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.

Now on Model Mayhem!

This is a little bit of a news to let you all know that I'm now a member of Model Mayhem. This is a great networking site for anyone working in the fashion and beauty industry, not just makeup artists but photographers, hair stylists, models and designers.

So if you're interested in collaborating/working on photo shoots for fashion, editorial and beauty or know of anyone who is, then please feel free to get in touch! I also do makeup for music videos and musicians.

And of course I'm available for brides and other special occasions such as proms in the South East and London area.

You can find me on Model Mayhem at www.modelmayhem.com/amandaoshaughnessy

NARS 15x15

You may have heard that Nars turned 15 years old last week. To celebrate 15 years of going strong, Francois Nars launched the 15x15 Project featuring 15 different looks on 15 famous and beautiful faces such as the gorgeous Amber Valetta, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Marc Jacobs. All looks were created for each of the celebrities and photographed by Francois (of course)!

If you have a spare bob or two, the 15x15 Project has been beautifully catalogued together in a gorgeous, glossy book full of full-page photographs taken during the project. You can grab it for $80, but in the comfort of knowing that all proceeds made from the sale of the book will be going to charities that have been chosen by the 15 celebrities featured. Be quick - it's only available for 30 days.

Check out the website, it really shows off the makeup beautifully and is good fun to navigate through!

https://www.15x15project.com/

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NARS!

The Sartorialist

Okay so I admit it: I've only discovered this guy recently. In the past couple of years I've heard references to him banded around more and more. And then recently I kept hearing about him everywhere - videos, fashion blogs, you name it...

Then the other week on one of my many book store visits to the fashion and makeup section I found a book: 'The Sartorialist' and I finally discovered who he is! I've since found his much talked about (and adored by many) blog and have already recognised some of his shots, the guy is hugely talented, I can't believe it's taken me this long to find out about him properly!

I love the fact that he takes to the streets to find everyday people like you and me and finds beauty and style and a unique edge in them - it's very refreshing and inspiring to see everyday people dressing fantastically, flawlessly and sometimes very charismatically and The Sartorialist, or alternatively Scott Schuman captures these people indefinitely through his lens!

If you haven't seen his work then you can follow his blog at http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/. Scott also films and writes for Style.com, has a monthly page in GQ magazine and many other recurring guest blogs. Check him out, his work is amazing!

Photoshoot Photos - A Taster!

Well I have some very good news this time round - the pictures from the Berlin photo shoot are baaaack! So I wanted to share a few of them with you all so you too can take a ganders! There are plenty more, but I'll be saving a few for my website which is under construction at the moment (by my lovely friends at Toggle)...

In the meantime I hope you enjoy these as much as I enjoyed being a part of creating them. Thank you once again to Enemy Artists for being amazing hosts and hostesses and to Oded for letting me join him on this fantastic opportunity - here's to many more! x

All photos courtesy of Oded Shein copyright 2009.

Back from Beautiful Berlin!

Wow... I'm now back from Berlin and what can I say? It was amazing - especially East Berlin, that side of the city was definitely my favourite! We went to so many places that I couldn't possibly fit them all in here without turning this post into a traveller's guide, haha!

The architecture's breathtaking, you'll notice a stark difference between East and West! Without sounding cheesy I think it's a great example of how fantastic things can come out of the ashes of bad times - East Berlin has had such a tough time in the past and now I think it's the prettier side of the city : )

I think it was also quite an apt place to be considering the current times of the recession - it shows that positive things can come out of the bad! And we also happened to be there on Germany's biggest holiday of the year - Unity Day or Tag der Deutschen Einheit, celebrating the year (1990) that the East side of the city was reunited with the West.

One thing I noticed about the girls in Berlin is that there are some who rock the 1920s look so, so well - they look so cute, but I never had the chance to stop them in the street and ask them for a pose (I need to work on my broken German, haha). I've promised myself that in future I will get piccies!

The photo shoot was so much fun and Oded captured some amazing moments. It was held for Enemy Artists, a label that currently resides in Berlin, and one of their signed singers and her producer. The artists' name is yet to be revealed and the album's currently in production! Of course as soon as more is revealed on their progress I'll let you all know : ) The entire team were all so lovely and made me feel very welcome, it was so lovely to be shown around Berlin and thank you so much for allowing me to join you out there for an amazing weekend!

I'll have shots to show you all very soon, just hold on tight and I'll post them as soon as they're available! And as for Berlin, I have to go back again very soon, I didn't see nearly as much as I'd have liked (so much to see, so little time!) - it must be done!

(In the meantime this is just a little piccie of me fashioning a lovely German shopping guide, hehe!)

Photoshoot of Dreams!

Last week I got a very special call from a very special friend. His words were "Are you ready to be happy?" - of course I didn't say no, haha! I thought he'd managed to secure me a ticket to a gig he was off to see (we both have a secret penchant for the Veronicas haha!). I'd never have been able to guess what he told me instead: "Do you want to come to Berlin with me next Friday?"

That week we'd been talking about a photography shoot that he'd landed for an up and coming female music artist. I'd mentioned that in future when he next gets a shoot in again if they ever need a makeup artist he knows who who to call, hehe! ; ) Well it just so happens that this shoot in question did need me and to top it all off it's taking place in Berlin.

I'm so thrilled, I was shaking for about an hour after the call and ever since feel like I have to keep pinching myself to check that it's real. The shoot opportunity in itself is amazing, the fact that I get to travel and see Berlin is an awesome bonus! I'm fairly untravelled in the 'Abroad' department - I've only ever been to Normandy, France once in my life so the chance to see a bit more of the world is so exciting, especially as it's one of my aims in life, hehe!

The photographer I'm talking about is Oded Shein - a super talented guy, his work is amazing and he's such a lovely person who'll always make you laugh! He's photographed the likes of The Veronicas, Florence and the Machine and James Dean Bradfield (from the Manic Street Preachers - one of my all-time favourite British bands) and he's just one of those people who you know who will go far!

I'm honoured to be working with him and can't wait to tell you more when I can, I'm setting off tomorrow (I love airports, always have done) and will blog about my adventures (hopefully with some photos of the experience) when I return...

To take a look at Oded's work check him out at http://www.odedsheinphotography.com/

Twiggy: A Life in Photographs Exhibition

I loved this exhibition - well and truly, it was also so fun to see some of the magazine covers that Twiggy has featured on and to see how they used to look back in the day!

The exhibition is fantastic because you learn as much about the photgraphers who captured those magical moments as much as Twiggy herself and in Twiggy's own words.

I even discovered that Bryan Adams the photographer is the very same Bryan Adams the musician! But my favourite photo of all on display, maybe because it captures Twiggy at her most natural and smily, is one taken by the late Linda McCartney it's a beautiful shot and Twiggy looks really full of warmth and happiness!

But there's really all sorts of amazing shots of her - one that particularly stood out was the one taken with David Bowie. You shouldn't miss this if you're in the area, especially as it's free, there's no excuse!

Speaking of Bowie, another exhibition 'Beatles to Bowie - the 60s Exposed' showcasing some of Britain's legendary musicians from the swinging 60s will be on display from 15th October to 24th January 2010. It's a must-see for music and pop-culture lovers alike and it'll be bringing me back to the National Portrait Gallery once again very soon : )