Consultation notes for recreating Dorian Gray character

Name: Calum Pritchard;

Age: 19;

Skin type: Combination - dry;

Hair type/colour/natural or dyed: 

• Thin - normal;
• Dark blonde;
• Natural, with soft highlights.

Skin tone: Fair skin;

Eye colour: Blue;

Eye shape: Small lid- large brow;

Allergies: none;

Medication: none;

Contraindication: none;


Notes:

Because Calum's skin is combination to dry skin, to make the make-up look better on his skin he needs to scrub his face once a week with a scrub (I recommended to try something homemade like sugar with honey mixed and then applied) and to moisturize his face daily, and ideally twice a day - in the morning and in the evening, and mandatory after scrubbing his face. To help his lips be less chapped, I recommended him to use Carmex moisturizing lip balm a few times a day.

Step by step and continuity notes for TA

Make-up

1. Cleanse (Garnier micellar water), tone (studio toner), moisturize (Simple moisturizer), moisturize the lips (Carmex);
2. Apply eye cream (Balea);
3. Apply mattifying face base (Paese);
4. Color correcting: green for red spots and orange for dark circles (Parisax color correcting concealer palette);
5. Foundation: mix 5 pumps of MUFE HD with 1 pump of Paris Berlin waterproof and 1 pump of Paese mattifying base. Apply with a flat brush and dab with a beautyblender;
6. Apply highlighting cream on the areas to be highlighted (Inglot) with a micro mini beautyblender;
7. Apply concealer (Astor 24H) under the eye, blend with micro mini;
8. Set the under eye area with loose powder (Ben Nye) and a flat natural bristled brush. Be careful to set only under the eyes;
9. Cream contouring: Kryolan palette medium dark: the cheekbones, the forehead, the nose, the jawline. Blend everything with a beautyblender;
10. Apply cream blusher (MUFE HD) with a stippling brush and blend;
11. Highlight with a powder highlighter (The Balm Mary Loumanizer) the cheekbones and the nose bridge;
12. Apply a small amount of loose powder all over the face;
13. Eyebrows: contour lightly with the lightest shade in the Essence brow kit, brush upwards and set with Anastasia Beverly Hills clear brow gel;
14. Apply MAC taupe eyeshadow in the inner corner of the eyebrows to the nose with a fluffy blending brush;
15. Apply Ga-de Creme Matte eyeshadow in the inner corner and on the browbone;
16. Curl the eyelashes, apply brown Rimmel mascara;
17. Lips: wipe the foundation with a baby bud and apply more Carmex lip balm, then apply a bit of gloss on top (Avon).

Hair

1. Comb the hair;
2. Create the centre parting with a sharp-ended comb;
3. Apply small amount of green hairgel from the studio on both sides and at the back;
4. Comb and re-arrange the hairs;
5. Curl with a medium tong the fringe on the forehead;
6. Set with second layer of gel;
7. Apply hairspray and set with the hands.

Final face and hair chart for Dorian Gray

To keep things simple and organized I've decided to do a 2 in 1 hair and face chart and it turned out to be a good idea because I've exercised my drawing skills a little bit. Moreover I did another colour and products chart to help me figure out evrything better at the assessment and to save time. Every product that I will use is on this chart and it is clearly marked where it should be applied (at least it is very clear in my head). Because the make-up will be more a corrective and natural-beauty-enhancing one, and the facechart I've drawn didn't explain very well everything, I think that the product and colours chart will help me a lot.

Second practice session for TA

For the second practice session I've finally decided about the final hair and make-up design that I'm going to recreate at both timed assessments. 

The make-up, even though it looks simple, took more time than I expected and to balace the time spent on the make-up and hair I had to re-think the way I do my character's hair.

 I've opted for a very defined centre parting with sleek hair on the sides, following that the longer hairs at the front, like a fringe, to be curled with a medium-sized tong. This will be historically accurate for the period that the character "lived" in and also will take less time than a hairstyle full of small curls. Also, it is better for continuity and it works on my model's hair which is kinda short. It also helps to give the idea of a very polished man and the little curls on the forehead  that this very beautiful man might be evil, because to me, the little curls look like little horns to me.

The make-up took longer to be applied perfectly, because I really wanted to make his skin look the best but without making it look over the top. This is my final idea and I really liked how it looked like, and I'm going to keep it this way and also draw the face ad hair chart for it. I've sorted out the eyeshadow and made it look better and not so feminine like before and now I'm satisfied with it. 

I've also took continuity notes for both hair and make-up and I only need to finish drawing the facechart and we're done. The continuity notes will appear on another blog post.

Pictures with the final result (continuity):

Other pictures (continuity and step by step):

Dirty teeth, zombie dirt and experiencing with collodion

Particularly enjoying playing with the make-up "mud" and creating zombie hands. Quite intense session as well as last week because I experienced with collodion as I haven't got time until now.

