Face Charts

In our practical with Kat, we began creating our own designs for our final Contemporary Elizabethan look. We looked at the work of many makeup artists and fashion designers, who have included the Elizabeth inspiration in their work.


Kirsty Mitchell
Mitchell is a photographer that I have referenced much of my work to through my education. In A-Levels I studied her work, in connection to my fairytale theme. This image is derived from a collection from 'Wonderland', which is created in memory of her mother Maureen. When her mother died in 2008, she escaped her desperation through her camera. She was still a fashion designer at the time, and with the help of makeup artist Elbie Van Eden, used this project as a positive, working on the weekends in the woodland that surrounded her home. She created masterpieces that are undeniably magical, making her fantasies real. 'Wonderland' is an ongoing project the Mitchell works on, and she has been producing these images for 5 years. This is a piece named 'The White Queen', produced in 2012. There is a clear influence of the Elizabethan Era through the costume, and hair and makeup. Her hair is in the typical heart-shaped style that Queen Elizabeth wore herself, with curls at the front of the head for decoration. There is a modern twist of the hair being weaved as a pattern over the decoration, and sprayed white, as if her cold look is producing waves of ice. The makeup is also inspired by the Elizabethan era, her eyebrows have been removed or hidden by the makeup artist, as the Elizabethans would do this to convey intelligence. I particularly like the use of bold eyes contrasting the pale white stare.
(Kirsty Mitchell, Published 2012, 'The Story Behind Wonderland' (online), [viewed on 03/11/2014], available from: http://kirstymitchellphotography.com/galleries/wonderland/the-story-behind-wonderland/)

I created two face charts that are influenced by the Elizabethan Era. On one, I focused on having the model very very pale, no eyebrows, and blue lips. I decided that the model would be very pale as that is how Elizabeth herself wanted her skin, and the no eyebrows as many women plucked theirs out but had drawn them back on. My modern twist was to not draw them back on, and instead of a bold red lip, I chose blue. I would like to try this out on a real face to see how I liked the look on a real person. My other look was a more contemporary version, with straight, high arched eyebrows, black blusher and red and black ombre lips. The application of the blush would be very Elizabethan, having spots of colour rather than lines of colour. I would keep the face pale, and the eyes very plain. This look is more of an Asian influence, the model slightly resembles a Geisha, which I was not wanting to convey.