Introducing me
my name is Heidi, I became a student at Solent university in September 2014 taking the course BA HONs hair and makeup design. To me choosing university was a big decision, deciding what university to choose and what course will suit me best. I therefore decided to take a gap year after college in order to find my feet.
before university i had chosen to go to a local college studying firstly business studies , travel and tourism music and dance which soon changed to graphics and history. I enjoyed these topics but in the back of my mind I had always had a love for more things that were practical rather than academic such as art and music. When i started working in retail at Topshop one of the biggest fashion retails and high street brands , i then started to take an interest into all things fashion , this was when i made the decision of going to university, however to take fashion styling . However throughout my gap year i decided to do some research on the course choices Solent had to offer and came across hair and makeup , after taking into consideration I decided me as a person would be best suited to the hair and makeup course and therefore started to apply for the course instantly, whilst applying for the course i found an old careers opportunity meeting review i had filled out, it reflected back on a career choice i had chosen nearly four years ago , which was hair and makeup design for theatre and film, this therefore confirmed my descision.
Throughout my reflective log I will be talking about my first year of university studying the hair and makeup course and will be mentioning my key high and low points throughout the year which I will take with me through my university journey
A fresh start
When starting university i was a little nervous due to lacking the skills in hair and makeup design, i had no previous experience in the field, although i knew i was going to university to learn the skills i was a little concerned about my ability on picking the skills up , with a slow start to my journey during first year I experienced many lows such as confidence with my designs during the Elizabethan topic and also the ability to make my line work appear neat and tidy however towards the end of the year many of the things i felt were letting me down turnt into improvements learning from my own mistakes and taking on peoples feedback helped me to grow as an artist. After reflecting back on my designs at the beginning of the year and comparing them to designs which i created towards then end of the year also gave me self confidence and conveyed to me how i had improved.
A change in attitude
From the start of my first year at university to throughout the year i have noticed a change in attitude i have more self confidence and willingness to carry out tasks particularly at work, i also give feedback when needed and am more confident with talking to people. After carrying out timed assessments during my first year at university i also feel, my time management towards tasks in general are much more efficient . i feel the main things i have learnt during my first year at university are: Motivation; development and opportunity.
The improvements
After my first year at university there were a few things i can openly admit i need to improve such as keeping on top of the work load and not falling behind, although the workload can be quite daunting at times i need to remain motivated otherwise falling behind will lead to rushing the course and an increase in mistakes.
another thing i feel i need to improve on is driving my development always, always, always practice . the more i practice and develop my ideas the stronger they will become .
Not being afraid to ask for feedback or advice, by asking for advise this will allow me to gain help on my weakest areas in order to turn them into strengths, and opinions will allow me to know what people really think about my work this will give me more self confidence or make me be able to recognise my faults or things which may need to be improved.
giving feedback , to a team allows you to have an opinion and share your ideas this is something which i feel i can improve on in order to build my confidence.
Strengths throughout the year
factors which i consider to be my strengths throughout the year, include: a thorough technical file, my technical file included a signficant amount of information about the techniques products and health and safety rules and regulations, this was something which i found very useful which i could revert back to throughout the year in order to improve my skills, the techniques i carried out several times in my own time, i added the photographs to my file so my lecturer was able to notice an improvement. My Miss Havisham design and also my Quentin design which both explored the use of special effects and relating a character to TV series and relating the character styling to the correct period of time.
key moments
I gathered together many of my designs which I felt were key moments and really showed my potential as a makeup artist:
The first two images were from the Elizabethan topic, me being the artist and having to recreate my partners designs .
The picture (left) conveys the final outcome of my design which I had developed from the Elizabethan topic, which my partner had to recreate during the time assessment. I felt this was a key moment throughout the year due to it being my first design for the year.
The picture (right) was during my first semester the task I had to carry out was the three brushes challenge , I felt this was a key moment for me as it conveyed when my line work and me work as an artist started to improve
The next two photographs are from the Victorian topic and having to recreate Miss Havisham from the great expectations novel by Charles Dickens. I felt the continuity assessment was a key moment for me as I started to improve my skills in terms of special effects and also improve on time management . the assessment also gave me an idea of the meaning of continuity why it used in TV and film and why it is such an important aspect.
The photograph (left) was the death masks which had to be created as part of the Victorian topic I felt this was one of my key moments as it allowed me to work more with different styles of makeup and also focus more on shadowing the face.
The photograph (right ) was the outcome of my informal Estella assessment, another character from the Victorian novel the great expectations. I felt his was another one of my key moments throughout the course as it allowed me to create a style of makeup relating to a certain period of time which appeared quite natural, I also felt during the assessment was en I started to become more confident with the hair side of the course.
The next two photographs convey my interpretation of horror, I decided to include these pieces as I felt proud of the outcome .The photograph (right) was a my time consuming piece .
The photograph (left) conveys my understanding of special effects ,which was my chosen option for my second year of the course. I kept practicing this technique in order for it to appear more realistic therefore I felt this was another key moment my year.
The photograph ( right) conveys my understanding of gathering an presenting visual information, it also convey my improvement of the use of photoshop and creating an electrical moodboard which was something I struggled with at the beginning of the year therefore I felt this was a key moment for me.
