Well as with all good things, so to, must this MONSTER MADNESS, come to an end!
This course marks the culmination of the the entire months worth of classes and an end to this tribute to the late, great, Jack Pierce. Everything, and I do mean, EVERYTHING we've learned and taught in the previous 4 classes will be reviewed and used one way or another in a recreation of the big green guy, himself. If you want to participate along with me in class, I HIGHLY recommend that you either take all four previous courses, (and practice that info during the interim week by watching the recorded lesson online) or that you already consider yourself with an intermediate to advanced skill level and have a very strong working knowledge of everything else being taught during my MONSTER MADNESS classes. I would not attempt this makeup on myself, please do get someone to sit for you. I will be working on a model, and you should too, to get the most from this lesson. What is in this lesson, you ask? Well, in this weeks lesson, October 31, the new skill we are adding to the repertoire is BASIC BALD CAP APPLICATION, this will not be a seamless bald cap application (to do a seamless latex baldcap in the future, you would simply modify what we learned concealing the latex pieces for THE WOLF and THE MONSTERS WIFE). This bald cap, will be used to simply protect the hair and create a base for the Frankenstein head. We will use it in combination with some of the advanced construction techniques that Mr. Pierce, himself used to create our final look. We will add some simple Woochie pieces (Bolts) blend them out, and lay hair on top of his head, similar as we did previously with "THE WOLF, The latex construction of the iconic "Frankenstein flat top" will be the culmination of the construction skills we first learned in THE PHARAOH and the stitching we refined in THE MONSTER'S WIFE will be used here again but a lot more. Our paint job will rely heavily on the blending and shadowing techniques taught in THE COUNT. So as you can see, this LIVE construction make up for THE MONSTER is no joke, it’s an arduous and long makeup application to get right (at least four hours for this class) but, boy when you’re do get it right .... wow! It's definitely impressive, and a makeup every monster fan should attempt, at some point. If for the only reason to appreciate the amount of work and dedication that Mr. Pierce put into the look and to really drive home the point that makeup is very much a collaborative art, that not one artist gets sole jurisdiction over.
If all that sounds too intimidating to try live and you just want to watch me do this makeup, and try it later in privacy, or never ... then by all means, do so! Remember, this series was built like this on purpose, to choose how you want to participate. With practice and patience, you can really do it! Once you do, you can really understand why The MONSTER is so iconic and why it has been the “gold standard“ as to how Mary Shelly's immortal work is presented visually.
I have heard many people say before that the perfection of this makeup relies heavily on Boris Karloff himself. I would have to agree 110%. That isn't to knock Mr. Pierce's work, but to not acknowledge Mr. Karloff's contribution, or really any actor's contribution, to the art of makeup, creating this or ANY character, is doing a grave disservice. In particular, though was Karloff. The Monster is as much his creation, as it is Jack Pierce's. He was literally, the perfect actor for the part, even going as fart to remove his bridge work as to aid in the physical transformation to add the now literally sunken look to the characters cheek, that makeup alone could not create.
Many of you out there may remember that during season five of FACE OFF we had the amazing opportunity to completely reimagine Frankenstein’s Monster and the Bride. We didn’t win that challenge, but our guest judge for that episode, director Kevin Grevioux, declared during the walk through, that a lighting trick I had placed under the "skin" of the application (to give the illusion of a pulsating electrical current in his veins) was a “genius“ idea. 😱 <3. (Well, it’s the little things that matter 😉) I was most proud of our Monster, as I had sculpted the face and Tate, the cowling for the entire rest of the head and shoulders. We had tubes pumping fluids back and forth through this contraption and we had to work closely together to make sure our pieces lined up. I had always wanted to team up with Tate on something, and what a great iconic character to work on together!
Fast forward to today, and if you register for this class you will be making your Monster with me, this October 31! Seriously though, what a great day to do this? ON actual HALLOWEEN!? Especially this year since ... well, not much much could happen this year for of covid-19, and I know our own area is toning things down. This year make your own fun at home, with me! So why not dress your dad/ husband/ boyfriend/ brother/ random homeless guy out of the alley/ who or WHATever....up as THE MONSTER and let him THOMP all over the house for a few hours? Post some pics of your private halloween party and celebrate having made it this long, when so many others sadly, have not. It's an Abbey-normal year, let's get Abbey normal ;) (see what I did there?) Please join us for this final class in the MONSTER MADNESS series. Trust me, it will be a great way to wind down the holiday and we'll even have a cup of hot cider together after! SO, let's see what else you need to get for this class, shall we? Many of the items you will already be in possession of, if you have taken any of the previous classes. If you are just taking this class, you can review the other blogs for standard use kit supplies, the final specific items pertaining to this class are below:
Foundation- Ben Nye creme foundation, P-21 Frankenstein
Highlight- Ben Nye creme foundation, P-14 Sallow Green
Shadow- Ben Nye creme foundation, P-17 Death Purple and P-15 Cadaver Grey (these can be found in small quantities in the "Death Wheel" if you would rather grab one of those, we wont be using much of them to justify an entire pot, but if you took the other classes you may already have them.)
Black pancake (I am using Kryolan black pancake)
Black makeup pencil
1 latex bald cap
1 pizza box (eat the pizza, keep the box)
1 box of rolled cotton
1- 4 oz bottle of Spirit gum
1- 4 oz bottle of Pros aide
1 box of facial tissue
1 bag of latex makeup wedges
1 set of Woochie or other brand neck bolts (or you can make your own I will show in a preclass social media live, then archived video!)
1 package of unflavored gelatin
1 needle and some black thread
Now get that collection together and join us on Halloween for THE MONSTER!
CLICK the PICTURE BELOW to find out how to register !
