Southern Skull’s Journey started with the love of Halloween. Getting dressed and putting on makeup was her favorite part of the holiday, as well as the candy. Coming up with original characters like a Vampirate and a Zombie Trucker Girl, her imagination had no bounds. It is here where she started to explore the world of Special Effects makeup. Graduating from YouTube University, she is mostly self-taught with master course certificates by the world-renowned artist Vanessa Davis AKA Wigs & Makeup Manager. (insert certificates). She is currently working on building her brand and launching her own YouTube channel, complete with merchandise. She dreams of doing amazing SFX makeup for the silver screen. She finds her creative passion driven by many artists from movies, music, digital artist, YouTube.
Were you ever creeped out or given the heebie jeebies as a kid from movies that others loved? Well, the top of that list of many for me is the Wizard of Oz. For years this creepy thought stayed in my head until I became a professional SFX Makeup artist. I wanted to come up with something original, not often seen before—quite the challenge for in this day and age. So that’s where the idea comes from the things that weird you out, that make you feel uncomfortable. The idea of doing something every day that makes you uncomfortable and challenges is where this whole journey even starts. The process of creating this makeup series was a two-year idea. The first year was actually at Dark Hour. I would’ve done it that year, but I worked for the haunted house as an actress and an SFX makeup artist for 20 long hard nights, which meant all my time went to them and my other full-time marketing job. You will not hear me complaining about that because not only did I share my ideas, but it helped mold the characters into who they are now. Working with creatives in the industry like Allen Hopps and soo many others pushed my creative ideas to the art you see now. Looking back, grander ideas for a Bionic Lion were a possibility. I will incorporate that bad-ass idea into something in the future, so stay tuned. Below I will describe the thought process and a brief explanation of the SFX makeup.
She had to be beautiful and Gorey, but how to depict her with this twist was one of my favorite ideas. As we know, or if you don’t, Dorothy enters Wizard of Oz through a massive tornado, which turns her life upside into the land of Oz. My thoughts concluded this time; she would not make it through scotch-free. This time the Wicked Witch of the East had one more casualty, Dorothy’s Eyeball. As for the SFX portion of Dorothy Eyeball Makeup, you can watch my process here.
First and foremost, you will always need to check yourself and others for skin allergies and proceed with caution when using any new products. This SFX makeup involves proximity to your eye with adhesives.
You will need a small image of an eye color close to your own; I printed a green iris (or you could paint your own). I then bought some polymorph plastic from Amazon here. You heat this material with warm water and mold it into a ball. I used clear nail polish to add the iris to the ball, but any glue will adhere to the plastic polymorph ball’s iris. Once you have made the eyeball, we need to make the tendons. I made the tendons from yarn; I used different red colors, but you can find a link to that product here. I then applied the yarn with Elmer’s glue to the eye, making sure to spread it out in a vein-like pattern. We also need to make an eyelid; you can use a bald cap or spread some liquid latex out on a plate and let it dry. The next step comes to application onto the eye. Safely and carefully! First, you need to block your eyebrow with a washable glue stick; this will protect your eyebrow from any pros-aide or liquid latex you may use to apply the cotton pad. Once you have safely applied the cotton pad around your eye and dried it, you can paint it black. Next, you will need to strategically fold the bald cap or dried liquid latex into the eyelid. I use false eyelashes to sell this look more. After you have an empty eye socket, it’s time to adhere the tendons to the eye carefully. Add some freaky fake blood but not too much; you don’t want to cover up your beautiful SFX makeup.
If you would like to see where I learned this process, I frequently seek Ellimacs tutorials to gather knowledge, and you can find that here.
I started doing Halloween makeup at the very young of 12. I dove into SFX makeup and southern in 2015.
My journey started when I learned how to do my glam makeup for photoshoots and transform it into Halloween and gore makeup.
It took me a year to come up with a name. My thoughts were to make it brandable but make me. I am a southern girl who is obsessed with all things skulls. Also, I threw some ideas into a name generator until an idea popped up that steered me in the right direction.
I am mostly self-taught; I have watched thousands of hours of tutorials. Further down the line, I have taken online courses with other renowned artists. Guidance from my Dark Hour haunted house makeup director Allen Hopps. He quickly pushed my skills to the next level, gaining confidence and speed.
I get my inspiration from many avenues, from other artists, nature, books, music, anything that evokes that creative spark. My creative mind knows no bounds, and SFX makeup is my outlet.
Just start! The hardest part of the journey is giving in. Just say yes and start creating, start failing and learning. We all have to start somewhere and be okay with being sucky at first. Look up tutorials, start small and manageable, be persistent and stay consistent.
Of course, all the time! I work with local artists mostly, and we put on memorable events, festivals, and workshops. If you are ever interested in a collaboration, please contact me.
I use all sorts of products from materials at the dollar store, home depot, or your local grocery store. Mostly, I find myself online finding materials. I have a complete tool Kit here for you to checkout.
With great effort! It took me some time to figure out this process. After many tutorials and a few inexpensive starter kits on Amazon, I now have a decent camera and studio setup. Link to my setup here.
Actually, I have a Psychology degree and have always had plans to start a team-building business based on my degree and years of corporate experience.
I have a base rate for all makeup requests, but each inquiry is on a case-by-case basis. Please contact me for further information.
I grew up in the south, hence the name Southern Skull. More specifically, I am from Dallas, TX, born and raised. I love my city but travel often to experience other cultures.
Collaboration, consistency, & creativity! More importantly, hard work. It takes a lot of time and effort to build your brand and company. Take it a day at a time and do ONE productive thing a day. If you miss a day, get back on it.
I am always open to take more questions; if I didn’t answer yours, please contact me here.
Southern Skull is located in Texas, United States.
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