DEMO PICTURES: 

PRODUCTS USED: 

• Kryolan tooth enamel in black and yellow;
• Fuller's Earth mud;
• Surgical spirit;
•  Kryolan (hair) sprays in dirty gray, black and burgundy;
• Dark blood;
• Water;
• Collodion.

Other products that can be used: 

• Kryolan supracolour;
• Vaseline.

TOOLS USED: 

• Baby buds;
• Metal palette;
• Metal spatula;
• Bowl;
• Hairdryer.

HEALTH AND SAFETY: 

• You can't use the tooth enamel on newly bleached teeth;
• DO NOT SWALLOW SURGICAL SPIRIT;
• As an alternative to surgical spirit, you can use whitening toothpaste but it might not do as good a job as surgical spirit;
• Don't double dip in the product;
• Test the heat of the hairdryer on yourself before using on a model;
• Make sure to cover up your model so that you don't get any product on them or their clothing;
• Scoop out fuller's earth from your bowl and put in the bin to clean it out;
• ALWAYS, ALWAYS PUT ON BARRIER FOAM BEFORE COLLODION.

Other information: 

• If you want to colour the inside of the mouth you can use food colouring;
• If any tooth enamel goes on the lips, use surgical spirit to remove it;
• You can also ask your model to suck on some liquorice which will blacken the inside of the mouth;
• You can use the black to block out teeth entirely;
• The yellow will give the rotten look to the teeth;
• You can also use a fine brush to shape the teeth.

HOW TO: 

• Dirty teeth

1. Shake the bottle of tooth enamel to make sure that the product is properly mixed;
2. Dry the tooth with a baby bud;
3. Use a baby bud to apply the product onto the teeth (or a brush for better coverage);
4. Wait until dry, then the model can close the mouth.

• Zombie dirt

1. Mix fuller's earth with a bit of water in a bowl to create the mud;
2. Apply with a brush or with your hands a small amount of product at first;
3. Dry with a warm/cold hairdryer;
4. Reapply another layer of mud;
5. Dry partially;
6. Spray the colours wanted on the mud;
7. Spray the blood or apply with a brush, depending on the finish you want.

• Collodion burn

1. APPLY BARRIER FOAM;
2. Apply one layer or MAXIMUM two of collodion, otherwise it won't look good;
3. Dry with a cool hairdryer;
4. Squeeze the skin to make it look like the skin has fine lines;
5. Apply vaseline or/+ blood/+ supracolour and blend.

REMOVING: 

• Dirty teeth: use surgical spirit on a baby bud to take it off.
• Zombie dirt: water will do.
• Collodion burn: if you apply barrier foam before it should easily come off with spirit gum, water, or in the worst scenario with isopropyl alcohol.

MY RESULTS:

REFLECTION:

Ok so the most important thing when using collodion: USE BARRIER FOAM! Otherwise it really won't come off easy and you'll have trouble with the skin. I didn't really know how to apply it so I just asumed that it is for burns and stuff but I've researched lately and it is more for scars. Meh, next time. Anyway, I'm kinda pleased of the result as it really looked as burned skin in the process of healing in my oppinion.
In love with the zombie hands! Must experience more with this mud and with the kryolan sprays wich are aaaaamazing.
Don't really like the dirty teeth... :))

Monster mash

Werewolves

"A werewolf (Old English: were, "man") or lycanthrope (Greek: λυκάνθρωπος, lykánthropos: λύκος, lykos, "wolf", and ἄνθρωπος, anthrōpos, "human") is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse or affliction (e.g. via a bite or scratch from another werewolf). Early sources for belief in lycanthropy are Petronius and Gervase of Tilbury.

The werewolf is a widespread concept in European folklore, existing in many variants which are related by a common development of a Christian interpretation of underlying European folklore which developed during the medieval period. From the early modern period, werewolf beliefs also spread to the New World with colonialism. Belief in werewolves developed in parallel to the belief in witches, in the course of the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. Like the witchcraft trials as a whole, the trial of supposed werewolves emerged in what is now Switzerland (especially the Valais and Vaud) in the early 15th century and spread throughout Europe in the 16th, peaking in the 17th and subsiding by the 18th century. The persecution of werewolves and the associated folklore is an integral part of the "witch-hunt" phenomenon, albeit a marginal one, accusations of werewolfery being involved in only a small fraction of witchcraft trials.[1] During the early period, accusations of lycanthropy (transformation into a wolf) were mixed with accusations of wolf-riding or wolf-charming. The case of Peter Stumpp (1589) led to a significant peak in both interest in and persecution of supposed werewolves, primarily in French-speaking and German-speaking Europe. The phenomenon persisted longest in Bavaria and Austria, with persecution of wolf-charmers recorded until well after 1650, the final cases taking place in the early 18th century in Carinthia and Styria.[2]

After the end of the witch-trials, the werewolf became of interest in folklore studies and in the emerging Gothic horror genre; werewolf fiction as a genre has pre-modern precedents in medieval romances (e.g. Bisclavret and Guillaume de Palerme) and developed in the 18th century out of the "semi-fictional" chap book tradition. The trappings of horror literature in the 20th century became part of the horror and fantasy genre of modern pop culture."


