The first year of my higher national diploma at West Thames college has been a lot more full on than I expected. When I chose the course I had no idea how many projects I would be given or how many different styles of make-up I would cover. I was also completely unaware of the fact that I would also study history and art. Something else that was unexpected was the emphasis on hair. I have learnt a lot over the duration of my first year and realised that I will need to start making connections over the summer in order to give myself a stepping stone into the working world at the end of year two.
The first unit we covered this year was make-up and hair spanning from the Victorian Era up until pre world war one. I found the make-up lessons in this unit interesting in that a lot of products that would be essential for most women today, like mascara, were not used during this time period and if they were it was a very minimal amount. I did find that these lessons became a bit repetitive as the make-up was fairly similar throughout this time period. The hair section of this unit I also found very interesting. To me what was so fascinating is that even though women of today have a lot more technology out day to day hairstyles tend to be much simpler. Hair was something I really struggled with and at the beginning of the year I felt completely out of my depth. I had never even used a roller before our first class so I found it really hard to then have to create an elaborate hairstyle and I came away from nearly every class feeling incredibly deflated. I think this was reflected in my final image. I found the history section of this unit really enjoyable although I did find it a bit inconsistent. I had so many notes for the Victorian era that I was five times over the word limit on my essay, but with the pre world war one section of the unit I received far less information.
The next unit to discuss followed the same format as the first one but this time we looked at make-up and hair spanning from the nineteen twenties to the nineteen sixties. I found this unit more relatable as there are film stars and singers from these era’s whose performances we can see. I found the make-up from the nineteen twenties and thirties more challenging that what we had done previously as blocking out eyebrows is something I am not very confident with. I really enjoyed nineteen forties and nineteen fifties make-up as it was at this time my grandmother and her sister were in their twenties and thirties and they were probably the most glamorous women I knew. I also really enjoyed the sixties as the is decade in which most of my favourite bands and musicians rose to fame and the generation that people who know me say I should have been born in. I again struggled with hair in this unit I don’t think I have achieved anything to be particularly proud of although I did get used to the tools more. I also really enjoyed the history lessons in this unit coming from a countryside town where children were evacuated to during world war two and being of English and Caribbean descent it was really interesting to hear the historical context behind my grandparents and older relatives stories of the time. My only wish is that we had covered the sixties, but that’s probably just me personally due to my love of music from the decade.
The theatre unit was probably my favourite. Having studied acting for ten years it held the most personal interest for me. Having said that it was the unit I found the most challenging, I don’t think there was any look that I was one hundred percent happy with form the unit. My favourite lesson from this unit was creating injuries and this has made me really excited to study special effects fully next year. I enjoyed doing the research for this unit due to my interest in the theatre. At the moment theatre is where I am thinking I would like to end up. There are still a couple of looks from this unit that I need to perfect.
My fashion unit was the one I was the most nervous about seeing as I do not follow fashion and would not consider myself a particularly fashionable person but I ended up really enjoying it. Being honest I did find the first few make-up and hair lessons a bit tedious as it was covering the basics but I understand that we need this as a basis move on to the more advanced make-up and hair. Out of all the units I feel that fashion is where I have created the looks I am the most proud of, possibly because I’ve been able to create a look myself and have some level of creative control. I really enjoyed putting my shoot together and this is probably the make-up that I am the most proud of from the year. I also find the blog the easiest and best way to present my work. I wish all units could be submitted on a blog.
Overall I feel it has been a good experience and I have grown a lot as an artist. I am really looking forward to being able to be more creative next year and improve and expand upon the skills I have built this year. I know that we have less projects next year as well so I am going to try and gain experience where possible.
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