Illustration testing

I decided to try out Adobe Illustrator to create an image of lips, which is a main focal point of my project and also to include my theme title, organic beauty. I did this completely free hand and I am very pleased with how it turned out considering I was using my trackpad to draw. I do believe I have a lot to learn with illustrations, which is something i am very keen to learn!

I initially wanted the image to be just an outline, in black and white but it turned into more of a pop art image. 

Relevant Copy Ideas

As part of this unit I have to complete a relevant copy which is a written piece of work that compliments my images. My theme being Organic Beauty and my sub theme being cosmetic surgery, I want to write about several things including:

• The History Of Cosmetic Surgery
• Get The Look without Surgery
• How Pop Culture has influenced a surgery boom

My research will need to look at several aspects including celebrities and the surgeries they have had and one particular celeb, Kylie Jenner. Kylie admitted at 17 years old to having regular lip injections, this started a HUGE boom in lip augmentations and even resulted in people who'm were unable to afford the surgery to using a product that requires the user to suck in for several seconds and the results stated you could obtain 'Luscious lips' however this was far from the truth. I am really interested in how we are influenced by celebrities.

My next stage of research will be to look at the History of surgery and how popular it has become, I am thinking of doing a smaller copy for this with some figures/examples and include my own research/questionnaire.

My final stage of research will be how we can enhance our images without the need of surgery but with the use of cosmetic products. We can over line our lips with pencils/contouring to create an appearance of plumper lips, highlight and contour to change the appearance of bone structure etc...

Photo Shoot Outcomes; My Favourite

My Four Favorite images from my first shoot for my Plastic Surgery Editorial. The main focal point for these images were the lips and lip enhancements. I want to create a very glamourous feel to plastic surgery hence the use of my huge Versace sunglasses.

Each image to me, is great. I love the placement of my model in all four images and the second one in particular is my ultimate favorite, However there is a misplacement in the background of that one so I will have to try and remove this in post production, I am glad this has happened as I now have a constant message in my head to always check the backgrounds of my location whether that be in the studio or on location so I have learnt a great deal from this first photo shoot.

Practical Session's

Graphic Eyeliner or eyeliner of any sort is a technique I struggle to master however I am very happy with the way mine turned out during our graphic eyeliner masterclass. I have since practiced more on myself and used this as part of looks for my other units to get more experience in this. 

I really enjoyed our lip art masterclass. Being able to create different looks was really cool. I wanted to do a dark ombre lip which you can see above. I usually go for a soft, subtle lip so this was a big change for me. I found the left hand side of my models lips were easier to do than the right. I struggled to get my hand in a position so that i could create a very precise line however I think I did very well, although it would need some touch ups. 

It's no secret last year i found hair classes very difficult. This year I have found I am more open minded and calm during lessons and I can create looks without getting to frustrated when they fail first time. This look was a high pony tail, which is very popular for hair stylists. I found gathering the hair and creating the volume for the ponytail the easiest part however I did not enjoy the double wrap around to cover the hair bobble. I found having a single peice to wrap around was much better for me rather than having two peices. 

Perfecting the skin, one of my favourite masterclasses with Sarah. We learnt not only to perfect the face but to also think about the rest of the body also as the look doesn't just stop at the face. this was something that came up in my feedback last year and I feel I have reflected on this and I have now began to use this technique in all my applications this year, especially during my photoshoots for this unit which i feel show the amount of time i have spent perfecting the neck, shoulders and chest area. 

POLYVORE CREATE

Mood Boards create on Polyvore

Magazine layout inspiration

Dream bag. FlikrhiveMind. http://flickrhivemind.net/User/cubic_ds/Interesting

 HK DESIGNS. MAGAZINE LAYOUTS. https://hkdesigns.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/magazine-layouts/

Dressing Up. Utah Bride and Groom Magazine. http://www.dessidesigns.com/portfolios/utah-bride-groom-magazine-fashionlayout1/

RDUjour. Confitures Moleculaires. http://rdujour.com/page/50/?s=W+Magazine

Face Charts

The main focus here is marking the areas in which people have surgery, The nose, eyelids, undereyes and around the face. The rest of the look will be very soft with a nude/pink lip and slightly defined eyes. My hair design is going to be hollywood hair inspired with brushed out curls, this adds that little bit of glamour which was inspired by the Tom Ford campaign I blogged about. 

