Every journey has a beginning and I guess this was mine. About 7 and a half years ago October of 2013 I subbed in as a makeup artist at the Devil’s Attic Haunted house. I later became the makeup manager from 2015-2020. Before they let me on the makeup team full time I had to prove myself and show more in my portfolio than zombie makeup. I knew if I was going to prove myself I needed to do something different. I decided to go in more of a sci-fi direction because I thought horror would be expected.
My mind immediately went to Star Wars for inspiration. I knew I couldn’t really replicate what had already been seen on screen with the limited experience I had 7 years ago. Mainly for fear of it being ripped apart by fan boys. I decided to create my own character that I thought could live in the universe Lucas had created. My friend, and at the time my roommate Chris Humphreys was also a photographer and offered to take the photos for me. This later turned into three makeups instead of just the one. All these years later I have decided to go back and improve these looks and reimagine them.
The first look in what became a series was based on Zam Wesell which was the assassin in Clone Wars Episode 2. Zam was sent to kill Queen Amidala. The makeup I ended up with looked nothing like Zam on our model Olivia Emmaline, which was the point. I wanted to create an assassin class kind of what the Madolorians are to bounty hunters. I used water activate makeup and grease paint. Chris Later edited her eyes totally black. I knew nothing of contact lenses nor did I have the budget for such things. I was pretty happy with how it all turned out at the time and Chris Killed it with the edit.
Then
Photo: Chris Humphreys
Model: Olivia Emmaline
Attacking these looks years later with my Friend and Photographer Misha Kidewell my main objective was of course to do them better but also to try and stay true to the original vibe. With the Zam inspired look I knew I wanted to keep the painted on mask as it was the main focus of this assassin clan in my head, which I called the “Aikoat”. Model Tia Kinser and I talked about wardrobe and how the character would want to cover up her skin and probably wear black so she could remain under the radar. This influenced doing the painted on “mask” in black rather than a bright purple. I feel like I used bright colors originally because I thought it was showing off when in reality it made no sense. The all black we decided to go with may not be as in your face impactful but it makes for a way more stealthy look. Having the eyes being all black for this would have been too much though. I went with a more organic looking contact lense from Primal called Jinx.
Now
Photo: Misha Kidwell
Model: Tia Kinser
The second look Chris and I did was a surprise. Initially. I was just supposed to be doing one look but we had another model there that day named Beth Beck. It was suggested that we go ahead and knock out another look since we had time. I agreed but was totally unprepared. I think I had been watching a lot of Doctor Who and the first thing that came to my mind was the Cat People from the David Tenant years. Out of the three looks I ended up doing I never really liked this one. Chris did a great job on the edit and Beth looked amazing. The issue I had was that the makeup didn’t look like it belonged in the Star Wars universe.
Then
Photo: Chris Humphreys
Model: Beth Beck
When thinking about how to reimagine this look with Misha and model Ve Reibel I had a hard time getting past the feline look. Chris had edited the original looks eyes to have that cat shape. I had ordered some Amazing lenses from Primal for the vertical pupil look actually modeled after the Eye of Sauron. I made the decision to of course keep the eyes but to let that inspire a more reptilian look. To me this felt more like it belonged in some strange bar on Tatoine.
Now
Photo: Misha Kidwell
Model: V Reibel
The day after the initial 2 makeups Chris came to me saying it didn’t feel right doing just those looks, that we need one more for it to be a series. Unlike the feline look this gave me a few days to plan a makeup. I called in actress and model Caitlin Clemons who I had worked with at the haunted house. I went with a much warmer pallet on this look for contrast. I added some blue speckles to her forehead and her shoulders. Caitlin had her own contacts from working at the Devil’s Attic haunted house which we used. The lenses didn’t really fit the character but it’s what we had and saved Chris on editing her eyes.
Then
Photo: Chris Humphreys
Model: Caitlin Clemons
Rethinking this look with Misha I knew I wanted to expand on the blue speckles and make them more of a focal point. I love how alien looks in the Star Wars universe play with color so I wanted to do something bold and really play with color theory. Melanie Smith had this amazing emerald green hair that was a beautiful contrast with all of the warm tones. I also picked some more fitting lenses from Primal to go with the character.
Now
Photo: Misha Kidwell
Model: Melanie Smith
For those being the first non-zombie makeups and on top of that the first makeups I ever did for photos I am still proud of them. Given all these years I am so happy I had the opportunity to go back and revisit these. I am so happy with how these new makeups look. Maybe in 7 years I will update them again. Thank you so much to all involved, then and now. This has been a really fun project.
All of the lenses used from www.primalcontactlenses.us
