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Welcome everyone to episode 18 of the Artist to Artist podcast.
Before we get started with today's episode, I have a few announcements that I want to make. And the first one is that I'm going to be back posting on YouTube. I can't believe I'm saying this. And the second announcement is that this podcast, there is going to be a video component for it. Of the podcast on YouTube, so if you have any questions about any of the topics that we're covering, you can post them in the comments.
If you're watching this and you're one of my OG YouTube subscribers, hello, I am back. I don't know how back I'm gonna be, I definitely have some tutorials that I am working on right now to post. I am not quite sure how often I'm gonna be posting on YouTube, but we'll just see how it goes.
Another thing that I wanted to mention is that I am Also gonna be posting on tik tok my Instagram content is gonna be kind of similar But if you're a makeup artist regardless of what social media platform you are on You can find me there and if you're someone that only followed me on YouTube and you want to know what I've been up to since I left the platform, I will [00:01:00] share everything I've been working on for you just underneath the video. I'm sure you're wondering why I left YouTube in the first place, so we'll get this out of the way before we continue on with the episode.
There's a few reasons. So firstly, I basically wasn't making enough money on the platform to keep putting out the videos. There's a cost to making these videos, the cost of all the software to edit. I pay my models, the time that it takes for me to do this. I still work as a freelance artist. So if I'm sharing all this educational content and I'm really not making any money in ads
the video started costing me more than I was earning off the platform. At the time I was doing more YouTube videos regularly, I was reaching out to beauty brands looking for free product, sponsored videos, and no one really wanted to collaborate with me in that way.
It just became something I couldn't sustain. We'll see how it goes this time. I know things are different, but if it's a situation where they cost me more than what I'm earning off the platform or it's too much trouble for me, I'm probably going to leave once again, but I'm hoping this time around it's going to be better.
[00:02:00] Since I was last on YouTube, I started a separate Instagram account for makeup artists looking for training in education. It's called Artist to Artist. That is also the name of my platform that hosts my online courses and trainings and master classes.
So I'll link you to that if you're curious and you can see what I've been working on. I've put a ton of work into that and we'll talk about it more on the podcast, and I'll also talk about it more on future YouTube videos. What I wanted to talk about on today's episode is how to build your portfolio If you're a makeup artist that is just getting started I am going to share with you what I would do if I had to do it all over again There's so many things I would do differently
The industry is so different now than when I was getting started, and you have so many more tools at your fingertips to really build a portfolio. I'm going to walk you through what I would do if I was starting right now, this very second in 2024, and I wanted to eventually work as a pro makeup artist.. Now the biggest roadblock, I think, at the beginning of your career, there's a few things that are going to trip you up. [00:03:00] If you're a new makeup artist, the reality is, one, you're not going to be terribly good at makeup application unless you're naturally gifted, which is not very many of us.
I know it wasn't really that way for me. You're going to be lacking in your skill set. You will also probably be lacking in a lot of the right training and education that is going to get your makeup Applications looking like they're pro level but also the experience when you're first getting started You probably don't have a lot of experience assisting other artists You don't know what pro makeup applications actually look like a lot of the technical skills are not Developed because a lot of people starting out it's hard to get practice to actually get the skills Implement what you've learned whether you've gone to school whether you're self taught.
That isn't quite in place yet.
The other thing that I think is challenging is that you don't have access to great photographers or great models
and the truth is you all have to start somewhere. And the best thing to do is to start with your camera phone, with people that you know. So we'll talk about that in a second. [00:04:00] And you're going to build from nothing. We all build from nothing. I get so many Instagram DMs with people saying Angie. I don't know where to start. I just Graduated from school two weeks ago. I don't know anybody in the industry. I am NOT friends with any photographers I don't know where to find professional models And the reality is we all come from this place regardless of where anyone is right now whatever makeup artist you're following now that is working with celebrities or makeup artists that you are really inspired by, they started in the exact same position you are. We were all terrible at applying makeup. We all did some really bad makeup applications. For me, my bad makeup applications were caught with actual photos and not digital and not, you know, out there on the internet.
And if you're old enough, a lot of our older work was actually just in photo form. There was no digital stuff. The truth about all of this is regardless of who you're following now, regardless of who's inspiring you,
we all started with no experience, not a lot of education, no industry [00:05:00] connections. for a lot of us, even for my generation of people, I'm in my 40s now, so I started in the 90s, my portfolio had to actually be a printed photograph. So I had to work with professional photographers in order to get photos For my portfolio to network and get jobs now.