The main focus here is on the lips. This shoot will be all about plumping the lips/lip fillers which seem to be extremely popular. The skin will be perfected and flawless and the hair is just going to ve scraped back as I will be wrapping the models head in bandages to allow the main focus to be on the lips. I will also be using sunglasses here to also add that little bit of glamour. 

This was the first face chart I created for this unit and it was to attach tape and clips to my models face and have someone pull them to change her face shape/stretch the skin. I did not really like this when I came to deciding which looks I was going to go for so I left this out. 

Showing how to create the appearance of a more defined face by contouring and highlighting. I wanted to create a look where the highlight and contour was extremely visible to show in an almost 'how to' way. 

Layout Testing/Product Shot

 Playing around with magazine/product shot layouts and visually experimenting with ideal locations for maximum attention. Product images are taken by myself. Text within the layout is
[Tatler, Beauty and Cosmetic Surgery Guide. Best Cosmetic Surgeons. 2014. Available:http://www.tatler.com/guides/beauty--cosmetic-surgery-guide/2014]
As editorial is my main focus for a career after leaving university I thought I would play around with some lay outs for magazines/product shots which I will need to produce for this unit.

Editorial Lighting

After completing a successful unit in Digital Imagery last year I would like to experience a different style of lighting. We used mainly beauty dishes and soft boxes. This was all done on white or black backgrounds, which is popular for editorial imagery but I would like to advance my lighting set up and use colored lights, such as gel covers. I have found a few pictures of one color or several colors mixed to give a multi colour effect that I think looks very unique and beautiful. 

Gel Lighting. Editorial Beauty. Retouching Ebooks. Available:

http://www.retouchingebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/7-Tori-JK-web.jpg

Gel Lighting. Editorial Beauty. S Media Cache. Available:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/2e/55/e3/2e55e308c987aee084f3be6d4cd56897.jpg

Gel Lighting. Editorial Beauty. S Media Cache. Available:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/6d/92/2f/6d922f57e4db36899b8d66df74029151.jpg

Gel Lighting. Editorial Beauty. S Media Cache. Available:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/87/ba/2d/87ba2d052fe1a4365dca5206cf662032.jpg

Tom Ford

Tom Ford became guest editor for French Vogue's holiday edition back in 2005. Shot by Tom Ford and styled by Carine Roitfeld, the series of images, modeled by Crystal Renn are said to mirror a plastic surgery obsessed woman. The images are visually amazing. 

[Photo 1, 2&3- Vogue. Tom Ford. Beautifully Invisible. http://www.beautifully-invisible.com/2010/11/photoshoot-crystal-renn-by-tom-ford-for-vogue-paris-holiday-issue.html]

The three images I have included are not necessarily my favorite from the series of images but they are definitely the most disturbing, provocative and weirdest ones I have seen. They make me feel as though she is an older woman who has surgery to remain young, but not for the sake of vanity more so for the sake of sex. The image's are extremely sexual, as you can see. In the first image the model is being washed down by a male but has no underwear on, the second image, if you look closely (I did not see this at first) there is in fact a man in between the woman's legs and the last one is of the female and male model kissing quite passionately. 

I think the images glamorize plastic surgery with the way the women are styled/made up. They look extremely sophisticated and beautiful even though they are bandaged up. It also is a pretty unrealistic view of the after effects of surgery, when your bandaged up your still healing, that means bruising, redness and swelling, something far from sexy or attractive with that being said, I would much rather see images like this than that of actual post op photos of surgery. 

Pull Yourself Together

Photographer Baard Lunde shot an editorial series called 'Pull Yourself Together' for Noi.se Magazine. The images were made to imitate plastic surgery. The Huffington Post claimed the images were sinister and frightening, which they are. They are almost uncomfortable to look at. The images are spectacular at showing, in my opinion the more horrible/horrific experiences of cosmetic surgery.
The article also speaks about other designers/magazines who have had similar editorial images including Vogue Italia and Tom Ford which I will also be taking a look at. 

'Baard manages to make gorgeous model Jordan Almen look sinister and frightening by pulling at her flawless features with various contraptions' - Huffington Post Canada. Noi.se Magazines Plastic Surgery Inspired Editorial Is Kind Of Creepy. 26.02.13. Available: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/03/26/noise-magazine-plastic-surgery_n_2956266.html

[Images 1&2- Huffington Post Canada. Noi.se Magazines Plastic Surgery Inspired Editorial Is Kind Of Creepy. 26.02.13. Available: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/03/26/noise-magazine-plastic-surgery_n_2956266.html]