Juliette's Blog: Alex Box

Alex Box is a world renowned makeup artist and creative director of conceptual makeup brand Illamasqua. She has an extensive portfolio with work appearing in major publications such as Vogue, Dazed and Confused, and i-D, and working for major designers on runway shows. I am a great admirer of her work and style which will serve as a huge inspiration for my project.

Alex Box studied Fine Art Chelsea College of art where she discovered the body as a new canvas. During this time she experimented with prosthetics and honed her "feeling about how you can actually change and manipulate the face". Her fine art background is very evident in her work. Box creates unconventional makeup. She employs unusual techniques to achieve extraordinary results. Sometimes she uses materials to create a face that aren't necessarily makeup. She challenges our perceptions of beauty. She said in the interview below that she likes to "find beauty in everything, even if it is considered ugly to other people". Box has a great eye for style. No matter how surreal her ideas are, the finished look is always beautiful. She talks a lot about creating an alter ego with makeup. Sometimes these alter egos verge on being non human.

The artist sums up her style as dark, emotive, but also very beautiful. She loves and collects colour. She likes to collect things that inspire her.
Box says she loves finding new possibilities. Because of the media and the world being such a cultural and creative melting pot, Box says "people are having to go to more extreme lengths to do something new".

She says of her work that she can be very vague at the beginning of an idea and likes to be guided by intuition and the feel of the moment. She doesn't like to force creativity; she just lets things flow naturally. The initial spark of an idea comes along way to the final completed creation. She said in an interview she doesn't know whether she could recreate her looks again. I think great art cannot be done again. There is an element of spontaneity in her work. For example, in a series of photo shoots she created for Stylist magazine, based on her 5 favourite art movements, she removed the cover from a cushion that just happened to be there and used it for the hair for the Cubism look.

Below is an interview in 3 parts of Alex Box talking about her work:

There was one thing in particular from this interview that Alex Box said that really inspired me: "I do alot of research going to the national portrait gallery because I love the way painters and illustrators draw shadows and light because it's completely different from looking at a photograph, and I love that because you can that that and turn it into makeup. Where someone draws a shadow, may not exist in real life and I think that's really great to look at for makeup". I think this is a really imaginative idea and a great technique for designing makeup. I will make my own visit to the National Portrait Gallery and to the National Gallery and sketch people's faces then use the tones and shading I observe to create my own makeup.

One of her favourite paintings and one she references frequently in her work is Leonardo Da Vinci's Virgin on the Rocks (below) because of the "heavy highlights" and "exaggerated shadows" on the face. According to Box this is the "perfect makeup".

Close up of the Virgin Mary's face

When describing her design philosophy in the interview, she said she tried to "create worlds and fantasies". I think this is what fashion should be like. I think fashion should have grandeur, push the boundaries of appearance and feel like a desirable fantasy world. In a way I am creating my own worlds as I am translating two characters into a fashion image. I want my final images to have a fantasy like quality to them and my models to look super human.

Research Analysis:

Alex Box is said to have experimented with prosthetics at university. I have not experimented much with prosthetics in my work yet. I think this would be a good skill to learn and would relate to fashion being this sort of fantasy. I want to try and create new techniques and experiment with unconventional materials just like Alex Box does. Just as Box pushes the boundaries of accepted beauty, I want to create an image that goes against the accepted standards of beauty but an image which I still think is very beautiful. I want to find the beauty in the unconventional. I want the images I create to have a surreal, fantasy like quality. I love the precision and flawless quality to Alex Box's work. I will strive to achieve these standards in my own work. I will do this by doing lots of research on products and techniques and doing lots of experiments with makeup. I also want to create a complex makeup look. At the core of Alex's work is originality and creativity. I am going to strive to do something radical and something I have not seen before. I also want my images to have a dark and emotive side to them, as seen in Box's work. I think this will come naturally as I have chosen dark and emotive concepts. Although her work looks extremely immaculate and precious, it is also spontaneous in the way Box comes up with ideas. I want my own work to have this spontaneous aspect. I will do this by constantly letting my ideas flow and developing my designs up to the final creation.