Everything is digital You don't need to actually have a printed photo your phone is really all you need to start your career and to start building your portfolio. To eventually get access to better photographers, better clients, so on and so forth.
If I was starting today, if I just decided this morning that I was going to become a professional makeup artist, here are the steps that I would take. The first thing is that I would do my best to use social media, I would use the internet, and I would research all What the top makeup artists are doing in my market every market is going to be different But you need to understand what type of clients are paying makeup artists for work where you live in toronto where I live It's a very commercial market You can see this when you do a linkedin [00:06:00] search a google search if you look at any of the bigger makeup artists in the city that are known or are Agency represented and they're top of the agency so when you follow them on social media for long enough, you can see that not a lot of the jobs are these super glamorous, high fashion jobs because our market is commercial.
If you follow me on Instagram, you will see the same thing. I do a lot of e commerce. I do weddings so i'm not working on these terribly big budget Really high end jobs that are high fashion editorial Because that's just not what makes money for makeup artists here in toronto.
There's a very small percentage of Makeup artists that are working in this market that can earn off those types of jobs But largely it's a commercial market and you can figure that out if you just follow people on social media So the first thing I would do is start following every makeup artist who looks like somebody on social And I would watch their stories and look at their posts and start to piece together the type of clients they're working with and Most importantly the type of makeup looks that they're [00:07:00] being paid to create for these clients
The next thing I would do is try to figure out who the bigger players are when it comes to photographers, producers, production companies. And you can do a lot of internet searching. I know everyone's amazing at finding stuff out on the internet. Figure out what these photographers are shooting, who are they working with, and start to connect the dots on social media.
Act like a spy. I know you can do that. I know that everyone listening is probably really great at finding stuff out on social media, but use that same energy to figure out what is really actually going on in your market. When we're first starting as artists, and I know I did this, and I speak to a lot of newer artists who do the same thing, you need to have ambitions, but you have to also be realistic about where you're at in the market that you're working in.
If you're spending your time right now, you're a brand new makeup artist and you're doing all these crazy editorial looks, it's great that you're being creative and you're trying things and you do want to keep that energy as you're building your business. But the fact of the matter is, if you want to [00:08:00] turn a profit, if you want to become pro, you have to be more strategic about the type of looks that you're posting on social.
. in a largely commercial market, crazy editorial looks are likely not going to get you hired. And in fact, if you're sharing a lot of these types of looks, it may turn clients off or brides off or special event clients off from booking you. So that's something you want to be cognizant of. One of the things that I always say is to remember that you are running a business, which is hard to separate from the fact that we're all creative, emotional, we want to do things that we enjoy doing, but you do have to have more of a business mindset around how you approach the work that you're sharing on social.
So first step, if it's me, I really need to understand what's going on in my market. Who are the bigger players? Who are the makeup artists that are getting the big jobs? What are these jobs? When they're not doing those jobs, what other kind of jobs are they doing? Who are their assistants?
This is what you have to look at. You should be also actively looking for opportunities to assist other artists in your market [00:09:00] because assisting is the best way to figure out how things work.
You can learn a lot about the industry when you assist. You can see who the big players are. You can see how a set operates. You can see what pro level makeup applications look like in person. This is another way that you're going to get information about the type of work that's happening in your market.
Once you get this information, when it comes to the type of looks that you should be practicing and posting on your social, you want to choose looks that are going to appeal to paying clients in your market because we're not running a charity here and you need to attract paying clients. If you want to do this job, you have rent to pay.
You have bills to pay. Your work and your portfolio has to be appealing to paying clients. We all do unpaid work. We all do creatives and TFPs. It's part of the business, but the goal that you should be working towards is attracting paying clients. So that market research is going to tell you What type [00:10:00] of client is paying in your market?
You're going to check out the type of looks that people are paying for. For example, if you're in bridal right now in Toronto, I do natural bridal makeup applications. Everybody wants to look like Hailey Bieber. Everybody wants natural. Everything I show is natural. My commercial clients want to see natural. My beauty focused clients want to see natural. So when you look on my Instagram, natural, natural, a hundred different versions of natural because that's what gets me paid and keeps me paid.
