special effects as it really brings an element of variety to our work, and shows that the techniques we are learning can be applied in many ways and it expands our knowledge and experience.