Here is a link to Google images, displaying a full range of her creative ability and imagination. I will constantly be referencing these images as I develop my own designs as I find them a huge source of inspiration and I want to emulate her style in my work:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1191&bih=707&wrapid=tlif133288293137110&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=1S1yT6ivK6jL0QWbkq0R&q=alex%20box

I chose 5 images to analyse in more detail:


The use of monochrome is very striking. However, I prefer her work where she uses colour more. The use of block colour makes the image look quite flat but I still think it's an interesting effect. I love the intricate, immaculate patterns. Box often uses unconventional colours, painting the skin a completely different work. I think the asymmetry of the pattern is very aesthetically pleasing. The model blends smoothly into the plain black background. This makes the image a little dark and sinister. This shows how the shot, the background, the use of lighting and the pose of the model make a huge contribution to the overall look of an image and how they can emphasise and manipulate how the makeup appears. These are things to consider when I am planning my own photo shoot. The makeup does not just stop at the face but also extends to the body. To extend my creativity I should consider makeup for the body as well as the face.

The image above is the antithesis of Box's usual style which is very precious. The makeup looks very spontaneous and reckless. However I still think it is very beautiful. I think this makes the image appear energetic and alive. Although the makeup appears random, there is some sort of structure to it, the lines are just very messy. This image feels very emotive to me. I think it is the explosive use of colour and the makeup smeared and running down the face. I have always loved makeup that appears to be running or dripping. Box used unconventional materials to create this makeup including icing sugar, cake decorations, glues and paper. Again the shadows blend into the black background in this image too. By using a plain background, all the focus is drawn onto the makeup and it appears more intense.

In this image, the makeup is not the sole focus; there's the hair and costume too. The hair looks very sculptural. A combination of different textures and shapes are used to create the style. I think they compliment each other very well and make the look more intriguing. I love the use of gradient and colour bleed in the makeup. I think it looks very emotive. The white painted skin makes the colours look more intense. I think the combination of intense eye makeup and pale lips is well balanced and aesthetically pleasing. Box has created heavy shadows and dramatic contours which create a lot of depth and an intense look. You can see in her work that Box loves to experiment with different styles of shading and contouring. This is something I want to do to. You can tell she always takes into consideration the natural shape of the face and the new shapes she creates on the face always compliment the natural forms and curves. I love the intricate details in her work such as the pink design around the eyes and forehead here. They give her work a precious quality. She carries the eye makeup beyond where it would conventionally go but she creates a beautiful shape in doing so. As a makeup artist, I should not limit myself to conventional aesthetics as what is not the norm can actually be very beautiful. Eyes lined in white looks very dramatic and intense. It also makes eyes look brighter and more wide awake. The hair and makeup compliment the outfit very well. When styling a shoot it is important to think about all the different elements and how they will look coming together to create the final image. Box has used a plain background again for her work to be placed against. Again, the hair, makeup and outfit are the focus.

Box has used a combination of bright complimentary colours which grasps our attention. She has used block colours and no shading. This makes a slightly flat yet bold and captivating look. The look is simple and complex at the same time. Simple because only 3 colours are used and complex due to the intricate patterns on the face. The bright colours pop against the white background. I think the pattern looks very organic due to the smooth swirls and curves. The background is plain again which puts the focus on the makeup but it is white this time. The black background absorbed you in whereas the white background makes the image feel more expansive. I also like how the model is placed slightly to the right. It creates the feeling of space. This also shows that how the subject is shot is very important. The bright orange hat also compliments the makeup. The hat looks quite makeshift and quickly put together. Maybe it was another spontaneous action from Alex.

The heart shape looks immaculate. The brows have been heavily drawn on in black and made to look thicker. The look is very theatrical. The look also echoes burlesque with the pale skin and red lips. The red lips compliment the black and white makeup. The look feels very "Alice in Wonderland" due to the use of the heart shape and the use of black, white and red. The makeup also extends to the nails which have been painted in a black and white design, complimenting the rest of the makeup. Maybe I should think about nail design too to add another dimension to the makeup. I love the apparent contrast between the skin colour and the white. I love how part of the face is in natural skin colour so the contrast is really emphasised. I think the heart detail on the cheek is very cute. I admire the great precision with which it has been drawn on. Box has completely drawn a new face shape on the model. I find the image very emotive and romantic. I think it is the heart design, the red lips, the porcelain skin, the shading and shadowing, and the sensual pose of the model. The false lashes are very dramatic and add definition. Box has created thick, dramatic, slightly winged black liner. I love the thin white liner above the black liner. It is unconventional yet striking. A soft peach colour has been blended onto the cheeks. Box's precise shading and contouring makes the skin look flawless. I love the immaculate lines and finish of the makeup. The shading around the heart makes it look three dimensional and like a mask has been placed on the model's face. The brown eye shadow is perfectly applied. Again, Box has used a black background. The model blends into the shadows, concealing parts of her. This makes the image more mysterious and alluring.

My research on Alex Box is extended in my sketch book.

Research Resources:

Juliette's Blog

Saturday 14 April 2012

Alex Box

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