Really look around and examine and study the makeup looks that bigger artists in your market are doing, their assistants are doing. Look at campaigns that are coming out from brands and other companies that you may want to work for. Pay attention to all this stuff. These are the looks that you are going to be creating and practicing on anybody that you can get in your chair The next thing I would do if I was starting out is tap into my network to let people know I'm working as a makeup artist So if you're listening right now, I'm assuming you have followers on Instagram I assume you have friends and family, maybe you [00:11:00] can connect with them on Facebook, maybe you're more of an Instagram, TikTok type of person, maybe you're on LinkedIn.
Whatever it is, you do have to let people know that you're a makeup artist, you're looking for faces to work on, and you can't wait to collaborate with anybody that wants to have their makeup done. Send out an email, post something on your social, post something on Facebook, tell your friends to tell a friend, and start volunteering your services.
If I was doing this over, I think I would plan to probably do anywhere from three to five makeup applications per week, more if I could, on friends and family or friends of friends.
And I'm going to be doing this free of charge because for me at this point, and when I look back to the stage of my career, it's more valuable to have the experience and the social media posts at the beginning.
So tap into that network. Do not be shy. Offer up your services as a makeup artist, literally tell your friends to tell their friends that you're doing makeup and see if you can offer to go over to a friend's house on a Friday or [00:12:00] Saturday night and do some makeup applications or makeup touch ups.
If it's bridal season or it's the summer where you are, say, Hey, look, if you're going to a wedding this summer, I would love to do your makeup for free.
What I would also do if I was doing this over is exchange those free makeup applications off. For social media posts. So anyone who wants their makeup done by me for free They're gonna have to give me their face for a social media post in exchange for that application that's the payment at the beginning
The type of looks that I'm going to be practicing, of course, you want to make sure your clients are happy. And with these opportunities where you're reaching out to your network and you're doing these makeup applications, your main goal is to build your reputation and make sure your client is leaving happy so that they tell other friends about you.
Referrals, you will find, will be your top source of income. But Versus social media in most cases you'll find this when you're meeting new people or your friends and friends of friends are Bringing people for makeup applications or connecting you with these [00:13:00] people the thing you should prioritize is making sure they have a good experience And then also keeping in mind the looks that you research
If it's me, I'm practicing my natural makeup looks. The other thing that you can do if you're a little bit nervous and maybe are not comfortable doing more dramatic looks, you can go ahead and put a mood board together and say , I'm looking for clients who want a Hayley Bieber makeup look or a Sabrina Carpenter makeup look.
Put a mood board together, circulate that around, let your friends know you're looking for people who are interested in having their makeup done in this style, and that's how you can kind of get the ball rolling.
It's really important to get any kind of hands on experience that you can get You're not gonna be an amazing artist off the jump None of us are it takes a lot of time and practice but that practice and that opportunity to work on real Regular people is the best training you're gonna get Because you will find, depending on the market you're in not every person you work on is going to be a 20 year old model with perfect skin. That's the other, I think, big [00:14:00] misconception about working as a pro artist. I work on just a lot of regular people, even on my commercial sets. If I'm doing corporate videos, if I'm doing commercial for a company where they need a Actors, or regular people to appear in their ad or commercial.
Those are the people that I'm working on. You may think. Because you're not working on models that is going to be detrimental to your career and it really isn't What's important in the early stages is to show that you are a makeup artist to show that you are working on people That you can do makeup looks that are going to get you paid in the market that you're in And that you can do the job that you say you can do content you should be getting from these makeup applications.
If you can do before and after, that's great. Some people might not be comfortable, but try it. Beautiful after photo and video at the very least. So what does this mean? This means simplicity. This means taking your client to a window, making sure you have good lighting, making sure [00:15:00] the torso is framed up properly.
We're not saying seeing someone's house or someone's whole outfit. Just really focusing on simple makeup looks, makeup looks that are going to be attractive to paying clients, that are photographed in good lighting, natural lighting is best, and that are really just showing off your work. So try not to be so overambitious at the beginning.
Just get that momentum going. Start that process of focusing. Reaching out to your network, practicing looks that are going to get you paid, posting good quality photos and videos. This doesn't mean you have to have a professional camera. You can just use your iPhone.
Makeup application in natural light with any of the new iPhones is going to look amazing. When it's cropped properly, that's even better. Do not worry about retouching those photos and videos. And I would actually advise against it because when you post only retouched photos, If you cannot deliver something that looks close to that in real life, clients are going to be very disappointed in your work.
