A Beast filled Summer!

Soooooo, I should have probably updated this at the beginning of this production and not at the end of it, but what a busy theatre-filled summer I’ve had. Due to this WGA/SAG strike making all things film super slow, I decided that I was going to do a summer production……and in came Magnolia Musical Theatre’s rendition of Beauty & the Beast. I was hired to wig, makeup, and mask design the show. I ended up styling almost 40 wigs, including a Lumiere caged wig that was almost a foot tall, and a fully adjustable custom made Beast mask. All of my college skills came into play, lol.

I had so. much. fun…..like I always have a lot of fun with what I do, but I could build Beast masks every day and still be psyched to do it. I pulled out my dusty sculpting tools, got to work with an old friend, Jason Vines, who helped me mold and cast my sculpt, and I got to paint my little heart out. My assistants and I also set four wigs for it, then I sewed and manipulated them on the base of the mask to emulate his thicker neck and shoulders. It turned out pretty rad.

I also haven’t ever designed any Disney productions, which unlike a lot of historical theatre where everything is very specifically researched for very specific locations and dates, the main priority is to just make everything perfect and pretty…..so, I basically got to choose all of the beautiful styles that I’ve been wanting to do between 1730-1830. It was awesome. I had a Beidermier in there, a few powdered wigs, some sculptural Regency and Rococo pieces - it was just such a cool opportunity. I also got to take a shot at doing some cool Bridgerton and The Great wig styles that I’ve been wanting to do.

It just made for a really great summer. It felt really good to stretch other creative muscles and work outside of my Mary Moody Northen Theatre……but now, and hopefully soon, it will be time to get back to my film and commercial work.

Enjoy the some of these pictures from our production, and there’s a how-to on how I made the mask well (and pardon Belle’s lace - those quick changes some under 30 seconds wouldn’t allow for us to glue her edges down)!

And that's a wrap on Hitman!

And that’s a wrap on Hitman! What a production! What an experience!

This super crazy fun journey of a film started late last year, when I was approached to Department Head Makeup and help with the initial character design on Richard Linklater’s upcoming dark comedy Hitman starring Glen Powell, who is literally the nicest actor that I’ve ever worked with and am already missing dearly, Adria Arjona, and Retta. We ended up not going into prep until mid-Summer to shoot starting at the beginning of October, so it ended up being quite the extended adventure…….and now the film had moved to New Orleans as well. So, the fam (and my long-time, fabulous, right-hand assistant Nicole Schultz) and I packed up and moved to NOLA for a few months and made the movie……

It was the time of my life. It really challenged me to use almost every single one of my skills as a makeup artist, and I got to work with a team of people that I’ve only dreamed about collaborating with before. I was tasked with disguising Glen Powell into multiple Hitman looks - a dream job for any wig and makeup artist. Matthew Mungle, whom I talked with on a symposium panel at UT last spring, helped me with my plan of action. He is an absolute legend in makeup and special effects (Bram Stoker’s Dracula, CSI, Edward Scissorhands, Hillbilly Elegy, Dr. Doolittle to name a few) and things wouldn’t have been so successful without his mentorship. Matthew helped me get together my team of people, all artist-legends in their own rights, and if I wasn’t sure how to tackle a look, his direction helped me to succeed. I will be forever thankful. He directed me towards Gary Archer, the dental prosthetic technician and creator of almost all the famous sets of teeth you’ve seen on the screen in the last 30+ years - Mrs. Doubtfire, Austin Powers, and Interview with a Vampire to name a few. Kentaro Yano helped me to fabricate the tattoos - I drew them, and he helped me to figure out how to do them in the first place - his help and support was the best - he’s an amazing artist as well (he’s done tattoos for like everything, including Black Panther).

I got together the wigs for the characters, not the extensions nor the styles for the natural hair looks, but it was nice to be able to do some of the wig prep for the characters in the movie. Stacey Butterworth, one of the nicest people to ever work with, who’s work can be seen on also like everything - The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Hillbilly Elegy, multiple installations of the X Men movies, Vice, Gotti….. - helped me fabricate some of the wigs for the characters, and Allison Lowery, author of Historical Wig Styling and my original wig mentor, and Meredith Stein one of my alumni-assistant-turned-wigmaker helped to build some of the wigs and facial hair from scratch.

