The title is a quote by Pablo Picasso. I went down to the Seattle Art Museum with my dad today to look at the exhibit of his work. I noticed that high on the plain white walls above the work were quotes on art by the man himself. As I wandered through the galleries with my dad I thought about how incredible it is to be able to capture and display work that spans a person's career so that the progression and evolution of style can be traced. Picasso had a lot to say that he expressed through his striking paintings, drawings and sculpture. As I examined his faces I started to think about makeup (as I invariably do when looking at a face) and how it's like drawing and painting.
I thought about the title quote and how it could apply to all art forms, specifically makeup. It's a bold assertion and I wanted to understand what the man meant and whether it was a toss-off provocation or relevant. I've decided that in terms of makeup, this idea is applicable and actually fits nicely with my recent discovery of minimalism. It's like this: a woman has her makeup done to the max--full coverage foundation, powder and concealer. If it's done well she looks polished and pretty. It's an art form. But then you look at her in different lights and you start to see that she doesn't need that much coverage, that her natural skin is quite lovely without all the product. The art is a lie that tells her she needs to have perfectly matte, monochromatic skin. The truth is, you realize she can probably get away with a touch of concealer and a better moisturizer. It might be a stretch, but it was a fun mental exercise!
A small oil painting in greens, reds and yellows caught my eye at the very beginning of the exhibit. It was of one of Picasso's close friends, lying in a tomb with a single candle burning. You can see the gunshot wound to his head, and the description mentioned that Picasso's friend had committed suicide over heartbreak, which inspired the painting and plunged Picasso into his blue period. It was a very emotionally intense piece and my dad lightened the mood by saying, well, I bet you could conceal that wound with makeup no problem! We had just been talking about the possibilities of my makeup career and he mentioned working on cadavers for open-casket funerals. My dad's joke got us past the macabre and started me thinking about how the artist captures a face.
Picasso painted many pictures of women in both the abstract style he's famous for and realistically. His work is direct and interpretive. I looked at many of the pieces from the perspective of a makeup artist and was very impressed at the way he defined a woman's heavily-lidded eyes, or brightly highlighted a cheekbone and forehead. An advanced technique in makeup artistry is contouring--where you use different tones to shade and highlight areas of the face. Looking at Picasso's drawing studies especially inspired me to explore contouring more on my models. It's a different way of working on the face--a way of bringing out bone structure more than any color ever could. In order to master this technique I think you have to see the face the way a visual artist would, by examining the form in front of you, seeing the shadows, the light and the interplay of features.
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