Today we’d like to introduce you to Crista Llewellyn.
Crista, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I got my start in special effects in high school when I learned how to create cotton and latex wounds for the play ‘Bury the Dead.’ Originally I had auditioned to be in the play but didn’t make the cut. But I was determined to be involved in any way I could because that production would also go to Edinburgh, Scotland for the Fringe Festival.
So I joined the stage crew and was taught how to do SFX makeup. After high school, I attended San Francisco State University where I got a BA in Technical Theatre and Design with a focus on Costume design in 2012. During my time in college, I also worked closely with my friends in the Cinema department doing makeup for their films.
After graduating, I worked at Sephora while attending The Blush School of Makeup in San Francisco at night studying their master makeup course. After completing the course, I returned home to Los Angeles to work as a freelance artist.
I currently focus on working for independent films, new media, & events while also collecting my days to join IATSE local 706. From 2019-2021 I had the pleasure of teaching at Cinema Makeup School as a prosthetic makeup instructor. But my freelance career made it difficult to fully commit to teaching the course. I loved teaching though, so I created a YouTube channel for informational makeup tutorials.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
There have definitely been lots of struggles along the way. Film as a career is a very complex relationship. The hours are long, sometimes working 14-16 hours a day in usually less than ideal working conditions. So it has been a bit of a struggle to find that “work/life balance”. And while that is very challenging in this industry, I have been trying to make it a top priority.
Since freelance work is always a feast or famine, it is very easy to overbook yourself just because the work is there. If you don’t take care of yourself, then you will burn yourself out and shorten your career. So now I try my best to set work boundaries and carve out time to recuperate. It’s still a challenge and I am still working on keeping things in my life balanced as well as standing up for myself when productions try to take advantage of their crew.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a freelance makeup artist that specializes in makeup for film and television. Because I work in the film industry, I have a wide range of skills to accommodate different projects. So while I am skilled in regular beauty makeup, I also do lots of prosthetic work, character/SFX makeups, body painting, and even making people look like they have no makeup on at all.
I try my best to learn as many skills as I can, that way I have more tools at my disposal to create the vision the director or writer has for their characters. Occasionally people ask me if I like doing SFX makeup more than beauty makeup, but I truly love aspects of both. Typically, the projects I am most fond of are the ones that combine all these various skills into one makeup.
What do you think about happiness?
I love the process of creating a character. There is something very magical about taking elements and ideas from several different people and combining all these elements into a character. Sometimes I’ll get sucked into doing makeup and all I see are the technical elements I am doing.
Most of the time, when I’m stuck in that technical space, I am not fully liking what I’m doing. It’s not until I step back a really look at what I created that I really start to be proud of it. Then to see the actors/actresses be able to bring that character to life, is really just so much fun to be a part of that process.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.cristallewellyn.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cristallewellynmua/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQtF5LJL2-BQ4U_HhXYZMZw
Image Credits
Saffels Photography, Rachel Golden, Chris Oeurn, and Gabriel Toya-Melendez
