The Glitter and Gore – A Make-up Artist’s Heaven!

Very recently I stumbled upon an amazing website called The Glitter and The Gore. Quite simply it’s a make-up image archive, but that description really doesn’t do it justice. The site is described by the curators, as you’ll see, as a place featuring ‘high art make-up’ ranging from ‘glitter to gore’. For those of you who like your Special Effects make-up though, you may be a little disappointed as I’ve yet to see an image with ‘gore’ in it, such as wounds and zombie make-up for instance. It might be a bit misleading; however I’m not sure if the ‘gore’ is to be taken quite so literally!

The site is run by Gina Marr and those behind the blog ‘Creepyisascreepydoes’. Launched in April last year Gina et al scour the internet from top to bottom and corner to corner, managing to uncover the most amazing make-up artistry images – all incredible, all beautiful and many avante-garde and outlandish, they share these with all who love their make-up!

There is often at least one image added each day so on average your eyes get to feast on 30 new inspiring shots per month, if not far more. Further still if you click on each image for more information and for an expanded view, the images are always credited where possible or at the very least the source is given making sure that all those who work hard creating these stunning pieces of art are recognised!

The site’s a perfect encyclopaedia for all who love make-up, make-up artists, photographers, artists and beauty lovers alike! If you’re anything like me you could easily find yourself on here for hours just gawping at each image one by one and I certainly go on there now for my daily fix, excited about what new inspiration awaits round the corner.

Go see for yourself, what are you waiting for? theglitterandgore.tumblr.com

You can find Gina Marr on Twitter

Creepyisascreepydoes is another amazing source of great imagery, art and photography but with mostly a creepy twist (hence the title)! As a side note to warn you, this one’s not for the faint-hearted – I got a bit of surprise spook from one of the images on there today for example, but then I’m not great at coping with all horror imagery as my imagination gets a little carried away, ha!

creepyisascreepydoes.tumblr.com

All images are from The Glitter and The Gore

‘You’ve Got That Feeling’ Music Video by Natalie Ross

You may recall a couple of weeks ago I posted a Making Of video documenting the production of the new music video that I worked on in September, by singer and songwriter Natalie Ross for her latest single ‘You’ve Got That Feeling’. Well the music video premiered at Guildford’s very own live music venue The Boileroom on Saturday 22^nd January and has now been released for all to see and hear!

‘One-woman band’ Natalie Ross is an artist with a barbershop style sound but with a modern twist. Not only does she write her own material but she co-produces and arranges it all as well! As Natalie phrases it in Burning Wick’s Behind the Scenes, the music video for ‘You’ve Got That Feeling’ is a ‘visual representation’ of the song – a story of meeting the right person at the right moment and everything else falling into place!

Directed and filmed by Colin Arnold of The Surgery Productions, the 1940's style music video was filmed in Caterham, Surrey where fantastic jive dancers and extras all gathered to take part in the 1940’s tea dance set-up. Everyone’s outfits were incredible, the dancers were amazing and if you'd have stumbled in on the shoot you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d really gone back in time!

It was a real pleasure to work with Natalie and everyone involved on the day. I hope you enjoy the video as much as we all enjoyed making it!

To hear more of Natalie’s songs, get your hands on the ‘You’ve Got That Feeling’ download single and see dates for future gigs get yourself over to www.natalieross.co.uk

The Surgery Productions is also behind projects such as feature film The Fallow Field and further music videos for singles ‘Ides’ and ‘The Reason (Parasite)’ by UK band Subsource. The latest work to come from Surgery Productions, due for release early this year is the highly anticipated ‘Subsource Dubmentary’ – a feature-length music documentary following the band as they tour Europe and the UK. You can find more on their work at www.thesurgeryproductions.com

You can see Natalie’s video on my website www.amanda-makeup.com or below (double-click for a full-screen view) – sit back and enjoy!

Behind the Scenes!

In September I did make-up on-set of the shoot for singer Natalie Ross’ up and coming single 'You've Got That Feeling'. Producers at Burning Wick filmed a behind the scenes video interviewing Natalie, director Colin Arnold and giving viewers a little taste of the action in making a 1940s music video.

Natalie's video, produced by The Surgery Productions premiers tomorrow night at Celebrating the Girls of Guildford event held by Guildford-based music venue the Boileroom! With a vintage fair in the day and a fantastic array of artists in the evening, including Miss Ross herself, this will be a fantastic event for any lady who loves her fashion and music – what more could a girl ask for?!

You’ll find the Behind the Scenes video from Burning Wick on my website and I’ll be posting the official music video in days to come. In the meantime have a little peek here...

www.amanda-makeup.com

Natalie Ross

Burning Wick

The Surgery Productions

Inspired by... Alex Box by Rankin

This Christmas I was incredibly lucky to receive a book I’ve been after for a very long time – Alex Box by Rankin. This beautiful book is a fantastic collaboration between Alex Box, Make-up Artist and Co-Founder of Illamasqua and world-famous photographer Rankin. Both parties are equally amazing in their fields and together have produced images that will take your breath away and have you looking at them again and again!

With a background in fine art, Alex Box initially began her creative career designing installations and only doing make-up at a shop near her college on a part-time basis to fund her projects. After a while it seemed that make-up was the true path she wanted to explore. To get a feel for her work, her aesthetic, you only need to browse the Illamasqua website or peruse one of their lovely glossy brochures and you’ll find all of her works of art painted on each and every face (or body) displayed.

Alex Box is wonderful at telling a story simply by using a face and/or body as a canvas. She creates beautiful, charming and often dark make-up designs which have your eye roving all over the minute details, wondering how she created the swirls so perfectly or made a face look so ethereal.

Rankin has been a favourite photographer of mine ever since I discovered him. Chances are, if you haven’t heard of him you’ll have definitely seen a piece of his work, whether it be a photograph of one of our icons of today or film. Rankin has been behind two of my recent favourite music videos – Kelis’ ‘Acapella’ and The Noisettes’ cover of ‘Ever Fallen in Love’.

Rankin too, didn’t begin in the field he’s now celebrated for. He went to study accountancy in Brighton before discovering that his true passion was for photography. He loved it so much that he resolutely went back to A Levels to take photography from scratch and the addiction bloomed. Inspired by people, his talent lies in being able to capture people and moments honestly.

When I attended IMATS last January the audience who attended a Q&A with Alex Box were treated to getting their hands on the Alex Box by Rankin book and to have a preview of the images on-screen as the interview progressed. I finally got to have a proper leaf through when I attended a Rankin exhibition ‘Painting Pretty Pictures’ in London a few months ago.

I went through the entire book cover to cover and was completely and utterly captivated. I never seem to tire of looking at each image, in fact I seem to find more to focus on, more to see every time I look at each one! A3 in size, to say the book’s a coffee table book would be an understatement, but nevertheless it now sits on ours, practically taking up half of the width of the table!

I really recommend this for anyone who’s inspired by make-up, photography or even art, because these images are as inspiring as any painting or illustration could be. No stranger to colour or unusual textures, Alex has provided the most unusual inspiration for creating a make-up design and Rankin has captured each piece wonderfully.

Alex Box by Rankin is published by Rankin Photography Ltd. at £50.

Illamasqua can be found here.

Rankin's beautiful portfolio can be seen here.