strong>What He Does: We got to know Damian Vasquez when we were drafted into Batty's fashion show for her latest line and he was taxed with beautifying the models. Vasquez has been a professional make-up artist for 15 years, and his skills run the gamut from traditional beauty for weddings, Sweet 16s, and the like to special effects, fashion and more dramatic jobs. Originally he wanted to join the ranks of Rick Baker and the Hollywood movie monster makers, but his first gig was making up drag queens and the event went off so well he has remained mostly on the beauty side of the equation. He even worked several shows during Fashion Week in New York while living there.
Why He Likes It: "I love my job, and not many people can say that. I think for me, one of the things I like the most about what I do is being able to bring feelings, personalities and personas out of my clients... man or woman. I can bring beauty to a bride, sweetness to girl becoming a woman, fierceness to model and bring out the monster from within. Makeup is all about what you see in the mirror and I help a persons see their reality."
What Inspires Him: Flawlessness is inspiration to Vasquez. His personal goal is to make every aspect of a model adhere to perfect lines, clean colors, and perfectly without blemish. He draws on whatever is beautiful around him such as art, people, flowers, tattoos, clothing, and jewelry.
If Not This, Then What: "If I was not a makeup artist, I would most probably still be in management. Managing stores, overseeing projects and handling associates have quit a few things in common with being a makeup artist. You have to have time management, think on your feet, able to handle any situation, able to deal and work with people with many different personalities and to gain your employees and customers trust."
If Not Here, Then Where: Not surprisingly, Vasquez feels just as at home in New York as he does here. He loves the couture, art, and music, and enjoys the fact that a new nightclub, art gallery, or fashion show is always opening somewhere just a block away.
What's Next: "If you would have asked me five years ago what would I like to do in the future, I would have said, 'to do New York Fashion Week!,' and I did that, but would love to do it again. As for future project, I would like to do one of two things. I would like to either work on or even assist in a full length feature "monster movie" or open a Texas based school of makeup artistry.
"Working on film or videos is purely a 'me' thing. I have done a few project videos and short film/videos that I was able to do some extreme artistry, but I want to go all out. Really push my own limits of what I can do. I want someone like Lady Gaga to say, 'wow!' There are so many ideas and so many things I would like to do and try, but there is not much call for it here in Texas... especially to get paid for it.
"On the other hand, I love to share my knowledge of makeup artistry with those who really have a passion for it. Many artists don't want to share their knowledge feeling that they will loose their edge to someone else. When the truth is... nobody will ever do makeup the way you do. Today there are so many people just trying to make a buck and say that they are a makeup artist, but there is no passion behind their work. Real passion is working a fashion show, indoors, in the heat, no air conditioning, little light, no real space, with the stench of the bathroom next to you, 10+ models, for 4 hours. Why? Because you love what you do. In the end, the models look amazing and photos come out fabulous. That is the true payoff. That is true love and passion for your work."
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