A makeup artist is someone who uses cosmetic techniques and processes to create beauty upon the human body. In its simplest form, it enhances a person's appearance, bringing out color and features and hiding or smoothing out flaws, using cosmetic products. At its most extreme, makeup artistry creates imaginative characters and special effects for films, television, photography and theatre.
There are two main categories of makeup artist. Cosmetic or fashion artists range from the clerk at the store makeup counter to the artist who prepares fashion models for photo shoots. All sorts understand not only how to make their subjects look their best, but they also usually understand how makeup works in relation to lighting and photography, as they are increasingly in demand for weddings, fashion shoots, corporate headshot photography, and other special events that will be photographed or recorded.
The other main type is theatrical and film makeup artist. This person enhances an actor's features to emphasize the character they play.. In many cases, especially in theatre, makeup artists also have the opportunity to teach actors to apply their own makeup so the artists can focus on the more challenging characters or move on to a new production.
At its most creative, special effects artists create fantasy creatures, the illusion of blood and gore, imaginative sci-fi creatures, characters from eras gone by, and so much more. This field is often regarded as one of the most creative and lucrative areas of makeup, but it can also be one of the most challenging to break into.
The qualities of a good artist include but are not limited to: being great at customer service, using their creativity, excelling at time management, possessing an understanding of art and design, and having solid fine motor and vision abilities