Vampires

"A vampire is a being from folklore who subsists by feeding on the life essence (generally in the form of blood) of living creatures. Undead beings, vampires often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths in the neighbourhoods they inhabited when they were alive. They wore shrouds and were often described as bloated and of ruddy or dark countenance, markedly different from today's gaunt, pale vampire which dates from the early 19th century.

Although vampiric entities have been recorded in most cultures, the term vampire was not popularized in the west until the early 18th century, after an influx of vampire superstition into Western Europe from areas where vampire legends were frequent, such as the Balkans and Eastern Europe,[1] although local variants were also known by different names, such as shtriga in Albania, vrykolakas in Greece and strigoi in Romania. This increased level of vampire superstition in Europe led to what can only be called mass hysteria and in some cases resulted in corpses actually being staked and people being accused of vampirism.

In modern times, however, the vampire is generally held to be a fictitious entity, although belief in similar vampiric creatures such as the chupacabra still persists in some cultures. Early folk belief in vampires has sometimes been ascribed to the ignorance of the body's process of decomposition after death and how people in pre-industrial societies tried to rationalise this, creating the figure of the vampire to explain the mysteries of death. Porphyria was also linked with legends of vampirism in 1985 and received much media exposure, but has since been largely discredited.

The charismatic and sophisticated vampire of modern fiction was born in 1819 with the publication of The Vampyre by John Polidori; the story was highly successful and arguably the most influential vampire work of the early 19th century.[2] However, it is Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula which is remembered as the quintessential vampire novel and provided the basis of the modern vampire legend. The success of this book spawned a distinctive vampire genre, still popular in the 21st century, with books, films, and television shows. The vampire has since become a dominant figure in the horror genre."


References:

• Vampire (2016) in Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire (Accessed: 23 February 2016).
• Vampire (no date) Available at: http://new-monster.wikia.com/wiki/Vampire (Accessed: 27 February 2016).
• Werewolf physiology (no date) Available at: http://powerlisting.wikia.com/wiki/Werewolf_Physiology (Accessed: 27 February 2016).
• Werewolf (2016) in Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werewolf (Accessed: 27 February 2016).

First practice session for TA

I somehow decided to do the third facechart with the beautiful Dorian and the second version of the thir hairchart, but without the parting. Doing that was amazing because the hair looked really, really nice but not so late-Victorian like, so I will fix this in the second practice. I liked how the make-up looked overall, but still I think that next time I will do things a bit different and I will ask my model to help me with his skincare. He had flaky skin because of dehydration and I suggested him to scrub his face with sugar and honey the night before the second practice and until next week to apply daily hydrating face cream so foundation will look more natural and less flaky on his skin. I threaded his eyebrows and I feel sorry that I didn't take a before picture because I'm really proud of how they looked like after this. In addition to scrubbing his face he will need to scrub his lips too as they wee really dry and the gloss, even if hydrating, didn't look it's best. Moreover, I think that next time I will apply less make-up or change the way I apply it because how I applied the eyeshadow made him look more feminine than I wanted and next time I will change it a little bit. 

Dorian Gray character analysis

I've decided to go for the beautiful version of Dorian Gray for the timed assessments because of the following reasons: I want to portray him as the best version of himself, when he was young and pure, as described at the beginning of the book, because I thought that even if it sounds simple and it might be an idea everybody thought about, it is not like that. To apply the techniques learnt in class this semester we have to incorporate an effect or a scar or anything related to the special effects, but I have chosen to do so in the second part of the semester and not in the first part and focus on giving the character the best look possible. I want to make the model's skin look flawless and mask any imperfections and to enhance his handsomeness while keeping the make-up products use to a minimum to maintain the manly look and the HD imperceptibleness while in front of the camera. Also, I wanted to give the audience a reason to be susceptible about his character given the perfect complexion. A wonderful apple on the outside might be rotten on the inside. Anything that is "too perfect", even a perfect face, is susceptible of plastic surgery, photoshop, or anything else used to alter the appearance. And considering the time that the novel was written and placed, the late-Victorian years, Dorian's blooming youthfulness and handsomeness might have been susceptible of witchcraft or anything bizarre. In a time of constant changing, people were still afraid of the unknown. Witchcraft was, for so many, an unexplored topic and if they didn't experience it that didn't stop people to wander about it and consider anything that they haven't seen before as witchcraft. In this case, a young beautiful man who stays forever young, regardless of the time that was cruel with the others.
To bring my character to life and to create him according to the late-Victorian fashion I will carefully pick the clothes and accessories needed to suit the character's role and statut and also the hairstyle that will reflect the fashions of the time.
The clothing will be elegant but still suitable for a young lad in his twenties: a white shirt paired with a grey printed suit and eventually a scarf to resemble the little scarf with the broche that Victorians used to wear or the bow tie specific of that time.
His face will be clean, shaved, with well-groomed eyebrows and the main focus will be the lips, the effect being there clearly visible, because I will apply some gloss to make them look even fuller.
The hair will be slicked on the sides with a centre parting and two little curls on the forehead resembling little hidden horns. There will be a big attention to the details as nothing should be overlooked, not even the shoes the model will wear.

