Designs and Influence

When producing my designs for my New Elizabethan, I had to take any things into consideration. My aim was to be as experimental as I could, but with clear influence from the Elizabethan Era. My first design was influenced by Pat McGrath's soft but vibrant look on model Eva Jay Kubatova, by Steven Meisel for Vogue Italia, February 2002. I admired how the luminous colours were blended so evenly onto the skin, creating a smooth, gradual shape. The focus of this image is clearly on the makeup, as it stands out in the photo, whilst her hair, skin and clothes are all of a sepia tone, which contrasts against each other. The use of joining the colour on the eye to the cheeks was a technique that I wanted to use in my design, as the makeup flows and isn't disjointed.

Makeup Artist: Pat McGrath
Stylist: Lori Goldstein
Hair: Orlando Pita
Photographer: Steven Meisel
Model: Eva Jay Kubotova
http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f109/vogue-italia-february-2002-eva-jay-kubatova-steven-meisel-70583.html

I particularly liked this design, as I used the colours of the Elizabethans; red, white and black. These colours work well together because of the contrast, much alike the contrast of the neon pink and oranges in McGrath's work. For this design I would block out the eyebrows using the glue technique, instead of plucking them out like the Elizabethans did. The eyebrows would then be drawn on very arched and thin, as this was a sign of aristocracy and intelligence. I wanted this makeup to have extreme contouring on the cheekbones, which would be enhanced by the contrast of the red above the cheek bones. The base of the skin would be a mixture of the lightest shade on the Kryolan Foundation Pallete and the Illamasqua Skin Base. This would add a contemporary twist, as the Elizabethan's aimed for a pure white face. The lips would be in a dark red compared to the berry-red that the Elizabethans wore, which further makes this design more contemporary. I feel this design is quite safe, but think I could push myself further to enhance this more. 

Another influence of my designs is this makeup by Hyea W. Kang for Vogue Korea, in October 2002. Once again the makeup is very soft and blended perfectly on the face, so that the colour seeps into one another rather very naturally, rather than being very forced and disjointed. I particularly like the white paste that outlines her face and is dragged down the neck, as it brings a messy element to the very soft powdery look, contrasting these two techniques. 

Makeup : Hyea W. Kang
Vogue Korea, October 2002.
somethingvain.tumblr.com

This was my second idea for the makeup for my New Elizabethan. I used design 1 as a basis, using the same joining eye and cheek makeup, but made the contouring much more extreme and sharp, making this more contemporary than the rounded blush of the Elizabethans. This sharpness contrasts against the soft powdery look that I was achieving by using the powder products rather than the wet/grease products. Once again I would block the eyebrows out, and draw them back on very thinly like the Queen did herself. I would use a monochromatic purple colour scheme, to add a contemporary feel to the piece. The lips would be a deep plum colour,which would be balanced out by the black shadowing of the eye socket. I would like to develop this idea further, and experiment with shape of the eyeshadow. 

When searching for inspiration on Pinterest, I stumbled upon this image, by and unknown makeup artist. I was immediately drawn to the boldness of the eyes and their contrast against the nude face. The eye is really drawn towards the eyes of the model, and seeing as Elizabeth yearned to have the attention of people for her beauty, this seemed like a very good basis for my design.

Unknown Makeup Artist/Photographer
Pinterest

I wanted to use this image as a basis for my work. I decided to make this design more bold with the use of the hard black line. As I wasn't sure about whether to join the line up, I split the face chart in half and completed two designs. The left side I prefer to the right, purely because I don't feel by joining the line I achieve anything. The shape roughly creates a heart-outline, a shape that was used particularly for the hair of the Elizabethans. The base of the skin would be a pale white, just like Queen Elizabeth herself, which creates a really high contrast of the shapes of the eyes and the lips.

My last design was experimenting with shapes further. I wanted to see how I could use shapes to produce a contemporary design, and use the original Elizabethan colours, red, black and white. This design I particularly like based on the sharpness of the lines, which would be a complete change from the rounded and soft blush of the Elizabethans.