My dear friend, Quavondo, approached me a while back about doing a shoot together. We used to work together quite frequently until he moved to NYC to delve more deeply into his photography career. However, we still kept in touch and discussed the option of doing more shoots. This past month, I actually had the privilege of working with him on two occasions in the space of one week! One is a top secret project, to be revealed at a later date. The other was a shoot with Jillian Rabe, Quavondo's muse. I had seen Jillian all over Portland but had yet to work with her so it was fun to finally meet her.
Going into the shoot, all I knew was that we would be shooting with a mannequin in a warehouse with cardboard boxes and packing peanuts. Poor Jillian knew even less--all she knew was to show up and that she would not be requiring any wardrobe! A few days before the shoot, Q told me he wanted Jillian to be bald and to look like a mannequin herself. All the places in the Portland area I called did not have bald caps so I frantically ordered one from a supplier I often order through based in Manhattan. I put a big, fat rush ship on it and hoped for the best. Well, it got to be the day before the shoot and still no bald cap even though they assured me it would arrive in time. I nervously informed Q that it had not yet arrived, fearing that he would have to cancel the shoot. He talked to another makeup artist in town who knew of a place to get a bald cap and drove furiously across town in rush hour trying to get to the store in time before they closed. He made it in the nick of time and the shoot was back on track!
This was my first attempt at a bald cap and it was a typical learning experience--make it up as you go, hope for the best, don't be afraid of trial and error. All in all, between the makeup and some photoshopping, I think the final images turned out beautifully! Q is a master at editing; I can't even begin to know how he made all of this possible. The shoot is so seamless and perfect!
To research, I did an image search on mannequins and studied the mannequin Q brought with him to the shoot. He wanted me to highlight Jillian's large, beautiful doll-eyes. I went to work with lots of pink, a little purple and silvery-grey, and some white-gold to highlight. I also used a lot of highlight on her face in addition to a gloss to give her skin a plastic look. All in all, I think it turned out great!
Side note: my bald cap finally arrived, 3-4 days later. So much for that rush shipping! At least I'll be well prepared for the next time I need to make someone bald!
Photogapher: Quavondo Nguyen
Model: Jillian Rabe
Makeup: Amy Gillespie
Amy Gillespie, professional makeup artist, special effects makeup, beauty, fashion, editorial, mannequin, Portland, Oregon, Pacific Northwest
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