Deeper understanding of Gothic Horror

Gothic horror is, to me, more than a literature or film genre. It can be found even in today's art and we can also experience it nowadays without even knowing it. It was the Victorian times when people discovered it and started defining it, started exploring it. Gothic horror can be a novel, a painting or a feeling at the same time, and the magic is that it can go beyond things that we can explain or see. It is mistery.

"Psychoanalytically, the experiences of terror and horror are comparable to the phenomenon of the uncanny as theorized by Sigmund Freud. Uncanny effects arise when familiar circumstances unexpectedly acquire unfamiliar connotations without our being able to ascertain how or why this has happened. They may be generated by "doubts whether an apparently animate being is really alive; or conversely, whether a lifeless object might not be in fact animate" (Freud 1919:226) or by a failure to differentiate between "image and reality"(244). Produced through the collusion of familiarity and strangeness, they evoke correspondingly ambivalent emotions: excitement, jouissance and exhilaration on the one hand, and revulsion, dread and disgust on the other."(Cavallaro 2002)

"The interaction of terror and horror is most explicitly conveyed by stories that articulate the experience of fear as an ongoing condition. Such naratives intimate that fear is not triggered by a single disturbing moment or occurance but is actually a permanent, albeit multi-faceted, aspect of being-in-the-world." (Cavallaro 2002)

"According to Clive Barker, narratives of darkness can help us understand the power and legitimacy of our wildest drives by "valuing our appetite for the forbidden rather than suppresing it, comprehending that our taste for the strange, or the morbid, or the paradoxical, is contrary to what we're brought up to believe, a sign of our good health" (1986; quoted in Bloom 1998:100). Darkness may scare us into hiding under the bedclothes but it is also, more importantly, capable of reminding us that what we most often cower beneath is the burden of self-imposed limitations resulting from the internalization of cultural norms that only hypocritically claim to protect the self."(Calvallaro 2002)

"In relation to narratives of darkness, Gothicity primarily refers to tales of obsession and haunting which employ images of disorder, alienation and monstrosity for the purposes of both entertainment and ideological reflection. The fascination with the violation of cultural boundaries combines with anxieties bred by the possibly dire repercussions of transgression. In schematic form, Gothicity can pe mapped as follows:

Geographical connotations

• Northern barbarity versus English civilisation
• Mediterranean depravity versus Anglican rectitude

Ideological connotations

• archaic disorder versus modern discipline
• medieval darkness versus enlightenment
• anti-classical leanings versus (neo)classical ethos
• crudeness versus elegance
• savage paganism versus refined morality
• aristocracy/feudalism versus bourgeoisie/capitalism
• landed classes versus cosmopolitan gentry

Psychological connotations

• terror
• horror
• the sublime
• the uncanny
• spectrality
• secretiveness
• obsession
• paranoia
• psychosis
• melancholia
• persecution
• claustrophobia

Physical connotations

• bestiality
• monstrosity
• the hybrid
• the grotesque
• revulsion
• pollution
• disease

Stylistic connotation

• exaggeration
• ornamental excess
• surrealist effects
• dream language
• tenebrous comedy"(Calvalarro 2002)

"Gothic texts are not good in moral, aesthetic or social terms. Their concern is with vice: protagonists are selfish or evil; adventures involve decadence or crime. Their effects, aestethically and socially, are also replete with a range of negative features: not beautiful, they display no harmony or proportion. Ill-formed, obscure, ugly, gloomy and utterly antipathetic to effects of love, admiration or gentle delight, gothic texts register revulsion, abhorrence, fear, disgust and terror. Invoking ideas and objects of displeasure, gothic texts were invariably considered to be of little artistic merit, crude, formulaic productions for vulgar, uncultivated tastes. They were also considered anti-social in content and function, failing to encourage the acquisition of virtuous attitudes and corrupting reasers' powers of discrimination with idle fantasies, seducing them from paths of filial obedience, respect, prudence, modesty and social duty. Definitively negative, gothic fictions appear distinctly anti-modern in their use of the customs, costumes and codes of chivalry associated with feudal power: the gallantry and romanticism of knights, ladies and marital honour also evoked an era of barbarism, ignorance, tyranny and superstition."(Botting 2013)

References:

• Cavallaro, D. (2002) The gothic vision: Three centuries of horror, terror and fear. London: Continuum International Publishing Group;
• Botting, F. (2013) Gothic. 2nd edn. London: Routledge.

