Learning stage makeup at Virginia Tech

This class is stage makeup. So it's an introduction class to the basic techniques of stage makeup. Today, the class is working on their application for age makeup. So the class had to do research, looking at individuals who are maybe 65 and older, implement it into a design, and then they'll create the design on themselves using the makeup. I wanted to get more involved in theater through my minor, and I've always been interested in makeup and learning how to design around, not just in costumes, but also through makeup design and contribute to productions. So sometimes when we think about makeup, we think about maybe what we do every day, or if we see special effects, we think a lot about Halloween. But in this class, we're really focused on creating makeup for the stage. So it has to be more extreme, but we have to make it more extreme so that the people who are sitting close to us in the audience and the people who are sitting far away can still see the effect. So this class really has to practice putting the makeup on in the mirror and then occasionally turning around and looking at the other side to make sure their makeup is effective from a little bit further away. This class is important for the arts because it is a visual storytelling element to performance, specifically theatrical performances that also sense to opera and dance, but is also a class that can translate into many different forms of art such as modeling, photography, etc. It is an important class because it teaches young artists, young performers, young designers the base level skills that they are then able to take and apply within realized productions or events. One of the most fun aspects is just being able to be creative, try things in a really like comfortable environment that you'd be scared of to do in other circumstances. I'm relatively new to makeup so this is a really fun class to like learn a new skill or like a new art medium. In this class we talk about design, research, analysis, but we also have a lot of hands-on experiences where you can really try something new, grow your skills, and have fun at the same time. So we have a great time together in this class. We built a really great community, so it's a very supportive class where folks can try something new and really grow your skills.