To succeed in this fast paced business you must be dedicated and quick thinking. To make rational decisions you have to be informed and to be informed you have to ask questions.

If you have not already realized, a good make-up artist includes being an investigator, a researcher and a consultant. All of this takes place before you even touch a make-up brush. It does not matter the medium you are working in, everything starts with a concept or a script. It is at this burgeoning part of any production where you must ask the crucial questions, so you can make the critical decisions, which affect what you and a number of other people will do next.

You are an investigator because you must seek out information from a number of sources such as the Director or Producers. You must know the conditions under which the make-up will be presented; is it cold of winter or the blazing heat of summer? Is the location a dark room or an exterior night? Is it a brightly lit room or an exterior day? Is it raining? Are the characters involved in a relaxed state or is there physical action such as running, fighting and so on? You also need to know how it will be covered - in wide, medium or extreme close-up.

You are a researcher because after asking the questions as an investigator, you need to know what materials will endure the rigors of the project you are about to become a part of. As a researcher, you will have gathered reference material also know as a morgue.

A morgue is a collection of reference pictures. They can come from any source be it sports magazines, newspapers, medical texts even the internet.

Lastly, you are a consultant because you will advise the production as to what will work best for the time, money and action they have planned for their project.

Often the answers are obvious. Many times with a little prompting, you can learn so much more. That first impression you make will be a positive one that will secure your position and many more to come. Every project is personal for the people that hire you and in particular for you. Every make-up assignment you finish is your legacy to be remembered for all time. Each time it will be a different experience. I can only hope you will strive to embellish upon and perfect.