My name is Eunah You, which may be pronounced as Una Ryu, as well, and I’m from South Korea. I’ve been interested in costumes and crafts since I was a child. I used to make doll clothes out of my socks and tiny dolls of rubber clay, as small as my pinky finger. Growing up, I was fascinated to learn that 'special effects makeup aritst' was an actual job someone might have. For me, this discovery was an eye-opening fact and made me want to study fine art and sculpture.
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- How Traveling Led to Self-Growth
- Imagining The Hell Gatekeeper
- Creating The Hell Gatekeeper
- Eunah You’s Personal Artwork
How Traveling Led to Self-Growth
I have a bit of wanderlust, which made me move from Cheonan (my little hometown) to Seoul, then Melbourne, London, and finally Berlin; where I've been living for over two years now. I’ve always wished to get out of where I’m from in order to see and experience more things. I still believe no matter how things go, at the end of the day, every experience is an opportunity for self-growth.
(Eunah You's Character Makeup Contest 2021 winning creation: The Hell Gatekeeper.)
I’d had some experience in the film industry in South Korea as a trainee in an SFX studio and also as a freelancer for two years, but I wanted to learn how to create monsters and things beyond. That desire was the main reason for me to travel outside of South Korea.
Imagining The Hell Gatekeeper
The idea for The Hell Gatekeeper came to me a month before leaving London to study at the Gorton Studio in Aylesbury. It ended up being my final project at the Gorton Studio's 7-week course. My tutor Richard Martin helped me to make the design a reality. As I envisioned the 18 stages of Hell in Buddhist mythology, I wanted to achieve a specific creature look for one of the Gatekeepers in this world. The letter marks on the face signify the pain of parting with loved ones. Hell generally is associated with vicious imagery in our minds, but beyond that, it also contains individual stories.
(Eunah You's sketch for The Hell Gatekeeper.)
Creating The Hell Gatekeeper
After lifecasting, I covered the front side of my mold with silicone. When the first beauty coat and then the second coat was thickened, I trimmed the keys and carried on with the resin.
(Different views of the plaster lifecasting process.)
My gel coat positive turned out nicely, and it was ready to be sculpted on. For me, that's when the real fun began. I started blocking out the forms with plasteline clay. For the design I had in mind, I collected portraits of elderly people as references to understand the anatomy and texture of the skin.
(Front and side views of the gel coat positive blocked out with plasteline clay based on the sketch of The Hell Gatekeeper and photo reference of elderly people.)
I took a lot of time tweaking the shape and textures. It was difficult to call it 'done' since I still see so much imperfection. And it was challenging because the sculpt I made was incredibly thick (as you can see in the pictures), but I wanted to follow the design, which required a massive amount of clay on the forehead down to the nose bridge. I sincerely appreciate Richard Martin again for giving me great advice at this stage of the work, and also Penny, the model, for being very patient with me.
(The finished sculpture ready for silicone molding. The face piece was sculpted separately.)
(Details of the sculpture for The Hell Gatekeeper's face.)
Fortunately, both the resin molds and silicones also came out nicely.
(Top: The result of the molding process. Bottom: The completed silicone makeup, ready to be painted.)
“Less is more” is a powerful saying for me, and I tried to keep the paint effective and subtle. First, I mixed the pigment to the minimum to give just a bit of tint to the silicone. After that, the paint was applied mainly by paint brush because I was more comfortable with brush techniques. However, I would love to study more of the airbrush technique for future work projects.
Next, I applied the hair with glue.
(Details of the painted and hair-punched silicone mask.)
I intended to finish the shading line with needlework, but the time was limited, and I was not fast enough. Instead, after I finished everything else, I decided to use the piece to practice punching hair. This turned out to be so much fun.
(The finished Hell Gatekeeper makeup.)
(Side views of The Hell Gatekeeper.)
Eunah You’s Personal Artwork
I have a few things in progress at my home studio currently; unfortunately, they’re not ready to share. But here are some fun projects I did with my friends.
The Birth of Doom
This project was inspired by Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus. The final image is a collage of a couple of Renaissance paintings. This was done in London along with my good friend, Tintin, a photographer. I designed and created the makeup, hair weft pins, and costume.
(Process photos showing The Birth of Doom, a project inspired by Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus.)
(The Birth of Doom, final collage.)
Hyena makeup for an album cover
My first idea shown below, was developed further in the second sketch. The idea of the cover was to accentuate the hyena’s maternal society.
(Sketches of the hyena woman hybrid; the second sketch (right) was used to create the makeup for the album cover photo.)
I created the makeup and the wig. The wig base was from a costume shop; I applied two or three different hair shades together to create a multi-shade effect. Finally, I sewed the lace in the front of the hairline. I discovered that when freshly relocated to an unfamiliar place, it’s not always easy to find the suppliers and shops to achieve a satisfying result under a tight deadline, but it was fun.
(Left: Finished makeup on the album cover. Right: a posed studio shot. Photos by Ansgar Schwarz.)
In my work, I’m trying to free the boundaries between makeup and other different fields of art. I’m very excited about exploration, study, and the many experiences waiting for me in the future.
- Eunah You
You can follow Eunah on Instagram: no_filter_no_no and 0_un4_0.
Check out the original Character Makeup Contest Winner Announcement: The Hell Gatekeeper by Eunah You.
View all the entries at Character Makeup Contest.
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