And then, the final piece of the puzzle - I searched out and found Ally Vickers, the hair department head. I couldn’t have done this without her. She’s simply just the best. Coming off the successes of Netflix’s The Bear, I was amazed that she was even interested in working on this with me/us. Her talents are uncomparable, and she brought so many hair options to the table that I hadn’t even thought about, improved upon some of my initial designs, styled the wigs the most beautifully, and her team were all dreams to work with. I truly hope we can collaborate again.

So, with all of that said, I am just so grateful and thankful to have had this crazy opportunity. I’ve been so on cloud nine since we wrapped that I can’t believe it actually happened. Hopefully, it will be out by next Fall, and then I can share some of the behind the scenes work that I did! In the mean time, here are some pics of the adventure that I can show. Woohoooo! Life is good.

Apollo 10 1/2 to launch on Netflix on April 1st!

This film we wrapped 3 days before the whole world shut down for the pandemic……..so, I’m so happy that it’s finally coming out on Netflix on April 1st! We shot this entire film at Troublemaker Studios in Austin, Texas on their giant green screen over the course of a month/month and a half. So, every aspect of this animation was first acted out in real life, then sent out to Austin based animation studio Minnow Mountain to then be rotoscoped over. Rotoscoping is sort of like animating over our live action work.

What an experience. Hundreds of my wigs are featured in this, and I couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity to work on such a fun and artful project. When I read the script, I knew that this was the perfect job for me - period hair, makeup, a quirky story, animated, space - just perfect. I had a team of 3-6 artists to help me out on this, and Beth Lloyd was my right hand hair cutting master sidekick for this one. I couldn’t have done it without them.

I’ll be posting some BTS shots as soon as it hits Netflix. So excited! So grateful!

I help to edit the Stage Makeup textbook, and the reviews are in.........

Last year, I had a small part in helping James Glavan, Jim to people that know him, edit the 11th edition of the Richard Corson Stage Makeup textbook, also known as the “bible of stage makeup”. To anyone that’s ever taken a stage makeup class for the last 75+ years, you’ve probably been directed to this manual of makeup at some point, which made this opportunity super exciting. It was such an honor to be asked to help out on this book that so many people have learned from, including myself, but also because it will continue to be a staple of many makeup students to come. Originally published in 1942, this new 11th edition has had a major, major overhaul. Almost 1,600 colored photographs, every sections edited and brought up to date, and so many more topics covered. I helped with some of the makeup applications - prosthetics, female to male makeups, and animal makeups - but I really helped to edit the film section of the book, since that is where a lot of my expertise lies. Overall, the overhaul has been an incredible success (not a shocker, it’s a truly tremendous book).

With all of that said, there is one review that I’m really, really excited to share with you. It specifically mentions me in it……….alongside Matthew Mungle - one of the best special effect makeup artists that have ever lived and not to mention, an Academy award winner!!! I am just on cloud nine about the mention. I’ve worked my bum off for a really, really long time, and this is one of those “you made it” moments. It’s just so exciting.

Here is the link to the review, so you can see for yourself:

https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/hickmanbrady/tdt_2020fall/index.php#/p/48

Well, thanks for reading, and yay! I’m just so psyched! Life is good, and I’m just so grateful for it all.

Upcoming new Richard Linklater film, Apollo 10 1/2!

Long time, no talk. 2019 was so, so busy. I was even too busy to write or update anything on this site…….and then this stupid pandemic hit, and now there’s been a lot more chilling around the house in our lives. Almost needless to say, but I really miss all of my jobs.

Luckily, I finished one of my favorite jobs in life like 3 days before we all went into lockdown. It’s titled Apollo 10 1/2, directed by award winning director Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, School of Rock, A Scanner Darkly, Boyhood), starring Glen Powell (Top Gun: Maverick, Hidden Figures), Jack Black, and Zachary Levi (Chuck, Shazam!) and it will be coming to Netflix in 2021. It’s a late 1960s period piece that is based around the Apollo 11 launch intertwined with just quirky little vignettes about growing up in the 60s. I got to be hair and makeup department head, which was super cool, and we got to use all of my wigs! Wig partay for days! My hair and makeup crew was also supremely awesome, and I couldn’t have finished this without their help. The script is really wonderful and so artful, and it’s going to be animated over, kind of like A Scanner Darkly or Waking Life. It was really a perfect film aesthetically for me to work on, and I am still just so grateful for the huge opportunity. I can’t wait to post pictures, but alas, I can’t until it comes out due to the NDAs that I had to sign. Blargh.

