CMU School of Drama


Thursday, November 09, 2017

Rising Star: Rachel Madison

Make-Up Artist Magazine: Rachel Madison started painting faces at 14 years old. By the end of high school she was a graduate of PJ’s College of Cosmetology.

Not only is Madison talented but at 18 she has passion and determination that rivals most young adults her age. Inevitably, this will lead her to a thriving career—on her own terms—within this crazy (wonderful) world of make-up. And for these reasons, and many more, we highlight her here, as a Rising Star.

5 comments:

Emma Reichard said...

Make-up is, for some reason, a really controversial issue nowadays. The media loves to rant about how young women putting on makeup is an issue. And it’s a mindset that persists. I once had a friend from high school tell me he thought women wearing makeup was ‘lying to themselves’. But the reality of it all is that makeup is an art form. A talent. And if young women feel the need to express themselves through that art, then who are we to stop them. This article is just one example of what happens when we let young women grow their talents. Imagine how many more artists we could have in the world if people stopped caring that the medium was makeup. And she’s only 18. I hope that maybe the perceptions about makeup art and design change as we move towards a less restrictive society. It would be for the better.

Kelly Simons said...

Make up is such an interesting branch of theatre. I like that it's moved away from costume design and has kind of become it's own design area. Articles like this help to keep makeup art in the industry's mind, and I appreciate that. The article reads: “As far as my work, my Avatar-inspired body paint has to be one of my absolute favorite body paint projects. The paint took about five to six hours and it was published in Skin Markz magazine; it’s one of my proudest body paints and is well known in my area.”

When Madison first started doing make-up she looked up to and was inspired by Madeyewlook by Lex. “She was one of the first artists I saw who was doing body painting and filming tutorials. I have always looked up to her because of how talented she is and how humble she has remained. A few more artists I’ve looked up to would be Ve Neill, Craig Tracy, Kevin James Bennett and so many more.”

Madison’s work leans towards avant-garde. She loves learning new techniques and styles and is always striving to challenge herself but says, “I love doing creative, out of the box looks the most though.” I love that these original makeup artists are inspiring a new generation that will make makeup art even more prominent than it is now.

Monica Skrzypczak said...

Makeup art is such an interesting topic and beautiful art form. It’s so fascinating to see how completely you can change what someone’s face looks like just based on the shadows you accentuate. Madison’s work is really eye catching with it’s really bold lines and colorful pallet. It’s really interesting to see how we call what she is doing makeup, when it goes much further than the everyday makeup most people use. She isn’t doing just outing faces or every day faces, but full body art and intricate paintings and transformations of faces. I think it’s a completely different thing, and I look forward to seeing how this progresses in the future and becomes more of it’s own type of art and pull away from what people stereotypically think about make up. I am also really impressed that not only is she 18, but she started when she was 14. That’s only four years and she’s so good at it already.

Julian Goldman said...

I’ve always found body painting and SFX make-up to be really cool and very impressive. Rachel Madison’s work is definitely impressive, and considering how young she is, I could see her being near the top of the industry once she has more experience. Afterall, she is only going to get better. The aesthetic of some of the looks in the photos in the article remind me a lot of Cirque Du Soliel both in terms of form and the vibrant colors. In general, her work isn’t unlike anything I’ve ever seen before, and none of it is mind blowing, but I’ve also watched a lot of Face Off, so I’ve seen a fair amount of impressive make-up work. That being said, her work is very clean, detailed, and beautiful, and based on this article she has both skills and passion, which is enough to get anyone off to a pretty solid start.

Rachel Kolb said...

Seeing that a young person, not to unlike myself, has found what she loves and is perusing it with her whole heart is inspiring. It gives me hope that I can peruse what I love whole heartlessly, and that is what I am doing here. Madison found that she loved makeup and I think that is so cool. The makeup industry and especial body art is something that I find beautiful. Makeup can be used to enhance natural beauty or to completely transform. That’s one of the unique qualities of makeup that set is apart from other art forms. I don’t know much about the industry itself, but I would assume that like any other arts industry, it may be difficult to get your foot in the door, and to see a woman doing this at something that is considered a young age is inspiring. And by the look of her work she deserves a spot at the table.