Importance of continuity

AN INTRODUCTION TO CONTINUITY FOR THE MAKE-UP ARTIST

In the majority of film and TV productions, the scenes are shot out of sequence. This can be for a variety of reasons:

• Access to locations
• Availability of certain actors
• Weather conditions
• What this means is that you could be working on the last shot of the film with actors continuing a scene that was shot a year before. (In fact, it is quite normal for a film to be completed and then scenes to be re-shot unexpectedly when the producer decides this is required.)

Typical Continuity Issues
Crew members - including the make-up department - may be working on other productions by then, so new people are often hired to film these pick-up shots. When the film is played back, it is essential to take notes on the continuity. Actors must be dressed the same, have the same skin tones, wear their hair at the same length, and have the same make-up. If this is not the case, the result will be sadly noticeable when the film is edited.

Should a producer of a TV soap series decide to do some pick-up shots of close-ups of actors shot four months before, for instance, the make-up artist has a number of continuity problems to solve:

• Matching the clothes when many costumes may have been hired and returned to the hire company
• Matching hair. Various hair pieces may have to be tracked down from hire companies or wig makers - or recreated
• Matching make-up. Foundation, lipstick, eyeshadow, and blusher may have been used up or simply lost

Whilst such scenarios may be stressful, they are an accepted part of the job. In feature films, there is a script supervisor> who deals with the general continuity issues of filming. This includes film stock, camera lenses, and dialogue changes.

Taking Photos And Notes
It is still up to the individual departments to work out their own continuity, either by taking photos of all the main actors - front, back, and profile views - as well as extensive notes. All changes to hairstyles, costume, and make-up should be logged with a scene number and day number of the film sequence.

To make life easier, a make-up artist will keep a hairstyle the same shape. When the action of the filming calls for the hair to be wet or untidy, photos must be taken. The action may take place in a rain storm exterior which might gave to match up to the actor walking into an interior with wet hair. The interior scene might actually be shot in the studio months later and must match up to the exterior shot.

Make-up and hair artists often have to apply beards and moustaches to match an actor’s natural facial hair which he subsequently shaved away, or supply a wig because the actress has had her hair cut short.

As you can see, continuity is extremely important in television and film making.


Design Development

Research and evaluate It can be helpful to try and deconstruct why certain characters and their characteristics work and why some don't.  Study other characters and think about what makes some successful and what in particular you like about them.

• Who is it aimed at? Think about your audience.
•  Visual impact 
• Colour 
• Conveying personality
• Express yourself 
• Goals and dreams The driving force behind a character's personality is what it wants to achieve. Often the incompleteness or flaws in a character are what make it interesting.
• Building back stories 

Continuity in Film

On the set it is the responsibility of the script supervisor to see that continuity is maintained between takes and between the setups. This means that the actors must be wearing the same clothes, the same jewellery, the same hair style. If a candle or cigarette is half burned down in one take then it must be the same in all takes.

Without visual continuity a movie becomes a series of unnatural jarring moments that take the audience out of the illusion that your movie is a depiction of real life. Carefully planned lack of continuity can be an effective technique to create tension and confusion in a scene but shouldn't be overdone.

Careful notes need to be maintained. A digital camera can be a big help in maintaining continuity. Take a shot of the actors after each setup or at least at the end of the day and do a quick printout of the picture.

The script supervisor should also be marking the script with any changes in dialog that occur during filming.

References:

• Academy, D. (2016) An introduction to continuity for the make-up artist. Available at: http://www.delamaracademy.co.uk/blog/2009/06/an-introduction-to-continuity-for-the-make-up-artist (Accessed: 17 February 2016).
• PowerPoint presentation on MyCourse.

Sweat, fever, tears rashes and black eye

So yeah, as the title suggests, there was a lot going on in this studio session. We also did the black eye because we didn't do it previously due to lack of time. Which I struggled at, to be honest.

DEMO PICTURE: 

PRODUCTS USED: 

• Supracolour palette;
• Concealer palette Kryolan;
• Liquid latex;
• Ben Nye bruises color wheel;
• Glycerine;
• Water/contact lenses solution/eye drops;
• Vaseline;
• Moisturiser;
• Cleanser.

Other products that can be used:

• Red eye drops from Charles Fox.

TOOLS USED: 

• Brushes;
• Pins;
• Metal spatula;
• Metal palette;
• Plastic bowl covered with transparent food wrap;
• Baby buds;
• Black stippling sponge;
• Plastic glass.

HEALTH AND SAFETY:

• Consult the model if it's allergic to any of the componets (including latex);
• Don't put anything in the eye that doesn't belong there;
• The hands must be clean before touching the skin.