Here are some pretty rad articles from Hollywood reporter, Variety, and the Wrap…….please keep looking for it to come out! So freaking excited!

—> https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/glen-powell-jack-black-star-richard-linklater-animated-feature-apollo-10-1303153

—> https://variety.com/2020/film/news/richard-linklater-apollo-movie-netflix-1234708315/

—> https://www.thewrap.com/richard-linklaters-hybrid-live-action-animated-apollo-10-1-2-flies-to-netflix/

Thankful for this work season.

Well, long time, no type again. I’m not so great at this stuff, but hey, at least I’m trying. So, it’s been another couple of long, work-filled months. I’ve worked on numerous things - crazy mini series, car commercials, fancy editorial type shoots, VIP party makeups, new work theatrical pieces, powdered wigs, suffrage documentaries, and the list goes on and on……..on top of teaching two wonderful classes, Advanced Makeup Design and Wig Making, at St. Edward’s University, my home base for so many years. I am so thankful for each and every one of these jobs, and I just wanted to share some of the lovely images that I’ve been able to collect throughout these last few months. Click through, and enjoy!

I'm in the September/October issue of Stage Directions Magazine

This is coming way late, but a few months ago, I was contacted by Stage Directions magazine, a national magazine about the art and technology of the theatre, about doing an interview for their September/October issue. What a compliment!

Though some of the interview, I felt like, was a little ad-libbed, and I have never failed a class in my life as it was stated in the article, it turned out to be a really great piece about my life as a makeup, hair, and wig designer, and some of my philosophies on life and teaching. The interviewer was a super rad lady that I really enjoyed talking to, and no matter what, I’m always going to be really happy about receiving the press…….especially because I’m always working my butt off to improve my situation (and to fund my makeup, art, and travel addictions).

Any who, here is the link, enjoy, and until next time! <3

http://stage-directions.com/current-issue/129-theater-craft/11038-the-confident-craftswoman.html

A World of Wigs.

I’ve been doing a ton of wigs lately for my normal gig, St. Edward’s University, in Austin, Texas, where I’ve been the unofficial wigmaster/wig designer for the last 13+ years, and for the University of Texas at Austin. I just wanted to share a few pics of what’s been going on in my world. We just wrapped up The Three Musketeers at the Mary Moody Northen Theater, and I also worked on a new works piece called Flora Circular and Three Shitty Sons for the theater at the University of Texas Theatre and Dance Department……..and I finally GOT TO DO A POWDERED WIG! Man, I am so psyched about it - it turned out just lovely. I also got to do a ZIGGY STARDUST WIG! Could it get any better??!? David Bowie is one of my favorites ever, and what a fun challenge. I’ve also been teaching my Advance Makeup Design class again, which is always a blast, and a new Wig Making and Styling class at SEU. It’s been tough getting a new class started, but everyone is doing really well in it, and it’s been super fun to do something new.

Any who, I’m not going to write your ear off, but what a cool couple of months of wigs. <3 <3 <3

Please click through the images, and enjoy!

Happy "The Zombie" Bacardi Halloween!

I just wanted to share this super bad ass video called “The Zombie” I got to work on for Bacardi’s Halloween season marketing…….This might have been one of the most fun things that I’ve ever gotten to work on! I got to do more special effect sorts of makeups, which was super refreshing, and Voohres Photography (they’ve created and shot a number of the “O”s for Oprah magazine - yes, those are real “O”s!) are also a blast to work with. Working as a team, Adam and Robin Voohres, do most of the effects that you see in this video in house - meaning minor use of After Effects or Photoshop. They build giant contraptions in their studio that we all get to interact with. It’s pretty amazing. They also really respect the artists on their team, which I so appreciate.

For my part of this, I realistically painted the zombie hands, created, painted, and applied zombie fingernails (super fun!), and there was also actually a pretty crazy pre-made prosthetic that didn’t make the cut (phew - I’m sharing a picture, but it turned out looking crazy. Pieces that are not custom made are never my go-to’s).

