The Devil is in the Details, 11.2

Last week was one helluva challenge!!

First off: WOW! So many incredible makeups already in the last two weeks. Congratulations to all of the artists on some amazing pieces. That being said, it is always sad to see artists leave, especially this season when everyone is capable of making phenomenal pieces.

Jasmine and Stella both are some of my favorite artists, and I have had the pleasure of learning from them in fun ways. While I will miss seeing you each week on my TV, I am always looking forward to seeing new projects pop up in my feed, and I'm so impressed by the work you continue to do. Much love :) P.S. Jasmine, thank you for the shoutout on my jellyfish alien design last week!
Pictured Left to Right: Me (makeup by Lexi Cusano), Stella Sensel (FXU Professor),
and Lexi Cusano (makeup by myself)

The challenge: 
Because there is good and evil that exists in everyone, use your own "best" and "worst" qualities to inspire an angel and devil character using one model.

Our concepts: All of the artists on the show pour so much of themselves into each look, but this week's challenge made it especially personal, and it was no exception for Seth and I. These ideas are raw and represent the things we love about ourselves and the things we would hope to change.

Ryan: 
My makeup design is a front/back look to hit the idea that these qualities are two sides of the same coin; the angel would be the active face with minor prosthetics, while the cowl would be another face entirely with much more distorted, demonic features.

The angelic quality I chose is 'generosity'. I feel that I am someone who is consistently trying to give of themselves: give my time, my energy, my heart, and my passion to others, most importantly to the people I care about most. Giving so much to others, it is often difficult for me to give to myself, but it brings me more joy to help those I love, no matter how tired I may be or what lengths I have to go to.

However, for my "evil" quality, I chose my mouth: I can be vulgar or profane, have a tendency to gossip, I speak out of turn, and when I'm hurt, I can be short and detached. In contrast to my positive quality, the amount of care I pour out into my life and the lives of others, when I'm upset or burned, I can remove myself from those feelings. The result can be blunt, insensitive words or keeping those words locked in.

Visually, this all needed to translate into my character. I wanted my angel to take inspiration from the seraphim and have six wings, but the two main ones would wrap around the body in a continuous motion. My angel is bright with arms wide open, but has some wear on him since he is giving more of himself away selflessly. The reverse side is still separated by the stained glass halo and shows both clean and worn wings so there is still the reminder of good existing in everyone. My demon's eyes have been replaced by gnawing mouths, chains in their mouth, while his main cavity is tethered together. I wanted the colors to be light and unearthly, but with accents that were more stark.

Seth:
The angel is often referred to as the symbol of purity. But not even the purest of beings can resist the feelings of insecurity. Insecurity can reveal cracks in a person and sometimes show just how impure someone may be underneath their shell.

For me, recently making the leap to be an actor has come with a massive amount of insecurities that come and go: Am I doing it right? Am I doing it wrong? What does this person think? What does that person think? Even though I shouldn't be asking these questions and should be focusing on the work for myself, the insecurities somehow still manage to crack through the shell to reveal ourselves when we have nothing left to hide. Or even when we have no strength to keep our purity.

For my concept, I pulled these ideas from my life through by showing a pure angel character, bright colors and soft forms, being broken away and peeling from the insecurities rotting him away. One of his wings has already fallen off, and the ugly part of him looks diseased and crippled, like how the body would look if we let our fears take us over.

Here is a closer look at all three of our characters:

Top Looks of the Week

Cat and Niko's bride character and Tyler and Emily's architectural beauty were AMAZING! Creating a very traditional angel silhouette played nicely with the huge fabricated wings, but the graceful transition from angel to devil is what makes this such a classic makeup. It looks like it could be a reveal in a James Wan film! And Emily and Tyler created another incredible look! While this one doesn't read as much of a devil to me, the angel aspects are spectacular, and I love the decisions that were made. To approach this character with the non-organic forms and use corrosion to demonstrate corruption was brilliant, and I love the shape of the wing. Great detailing in the sculpt and paint, both teams!

Monster High, here we come!

Cannot wait to see what you create this week! Be sure to tweet and comment on Instagram!

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