Blog Post 4, peer review
I chose to review Xiuyijian Jiang’s ‘blog post 3’ due to its correlation to my degree, ‘hair, makeup and prosthetics for performance’, and the interpretation of a character creation from the perspective of a non-performance student.
I thought it was really interesting to see a creative director’s perspective on performance makeup. Although fashion and performance makeup are similar disciplines, performance makeup serves a different purpose. Although artistic interpretation is a big part of it, there are certain techniques that are used for different performances.
Xiuyijian speaks about how the first image is surrounding the subject of painted illusion and distortion effects. I have covered similar techniques in class. The idea of using shading and highlights to change the shape of the face in multiple different ways to age the person, change their features, etc. This technique is often used for stage performances or character makeup and depending on the type of performance it is required for it will be more heavily exaggerated. Xiuyijian states that ‘Half face is joy; the other half is sorrow I think’ (Xiuyijian Jiang, 2020, blog post 3, internet blog). To me this image appears to present character ageing makeup, but without the full background I cannot be sure. I could see Xiuyijian was interested in the injustice of sweatshops, which highlights the importance of social responsibility through the look created. The questioning of sustainability within sweatshops is also approached through this look, especially within the torment shown in the woman’s appearance through the use of stitching and bruising.
It would be interesting to hear Xiuyijian go into more depth about the perspective on sweat shops and why this makeup look is so imperative to displaying the three key themes within better lives. I also would of loved to hear more about Xiuyijian’s experience while experimenting with makeup, and observed to see if there were any correlations with their own course.
I thought it was really awesome that Xiuyijian was able to create the final design concept using digital effects. It really helps visualise the final idea and how the makeup would be presented on the model. It is also really visually identifying to include the sewing needles in the final look as a personification to the individual’s disruptive career. My only suggestion would be to maybe change these to stitches rather than sewing needles, in order for it to be a more realistic outcome.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed observing Xiuyijian’s final outcome from the perspective of a creative director on a performance-based craft surrounding issues within the fashion industry.
Reference:
Xiuyijian Jiang’s blog