For the zombie hands, first I used some Tinsley spfx transfers that I have never used before and a few silicone appliances that I had leftover from Toxic Elephant Studios. The Tinsley transfers were great once on, but were really cumbersome to figure out and make it work. They adhere like fake temporary tattoos……but they aren’t sent to you set up. I wasted about half of them trying to get the adhesion paper in the right spot - ended up a little pissed. With that said, they ended up looking really killer once I was finished. I would buy them again.

After I applied all the none bloodied cuts and wounds to the hands, I airbrushed and painted them with mainly Skin Illustrator alcohol palettes and their liquid colors. This took me forever, due to the detail. For commercial, you don’t want things to go too gory, so you have to find that fine balance between blood all over the place (I mean, they “live” to eat people) and more, what I feel like, is a cartoon version of a zombie. This also really needed to be stylized to fit into the world of the awesome sets that the Voohres team built.

After all the painting was totally done and set, I applied my dope zombie fingernails. I literally bought a giant pack of press-ons from Sally’s beauty supply, and sanded the shine down, cut them to look crooked, and used a rasp to create divots and bumps in the overall texture of them. Once they were the right shape and texture, I painted them with the Skin Illustrator Necromania and FX palettes.

Lastly, I applied the facial prosthetic………I’m not going to go too much into that since it’s not in the short, nor did it really look that great on. I should have prepainted it with PAX paints, but I ran out of time, because the fingernails took such a long time to get together.

I’ve also attached some behind the scenes photos of the shoot! Close ups of the fingernails, and a picture of the zombie face…….any who, enjoy! And follow my work and travels on Instagram at @taracooperartist.

Body Painting for the Red, Hot, & Soul Gala at Zach Scott Theater!

So, I'm a bit late with this one, but I have been the most busy in these last couple of months. I just wanted to share with everyone that back in May, I got invited to help out with the Zach Scott Theater's Red, Hot, & Soul gala again after a four year hiatus, and it was, yet again, ONE OF MY FAVORITE JOBS EVER. Ever. The designs that they always ask me to do are the most fun, the actors and performers that I get the lucky opportunity to work with are always so freaking great, and it's such a massive job that I always feel like a literal superhuman being after the gig wraps up. This year they asked me to body paint a literal Picasso masterpiece on someone as a "living work of art"........to say it was difficult wasn't even the half of it. What an awesome challenge. 

First off, it's a long makeup. This body paint took about 6 hours to totally finish. Then, as an artist, you don't want to regurgitate some other makeup design that another artist has done - so, I did a lot of research, and put some different strokes on it to make this body paint "my own". I also haven't body painted in probably 5 years, so I was worried about being a bit rusty. With all of that said, I feel like I totally killed it. We used Kryolan Aqua paints, and I went out and bought a bunch of proper large paint brushes. The makeup was the best. It stayed on like a dream, didn't streak with sweat, didn't stain, and there wasn't a need for a setting spray. I didn't even need to powder anything. I am now a Kryolan user for life - I already was one, but now I'm for real. That makeup was literally the absolute best thing to use for this project. 

Anyways, I just had to share some behind the scenes pics from the event. I just loved these looks so much. Thanks for reading, and be sure to click through to see all the details of the work, and some other showgirls that I helped get into character. :)  

Hennessy Awards Gala in San Antonio!

Last weekend, I was privileged enough to be hired for Hennessy/Moet to style their models and VIP clients for their largest awards gala of their year, and for a company that knows how to bring the class and the party such as Hennessy, this gala was not a disappointment. Held at the La Cantera Spa and Resort in the beautiful hills of San Antonio with attendees from all over the country, the ambiance was streaming with elegance. I had to put together a team of hair and makeup artists for the models and VIP attendees of the party. 

I could not be more proud of the work that we produced for the event! Everyone looked gorgeous, their makeup and hair were flawless, and the VIPs, all in floor length ball gowns, looked incredible in their looks! I've attached a few pictures of the event to see our beautiful work! Special thanks to the hair and makeup artists that helped me tremendously during the event - Tanya Kinney, Tierney Kersey, Jennifir Kammerer, Daisy Maldonado, and Kelley Alba! I couldn't have done this without them! <3 <3 <3 

Mustang 2018!