Other information: 

• If you want to pale out the skin for illness, mix Supracolour or Illamasqua white base with the Kryolan foundation palette;
• Use Glycerine for sweat, it will stay a lot better than water;
• For HD and men make-up: less is best. Add just a little bit of matte base or concealer to hide spots and blemishes;
• For continuity reasons you might want to hide all imperfections before so the character won't look different when the blemishes heal/fade etc;
• You can use brown eyeliner to map the shape for black eyes so that continuity is better, or use facial markers;
• Stencils are also handy for continuity;
• For tears, drop water or contact lens solution into the tear duct, or eyedrops, nothing else than what is specially designed for the eye area though. People tear from the inner corner of the eye so be aware of this as well;
• The black stipple sponge is really good for applying the glycerine as sweat;
• Different eyes have different colours during illness : fever eyes - red, tired, blurry, tired eyes - blue. Always research before creating the character!
• For fever, moisturize the skin really well to get the shiny look;
• When tired, people's ears tend to go red, also the neck can become blotchy when tired or nervous as well;
• Glycerine is good as tears;
• For black eyes you can also use silycone pieces under the eye to create the swollen effect;
• Keep the black eye shiny to look realistic;
• Black eyes are usually staying under the eye socket, be careful not to leave hard liner, always blend;
• For dry-lips effect, use latex or eyelash glue, also good for blisters;
• Can use food colouring to colour the inside of the mouth. 

HOW TO: 

1.  Moisturise well so that the skin has a nice shine;
2. Look for any imperfections that need concealing;
3. Add some moisturiser onto the back of the hand and mix it with the red from the SupraColour palette;
4. Stipple the colour onto the cheeks, blending in any harsh edges with your fingers - this will create fever cheeks. Remember to go into the hairline;
5. To create the illusion of a person who has been crying, add red to the nose and under the eyes;
6. Remember to go down the neck, along with right up to the lashes when doing eyes;
7. Use a fine detail brush to apply colour onto the lids and feather it out;
8. You can also mix isopropyl alcohol with the Supracolour to stipple onto the skin and create a blotchy look;
9. For the lips you can use latex or eyelash glue, I used latex;
10. Apply onto the lips, and use a pin to pick it up and create the illusion of chapped lips;
11. You can also add blood/ red to add an extra soreness to the lips;
12. For sweat, you don't really need a lot of glycerine. A little bit will do, there's no need to do like I did today, putting on lots and lots of it :));
13. Using a black stippling sponge, take the glycerine onto the back of the hand and stipple where you want sweat to be;
14. Typical places include; upper lip, forehead and nose;
15. Wetting the hair can also add the sweaty look;
16. For the black eye, moisturise the eye area so that it shines;
17. Look at pictures for inspiration, and to look at the stage that the bruise was at;
18. Make sure to apply the colour into the corner into the corner of the eye and up to the lashes, blending the colour with your fingers;
19. Add shine to the area by adding Vaseline;
20. When adding the tears, make sure it is the last thing before taking a picture;
21. When using disposable contact lens solution, break the end of the file;
22. Ask your model to sit with their eye open wide and head back;
23. Drop the solution into the tear duct, and ask the model to bring their head back forward;
24. You can also add a drop of glycerine onto the face to create a single tear (NOT, NOT INTO THE EYES as it really hurts).

REMOVING: 

• Any cleanser on cotton pads will do the job;
• Can use water as well.

MY RESULTS: 

REFLECTION:

Not so pleased by what I did. It looked nice but fake somehow. Maybe because I only did half of the face but I'm not sure. I did just half of the face so I could save time so both of us could do all these, as it wasn't that easy to create all in just one look. Maybe that's one of the reasons it doesn't look that real, because it's too ill to be real?! I don't know. The thing is, I can see that I exaggerated a bit with the sweat and the redness, maybe I blended it a lil bit too much (or not enough?!). And also the tears didn't look quite real, they were flowing too heavy I guess. The lips weren't so well chapped (if this can be said) and I didn't really like the black eye even though I really did my best to do it. Maybe it just wasn't a good day, but I definitely need to repeat doing these step by step, not combined, and on the whole face, to see if it will look better in reality and in the pictures too.

MY PARTNER'S RESULT:

Really, really good. I guess that my bare face helped a lot too, haha. 

Hair chart Dorian Gray 3

For the third try of the hairchart I've kind of made a 2 in 1 one, I don't even know why I didn't draw the second version on another sheet but hey, the designing process isn't that easy! So to get to the point: the parting will still be there, but this time is will be centered. I found that more late-Victorian like, and because my character is placed in a late-Victorian time I thought that this will be the best way to portray him. I wil keep the curls, but more loose, as his hair is described at the beginning of the book, but the main difference betweet the two versions is that in the first one, the curls are falling down and in the second version they are orientated upwards like. I think though that shorter hair will not really help me with this hairstyle and I will adapt the look to suit the model's hair, because I don't think I will find that easy someone with long, blonde hair, nice skin and eyebrows, big lips and blue eyes haha.

