Improving Your Creative Skills at a School for Makeup

Creativity is often defined as having imagination or originality, of being able to think "outside of the box" and transform those ideas into something with visible form and substance. Words used to describe creativity may include cleverness, ingenuity, inspiration and talent.

Creativity is thought to be a process. While there have been various theories put forward in the last century, there is no uniform agreement about the stages of the process. Nonetheless, elements from these theories have been extracted and applied to the science of education. What this means to a makeup artist student is education is the path to improving your creative skills at a school for makeup.

This phase of the creative process is often likened to brainstorming. The purpose of inspiration is to be spontaneous without self-criticism of your ideas. Inspiration is backed by research and knowledge. If knowledge seeking is not included, ideas have no foundation and it is difficult to develop concepts. You should not be attempting to formulate the perfect idea to the exclusion of all others. Good ideas are born of numerous unsuitable ideas. The theory is not to instantly reject bad ideas, but sift through all of your ideas to identify the good.

Without clarification, a makeup artist becomes unsure what direction to take to reach his or her goal. This is the phase where you logically devise a strategy to reach the desired outcome of your concept. You may have to sit back and ascertain exactly what it is you are trying to accomplish. Clarification may need to occur more than once. Once you have successfully clarified your ultimate objective, your project will proceed with renewed purpose.

Now you have clarified your direction and are involved in the process of making your vision reality, evaluation is required. As with clarification, the evaluation phase is repeatedly used throughout a concept’s journey to fruition. Evaluation involves self-criticism and constructive criticism from others. It may be uncomfortable or difficult to accept criticism from other people, but it is a necessary component to learning how to look dispassionately at your work and discern its weak and strong points. Open mindedness and a desire to learn are needed to successfully move through the evaluation phase. After you have become accustomed to evaluation, you will recognize the value of feedback and probably actively seek opinions.

Distillation involves making a decision on which of your inspiration ideas you will fully develop. You may feel tempted to choose an idea that is in your comfort zone, but taking on a challenging idea will help your creativity grow. An adventurous, yet positive, attitude is key to progressing to the final stages of the creative process.

All creative processes, whether it is makeup artistry, painting or writing, benefit from incubation. Incubation is when you do not actively work on your concept for a space of time, usually a day or two, and let your subconscious mull over your project.

As an example of incubation, a common strategy in writing exams is to read the entire examination over before you begin writing. After reading the exam questions, you then work on the questions you are positive you know the answers to. As you work on the answers you know, your subconscious is working on the questions you find difficult and, invariably, your brain will retrieve the information needed.

The same is true in the creative phase; your brain will function in the background during incubation and generate affirmations or suggestions on better paths to follow.

Now you've conceived your vision, evaluated it, decided on your direction and given your brain some time to ponder your concept, it is time to make it become reality. It might take several attempts to obtain the results you envision, but patience, enthusiasm and determination will pay off in the end.

A creative environment, backed by basic knowledge, techniques and training, gives you the best opportunity for improving your creative skills at a school for makeup. The creative process is strengthened through repetitious practice and supportive reinforcement, which is offered at a makeup school.