And you don't want that because it's important at this stage in your, in your career. [00:16:00] And it's important all the way through your career. Your reputation is what matters in these early stages. It's always going to matter, but I think when you're in the early days of building your career, you have very few chances to make a good impression.
It's important that you take any opportunity to make a good impression on your clients. If they see your social media is full of retouched images, when you show up and do their makeup, they're going to be expecting something that you cannot deliver. So you don't want to start off your relationship with people in your network with that energy.
Next up, what I would do is just continue that process of meeting people, letting people know I am doing makeup applications, getting good content, improving how my photos look, the types of angles that I'm recording or taking pictures of, just trying to get better with each application.
And then when I look at my feed, as I get better at my applications, which will happen much faster than just sitting at home doing one makeup application a month Remove applications that are not my best work and [00:17:00] replace it with better work it's like that ladder right every time you do something you climb a rung on the ladder And what you want to do with your photo specifically is constantly go back and just check and make sure That the work that's posted on your social is a good representation of what you can offer clients And if it's not you want to remove it, it's better to have a good fewer photos that are really great, that are beautiful examples of your work versus a ton of photos on a feed that are not the best example because our clients will go to social right off and they'll scroll all the way to the bottom.
I know a lot of my clients do this. I'll see references from looks that I did three years ago that I posted on social. People are looking to get an impression of who you are when they go onto your social and let's just call it right now as it is. Your social media is your portfolio now for us. It used to be you had to have a website But now social media is your portfolio just be mindful of what you're saying about who you are as an artist and your skills based on what you're posting. If there's stuff that's not your [00:18:00] best work, do not post it. It's better to have quality over quantity. And if I was doing this now, I think it's also important to make sure you're getting content of you on the job to show that people are trusting you with their face and being able to do their makeup for events and things like that. It's little things like this, this type of content that informs clients, Hey, this is a professional, this is someone who's actually doing this. This person has a great looking kid, they're on set, they're out there. Even if it's just a few reels here and there, it's nice to show what you're doing with your clients.
It's nice to show you on set. You have to be so obvious with what you're posting and I think this is something I Really wasn't thinking about until a couple of years ago You have to be very intentional with what you're posting because people really only believe what you show them on social if your social media has two photos, which are not great of pretty average makeup looks and a friend refers you [00:19:00] for something like a wedding or a commercial your clients are gonna go there And they're gonna be like, yeah, this person doesn't work.
This is not somebody I feel like I trust Versus if you've been chipping away at just offering to do people's makeup Reaching out to people taking nice photos and video taking out old stuff that doesn't work showing little reels of you on the job It becomes more obvious to people that are thinking about hiring you that you can actually do the job that you say you can
Be intentional with what you're posting and make sure that it's very clear to people who come to your profile What type of makeup you do and who you are as an artist? That's what you need to be working towards
Just to recap so we're on the same page if I was starting my career right now And I had to build my portfolio starting over August 2024 The first thing I would do would be a ton of market research about the industry the paying clients in my market I would look into who the big makeup artists are who their assistants are even I would look for photographers [00:20:00] Producers, I would just do as much research as I could to figure out figure out what's happening in the city, in the industry, and then I would be looking at the types of makeup looks that these artists are paid to do.
And that's what I would practice. I would reach out to my network on Instagram, on Facebook, on wherever, LinkedIn, whatever you're on, and offer to do people's makeup.
I would prioritize the looks that I know clients are going to be hiring for I would make sure to get Photo and video with really great lighting natural lighting good artificial lighting. You should have that in your kit It doesn't matter how experienced you are should be a kit essential And then as i'm doing this anybody that i'm doing makeup on i'm making sure they get a five star experience with me So I can start to build my reputation because referrals are going to be a top source of income for you for sure Probably more than social media, but we can talk about that on another episode And then I would just populate my social with those images and take out older ones as I get better at makeup application And as I just get better photos and video of [00:21:00] my work
Once you kind of get this momentum going then you're going to reach out to people in your market who are at the same level of experience as you are a mistake that I made when I was first starting out is that I was Dying to work with the photographers and producers and videographers that I knew were just working with top tier makeup artists because I felt If I could work with them, that would be a big change in my career.
It would be like I was being discovered, but joke's on me, people who are that experienced, there is no way they're risking their client relationships with inexperienced makeup artists. And also, they already have teams that are well established, that they've been working with for years, that they know are going to produce the level of work that is required for their careers for their clients.