Face chart Dorian Gray 3

The third idea for creating the character came somehow as a result of the second on and wasn't so drastically changed because I kinda know now how I want the final design to be. I will keep Dorian beautiful, as he was at the beginning of the book and I will add more make-up, and especially highlight, to make his skin look doll-like, to continue the idea of him being unnaturally perfect and questionable about his purity. The contour will be sharp though, to symbolise again that he has a darker side, and the eyebrows threaded and shapened a bit, with taupe eyeshadow applied in the inner corners of the eyebrow, to symbolise his evilness. I will give up on the black smudged eyeliner on the lower eyelid because I think that this makes the make-up look too obvious and as we know, make-up was a shame for women in the Victorian era, and worse for men.

Moodboard for Dorian Gray updated

Because I've changed my mind and I'm no longer going to recreate Dorian as he was in the end in the portrait, old, ugly and scarred, I thought that a new moodboard will help others (and me also) figure out better how I'm trying to recreate his look from the book.
Although I have some pictures with Dorian here with brown hair, I will look for a model with blonde hair because I want to recreate the character exactly as he was portrayed in the book.
My Dorian Gray will be a handsome young man with blonde hair and beautiful, clean compexion, with his hair parted on the sides (not sure yet though).

What is Gothic Horror?

"Gothic fiction, which is largely known by the subgenre of Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature and film that combines fiction and horror, death, and at times romance. Its origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled (in its second edition) "A Gothic Story." The effect of Gothic fiction feeds on a pleasing sort of terror, an extension of Romantic literary pleasures that were relatively new at the time of Walpole's novel. It originated in England in the second half of the 18th century and had much success in the 19th, as witnessed by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Another well known novel in this genre, dating from the late Victorian era, is Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The name Gothic refers to the (pseudo)-medieval buildings, emulating Gothic architecture, in which many of these stories take place. This extreme form of romanticism was very popular in England and Germany."(Wikipedia 2016)

"Gothic Horror is one of the oldest of the horror genres. Darker, edgier and on the Romanticism end of Romanticism Versus Enlightenment, it tends to play on both the thrill and the fear of the unknown, and places a great importance on atmosphere. It's usually heavily symbolic, sometimes even dreamlike. In addition to being important to the horror genre, the first scifi, fantasy, romance, mystery, and adventure authors drew inspiration from Gothic horror, so it's sometimes considered the parent of all modern genre fiction.
Gothic fiction is usually used as a synonym or is the name given to Gothic horror stories that are saturated with the above mentioned scifi, fantasy, romance, mystery, or adventure elements.
The name "Gothic" comes from a kind of architecture from The Middle Ages (christened as such by those who considered it barbaric in comparison to classical architecture, the name coming from the barbarian tribe of the Goths). There were a lot of Gothic ruins lying around Britain, and people in the 18th and 19th centuries developed an interest in them because (a) ruins are always kind of mysterious and melancholy and creepy and (b) they evoked the time period they were built in, which was thought of as a barbaric time where people believed in (and did) all kinds of weird stuff. For this reason, most early Gothic horror novels were set in that era. They were usually also set in Catholic countries, because the Brits who wrote them considered Catholicism sinister (yet also kinda cool).
The renewed interest in Gothic stuff also led to the Gothic Revival movement in architecture, but for the purposes of this article we're not so interested in that.
Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, written in 1764, is considered the first Gothic horror novel. Walpole was a big fan of William Shakespeare and proudly declared that he borrowed most of the tropes from his idol's plays, particularly Hamlet, Macbeth, and Romeo and Juliet. Ann Radcliffe helped popularize the genre, and authors such as Matthew Lewis, Ludwig Flammenberg, Eliza Parsons, Eleanor Sleath, and Francis Lathom finished out the eighteenth century Gothic horror writers. The beginning of the nineteenth century saw Gothic horror being parodied by authors like Jane Austen, but there were still straight examples provided by authors such as Lord Byron and Mary Shelley. By the time the Victorian era rolled around Gothic horror was beginning to run out of steam, but there were still quite a few people writing it — in fact, most of the Gothic horror authors and works you've heard of probably come from this era, such as Edgar Allan Poe and the Brontë sisters. There were a few more notable Gothic authors in the early 20th century, but by the 1950s or so the genre had given way to modern Horror.
The Cosmic Horror Genre is something of a Spiritual Successor to Gothic Horror, with the genre's codifier H.P. Lovecraft explicitly listing several masters of Gothic Horror as major influences. Where Gothic Horror drew upon classical mythology and legend to provide its nightmares, however, Cosmic Horror looked to the modern world itself, and pondered what would happen as man shone a light upon the last refuges of the creatures who once haunted the empty countryside now becoming suburbs, and reached beyond the limits of what he was meant to know. Perhaps Here There Be Dragons, after all?
Universal and Hammer Films are responsible for successfully adapting this genre onto the big screen." (Tropes T. Gothic Horror)

References:

• Tropes, T. (no date) Gothic horror. Available at: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GothicHorror (Accessed: 13 February 2016).
• Wikipedia (2016) ‘Gothic fiction’, in Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_fiction (Accessed: 13 February 2016);

Hair chart for Dorian Gray 2

About the hairstyle, I'm going to keep the side parting so it will fit in th historical context and make it look curly all over but the face where the locks will be longer and smoother and really close to the face and eyes. I think I will use a really small curling tong and photograph the process for continuity reasons.

