Interview - Marvin Westmore- The Make Up Man

In any professional field there is always someone that is an inspiration. A muse of sorts who is top of the ladder... In football there maybe David Beckham, in fashion you may think of Coco Chanel and in the world of Hollywood makeup there is Mr. Marvin Westmore! I've recently spent an hour on the phone chatting with Marv'. He graciously has invited me out to Los Angeles to come and run a catwalk fashion class at his world renown makeup college-The Westmore Academy. His academy started in 1981 and they have a real "artists" approach to makeup. In some of their courses they teach drawing, colour theory, and psychology of colour.

Marvin is a six time Emmy nominated, third generation professional Hollywood Makeup Artist, with a history of over 35 years in consumer makeup and in the Motion Picture & Television industry. His family are a makeup artist dynasty and they have the star on the Hollywood walk of fame to prove it! You may recognise his work in such cult classics as Blade Runner. I had to ask him "You were the makeup artist for ultra cool movie- Blade Runner- what was it like working on that? Creating the looks? Did you realise at the time when working on it, that it would be such an iconic cult film?" and he so humbly replied "I did what was asked of me for the job, I just do what is required of me to best of my ability as with any film, you never really know how it will turn out until it all comes together."

I also ask him the question I always love to ask other makeup artists "What products do you think are essential in a makeup artists kit?" I was pleasantly surprised to hear such a simple and sensible response which was "Lipsticks, cream colours for shadows and RMK foundations; all easily mixed. Keep the kit light and small for trave.l"

And would you believe even with his stellar career, he managed to father 5 children! I'm looking forward to meeting Mr. Westmore in person at the end of the year. We haven't worked out the exact dates of the upcoming course but we are hoping to plan a course for January 2010 - so watch this space. I'd also suggest checking out Marvin Westmore's personal blog.