The photographs above also show examples of moodboards which I created for my gothic horror topic in order to convey my ideas.
here is the outcome of my final design for Mrs Laderman a character which was designed with a story line and had relate to a chosen TV series given, I felt this was a key moment for as my first attempt I was unhappy with so I took feedback and advice from my lecturer on what I could do to improve my design. I also felt the character styling suited t character well and also complimented my use of our blending and line work.
The photograph (left) I felt was a key moment for me as I carried out a style of makeup for a brief which i was given, which was something new to me. I felt I interpreted the brief well .
The photograph(right) was another one of my favourite pieces of work throughout first year, I had to create a character which would relate to a chosen TV series , I felt the character styling related to the correct time period and also story line and the lighting also really complimented the makeup. The makeup I also felt conveyed how much I had improved as an artist throughout the year in terms of application, special effects and line work.
Thinking critically
what have I done well throughout the year?
Once I was able to find the motivation I found keeping on top of the work load in terms of my ideas and coursework was something I felt I done well throughout my first year of university .
From previous experiences from the last year I felt I was able to improve me skills through practice, this was something I identified when carrying out my technical file .
Another factor which I felt I did well was taking on others advise in order to improve my work till it was at its best, I carried this out in my first year of university by going to tutorials each week for lessons such as contextual studies and digital imagery.
What needs to change?
Since finishing my first year of university I have realised through working as a part time senior sales assistant at Topshop I really need to drive my development in order to get to where I want to be. For example if I have an idea or something which I belief I can make successful, develop and adapt the idea .
Another factor I feel needs to change is my lack of confidence , believing in myself in order to make something successful, for example if I have an idea which I feel could work well I need to have the confidence to try the idea .
Feedback and advise is another thing I feel is an action I need to consider taking , taking advise or feedback from someone will help my ideas to develop . from previous experiences personal opinions are key.
In terms of my skills I feel there is always room for improvement, after reflecting back on my first year of university can see how much I have grown as a makeup artist and also what needs to be improved, such as my linework. making the application more precise in order to give the overall look a more professional finish.
In terms of responses and feedback something which needs to be taking into account next year is exploring the topic and conveying my own style of understanding the study, for example moodboards, sketches brainstorms and also referring to the key reading list, although reading may not be one of my strengths reflecting on the Victorian topic, the great expectations during my first year of university I felt reading the novel gave me a much better understanding.
Strengths throughout the year...
Some factors which I feel were my strengths throughout the year are:
my willingness to learn new things, I attended almost every lecture in order to gain the maximum amount of information needed I order to grow as a make up artist. I also attended every one to one tutorial in order to use this as an opportunity to ask any questions needed or gain any advise.
my motivation, throughout the year although there is room for improvement I felt I was as motivated as I could be in order to keep up to date with any work given to me .
good use of free time: this was another factor which I felt was a strength throughout my first year of university, due to having minimal experience in the field and also being a commuter this meant I had a lot of free time therefore I used this as an opportunity to catch up on my coursework load and also any skills I felt needing improving.
weaknesses throughout the year...
After taking into consideration the strengths I have gained throughout the year I also have to take into advise my weaknesses. Factors which I feel I need to work on are: my time management during an assessment although I manage to complete any timed assessment in due time I feel I am constantly rushing to finish as well as watching the clock this could be portrayed , as unprofessional , something which I could have perhaps done differently is plan ahead by planning ahead or practicing the design more times in order to become ore confident with managing the design .
Another factor which I feel I need to work on is adapting my understanding to the topic, although after taking on feedback from my first topic- the Elizabethans which was to develop ideas by creating moodboards and brainstorms I feel I could have adapted my understanding further in terms of podcasts films and perhaps key reading, this Is something to take on board during my second year of university,
Another factor which I definitely can identify as a weakness as it was something which I really struggled with was digital image, the use of the camera was something which I slightly improved on during my second semester but in terms of getting to grips with the editing side of the lesson was something I struggled with , perhaps watching tutorials would have been something I would have done differently .
influences
factors which I have feel I would have done differently ad perhaps given a chance would have been perhaps look into the costume designing for my characters in order to complete the look especially for the character briefs such as Miss Havisham and my Elizabethan project this would have helped to compliment the hair and makeup . This will be something which I will consider giving a chance during my second year of university .
Many of the factors which influence my ideas for my designs came from internet research based on makeup from similar categories I felt this was a good Idea when having to create periodical hair an makeup however for the contemporary designs what I feel I could have done differently is perhaps use further research such as magazines and the vogue archive to become inspired by other designers work and develop my own style into them.
Most successful moment throughout the year I felt was towards the end of my first year , the Miss Havisham design, although everything was quite fast past it gave me an insight of what working in the industry would really be like and I also was able to experiment with special effects for my design which gave me a clear idea on what option I wanted to take for my second year of university.
Another successful moment from my first year I felt was creating my Quentin character I was given a lot of spare time to create my idea and was also given the freedom to work outside of the studios on location with other people using the skills I knew and thought would work well.