Face chart for Dorian Gray 2

The second face chart for Dorian Gray is more historically appropiate and I think that I am going to stick to the beautiful version of him, because the book is an exemple of gothic horror but more pshycological. I want to make him look like he is way "too perfect" to be pure and to make the audience suspicious about him. To do this I am going to focus on a perfect complexion but about the eyes I'm going to put some kohl eyeliner on the lower eyelid and smudge and blend it a little just to give a hint that even his look is angellic, something deep down inside is evil. Because eyes are the mirror of the soul, right?

Late and mid-Victorian hairstyling research

As the century went on, hairstyles became more and more ellaborated for women and stylish for men. Here are some informations that I found really interesting in my "research journey". Once again, I'm going to focus on men's hairstyles, especially because my character, Dorian Gray, was a late-Victorian man.

Late and mid-Victorian hairstyling for women

"In the Victorian era, a woman’s hair was often thought to be one of her most valuable assets. Styles varied quite a bit throughout the nearly 7 decades of Queen Victoria’s reign, with everything from simple middle parts to elaborate pieces made from human hair being in fashion. Accessories such as combs, pearls, hats and bonnets each had their time in the spotlight throughout the 1800s. Victorians weren’t as serious as people think they were, but they sure took their hair seriously." (Harris 2015)

Other late and mid-Victorian hairstyles for women:

Late and mid-Victorian hairstyling for men

 (Chic Victorian Hairstyles for men 2012)

"The Victorian era, from its start till its end, is considered as one of the most productive eras concerning the fashion and beauty industry for the men as well as the women. The Victorian era had presented a plenty of hairstyles for the men. Despite that, those Victorian men hairstyles had very chic, elegant and classy looks. In fact, those Victorian hairstyles had made the men looking in their best suits. Even the word “best suit” isn’t enough to describe how gentle and classy the men looked wearing hairstyles. Before getting deeper to discover those men’s Victorian hairstyles, there’s a thing that you must know. That thing is that most of the men back in the Victorian eras; whether the early part or the late part, had either the short or the medium haircuts. So, you can say that the men in the Victorian eras were very conservative concerning their hairstyles and maybe concerning their whole looks. All they had cared about is to keep on their gentle, elegant and classy image in front of each others and the whole society." (Chic Victorian Hairstyles for men 2012)

 (Chic Victorian Hairstyles for men 2012)

"After 1865, men began wearing their hair shorter, a trend that persisted around 1890. Hair still was usually parted on the side or the middle but the part extended further from the forehead toward the back of the head. Some men chose to wear a pompadour, which required more maintenance than simpler styles. Styles in facial hair favoured longer beards along with mutton-chop sideburns. The long and drooping handlebar moustache became popular during the late 1870s and was worn either alone or with a beard.
In contrast, as the nineteenth century came to an end, most fashionable men preferred a clean-shaved face, and sideburns also became smaller. Men who wore beards and moustaches usually kept them small and carefully trimmed [...]. Wax was used to groom moustaches. [...]
During the late 1800s, Victorian men parted their hair either in the center or slightly to the left, and the pompadour remained a favourite style for those who had enough money and leisure to maintain it." (Sherrow 2006)

Middle years hairstyles

(Corson 1965)

"According to Lewis Ganett, the Harvard classes in the 1870s were thoroughly bewhiskered. Gradually the beards disappeared, leaving only the moustaches. In the class of 1900 there were no beards. [...] Beards, though, still worn by older men, were no longer fashionable." (Corson 1965)

Late years hairstyles

Other late and mid-Victorian hairstyles for men:

References:

• Sherrow, V. (2006) Encyclopedia of hair: A cultural history. United States: Greenwood Press.
• Corson, R. (1965) Fashions in hair: The first five thousand years. 6th edn. London: Peter Owen Publishers.
• Chic Victorian Hairstyles for men (2012) Available at: http://www.stylisheve.com/chic-victorian-hairstyles-for-men/ (Accessed: 6 February 2016).
• Posted (2275) Late Victorian era clothing. Available at: http://late-victorian-clothing.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/late-victorian-era-ladies-headwear-and.html (Accessed: 10 February 2016).
• Harris, K. (2015) Victorian Hairstyles: A short history, in photos. Available at: http://www.whizzpast.com/victorian-hairstyles-a-short-history-in-photos/ (Accessed: 10 February 2016).