When you're starting out, and if I was starting out now, I would be looking for newer Newer wardrobe stylists, newer hair stylists to collaborate with and start the portfolio building process with other professionals in the [00:22:00] industry. Because the people that you start to build genuine relationships with early on in your career You are eventually gonna be having your own set of clients and doing creatives together and doing big jobs together when you're in the beginning stages of your career, it's like you're in this matchmaking process because the people that you connect with, that have the same interests as you, that have the same career goals, eventually you're going to get experience working as a team and you're going to come up together in the industry and you eventually will be the cool kids of your market and you will start to attract your own clients.
In the early stages, my, I think, approach and how I think about things would be different in that I wouldn't try to infiltrate already established teams, I would try harder to really meet people and work with people who I like to work with, who are as motivated as I am, who are aligned with me.
So, yeah. And that's what you're going to be looking for in terms of people that you [00:23:00] network with and do creatives and TFPs with. So that's the next step. You populate your social, you're building your reputation with your immediate network. From there, you're going to use that proof that you can do the job to network with professional photographers.
And other industry pros who are at your level and from there you're going to start building your more professional portfolio Your social media is always going to have some combination of photos from your phone And photographer photos that are retouched that's the normal way to do things people want to see a combination of both
they want proof you're working with professional photographers and you're connected to the industry But they also see the content from your phone as being a more real example of your skills and abilities as an artist. That's the next phase. The other thing I have to be very clear about is that this is not a process that happens in weeks or months.
This is a year's long process to connect with people, to build your portfolio. Just to become a better artist takes a lot of time and training. You have [00:24:00] to be patient. And I always say, We really are in this for the long game. So that is the mindset that you have to have. And try to not long for other people's jobs because that's not for you.
That's something that they have worked on for years before you even thought of becoming a makeup artist, most likely. Don't go after other people's stuff what you should be focused on is building your own connections, your own network
and really building the type of career that you want and what's right for you based on your interests, based on the type of style that you like to work in, and also based on the type of people that you want to be around. I don't know if this is going to be disheartening or It's going to normalize maybe a lot of the feelings that you have when you're first getting started as a makeup artist If you're watching this right now and you're in those early phases What's happening to you now and the type of work that you have to put in, this happens continuously throughout your entire career and the cycle starts over when things in your career [00:25:00] change.
For example, if you move markets, you're going to have to start over in a new market and basically go through the same process of reaching out to your network, working with people who are in that market,
getting to know who the clients are, who are the photographers that are getting hired for work, the style of makeup that is popular in that market. If you want to switch areas of the industry, you have to start over. Say you want to go from bridal to more commercial work. Well, you have to see what commercial clients exist in your market, the type of looks that they are hiring makeup artists for.
for it. It is different from bridal. If you want to go from commercial to bridal, you have to go through the same thing. You may also reach a point in your career where something happens and you have to pivot and this happens to all of us. I lost a huge client that I had for a decade last year, 80 percent of the work Vanished so now I have to pivot I have to get to know new people in the industry who are open to working with makeup Artists who work in my style?
It's something that we're consistently working on and I think this is again where it's important to remember [00:26:00] you're in this for the long haul It's work. It's a business and it's something you have to always Continuously work on and chip away at and you can't neglect ever Your portfolio building and your networking even as you become more Busier more booked and you become more confident in your skills.
This is something you always have to be working on in the background
I think that's everything that I wanted to cover on this episode. If you're listening to this episode and you have questions about anything that I've talked about, you can send me a DM on the Artist2Artist Instagram. If you're watching this on YouTube, you know what to do. Put your questions in the comments, and I just want to shout out everyone who has been subscribed to my YouTube channel, even though I have not posted in many years.
Thank you for staying subscribed. Thank you for re watching the videos I know so many of you have sent me messages over the years Asking for me to come back and saying that you still watch my videos. So i'm glad to be here I think we'll see how this goes but I hope I can continue to provide Really useful helpful content for you for those of you who are makeup artists Just looking to [00:27:00] learn from another working makeup artist.
For anyone that's new to the podcast, I do this podcast once a week. This week, though, I am taking a couple days off, so there won't be an episode next week, but I will be back the following week, and I would love to hear your suggestions as well for future podcast episodes.
That's it, everybody. I will talk to you soon. Bye.
