Ty Wilson, a makeup artist, always knew from childhood that being creative and practicing art would always be something that’s part of her life.
“My love for drawing and painting on paper canvas eventually blossomed into a love for painting faces,” Wilson said via email. “I’ve been a makeup artist off and on for over 10 years.”
She added that working in the makeup industry wasn’t her first passion. Rather, she worked as a makeup artist on the side for about a decade as she worked towards becoming a film and theatre costume designer.
Wilson, a self-taught seamstress, worked as a seamstress and tailor for around 16 years before going back to Fanshawe College for fashion design and costume production. After graduating in 2019, she became a junior wardrobe buyer for the Stratford Festival. She was laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This drastic career change prompted me to focus solely on working in the makeup industry full-time – a thought I was once terrified of,” Wilson said. “’Ty Wilson Artistry’ was my way of holding onto Ty the costume designer and makeup artist. In 2021, I finally felt comfortable enough to change my name to express and embrace my new title- Ty Wilson the makeup artist.”
She also spoke to LondonFuse about seeing makeup as a form of art, keeping up with social media trends, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the cosmetic industry.
What do you enjoy about working with makeup?
The ability to make my clients smile and to have them leaving my chair with glowing confidence. I love the idea of enhancing and creating magic with my clients. Seeing their reactions to the work I’ve done honestly makes my WHOLE DAY!
How does makeup work as a form of art, in your opinion?
The fundamentals of art translates into makeup application through shared knowledge of colour theory, understanding a bit of human anatomy, knowing how brushes are used as tools, creating painterly effects with airbrushing and brush strokes, mixing mediums are not only used to manipulate paints but also used to manipulate eyeshadows. The concept of painting doesn’t always have to mean brush to paper. It can also mean brush to face – our beautiful faces are naturally made canvases.
How do social media and social media trends changed the way we view makeup?
The thing with social media is that all trends cycle faster within weeks. Because of this cycle, makeup products/social media content come and go and consumers are constantly looking for the next big thing.
As a makeup artist, it’s our due diligence to keep up with the beauty trends, new and viral products and makeup techniques. This makes an artist marketable and helps you continue to stay relevant within a fast-growing industry.
How do the restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic change the makeup artist and cosmetic industry?
Lipstick application has definitely become a thing of the past – lol – clients are now requested to bring in their own lipstick or they are given a lipstick sample to apply themselves after the appointment. Eye makeup has always been a top priority for the majority of our clients so I do provide a focus feature service – you pay half of the rate for just the eye application and that way the mask stays put during application.
This situation has been absolutely rough on all artists alike. I also work in the advertising/photography aspect of the industry, so I’ve been quite fortunate enough to still continue work as normal under the film/production exemption the past several months.
Visit Ty’s website, Facebook page, or Instagram for more information and to view her work.