Long time, no blog. Lol. Well, I've been busy - traveling (I went to Russia!!! and the Baltics!!! and Scandinavia!!! and Greece!!!), and working, working, working, so, I haven't had much time to write. 

With that said, I have some exciting ads that I did hair and makeup for coming out, and the first one to launch is a campaign for the newly designed 2018 Ford Mustang. We worked for a week in the hot Austin, Texas summer, and the results are something to be proud of. Jane Black, who was just amazing, did the styling, while the Patrick and Marlyne Curtet of Curtet Photography & Motion shot everything. It was an awesome experience, and I am in such awe of all the talent that I got to work with on this. 

Any how, enjoy the photos (the entire 2018 Ford Mustang gallery that I worked on can be found at: http://www.ford.com/cars/mustang/2018/gallery/) and I'll keep posting all of the upcoming news and events that are happening in my life and work. :)   

I Painted Limbs for a Standard Pacific Magazine cover shoot!

Well, this can go down as one of the more odd jobs that I've done in my career. Earlier this week, I was hired to realistically paint various limbs for a cover shoot for Standard Pacific magazine. It was such a blast!

I used a combo of Liquitex and FW inks, Golden Acrylic High Flow, and Premiere Product's Skin Illustrator, which is an alcohol-based waterproof makeup. These limbs actually started out being those super crappy Halloween props that are pre-painted with those sort of caveman-looking bones sticking out the ends of them. The prop designer/art director for the shoot cut off the ugly bones and stripped them down with a citrus stripper, and it turned out really remarkable. Once they were stripped and cleaned out, they were filled with red paint and plaster.......and turned out pretty amazing. I wish I could take credit for that part of this process - it was so clever, and really turned these terrible Halloween props into something really usable. I then took over, painting them for days with different types of natural/latex-free/orange sponges and various tiny brushes, in order to really capture all of the minute details in real human limbs - i.e. veins, cuticle colors, mottling the base colors to represent blood flow and differentiations in skin tones, etc. I can easily say that this is one of the projects that I am most proud of. Painting realistically is really, really difficult, and I was up for the challenge, and they turned out pretty rad. Even in person, they have a really creepy "real" feel to them. The magazine comes out in November, and I'll post it when I get it in! 

Click through the pics to see some detailed images of all of the limbs. Thanks for reading! :) 

And that's a wrap on Day 5 Season 2!

We just wrapped Rooster Teeth's Day 5, Season 2!!! It debuts in August, and the teaser trailer is already out! Working with Rooster Teeth is always a new, totally bonkers, and creative experience, and this time around, it was no different. After 64 days of shooting in and around Austin and the desert of Alpine, Texas, we're finally done with our crazy, fun, and long journey. This season has a ton more action, drama, and crazy new characters. I'll be regularly posting updates, so please check back soon! Below, I've attached is the teaser trailer for Season 2. Enjoy - we are so proud of this one! :)

http://roosterteeth.com/episode/day5-season-2-trailer

My little Nori is missing! Please help if you're in the Austin area.

Hi All, 

I know that I haven't updated the blog in a while - I've been busy working on the second season of Rooster Teeth's Day 5, but now tragedy has hit. While we were off shooting in Alpine, Texas for the last month, my little puppy, Nori, got out of the backyard on April 11th and seemingly disappeared into thin air. He's my little sidekick, and I am quite devastated. If you're in the Austin area, please, please, please try to take a look around for my sweetheart. 

Here is the scoop:

He's a fixed Australian Shepard mix that weighs about 12 pounds. He's merle colored, aka marbled-looking black, white, and gray, with bright brown eyes, and he has a very distinctive pink and black nose. He's a bit skittish, but wouldn't ever bite, so if you see him somewhere, please give me a ring immediately at 469-583-3138.

There is a substantial reward being offered as well. I just want my puppy back! Thanks in advance, I hope this tragedy turns around soon, because I am just devastated right now. I love him so much. 

What a wonderful semester at St. Edward's University!

So, another semester came to an end at SEU, and my heart is so full. My classes, both my freshman makeup skills and my upperclassmen Advanced Makeup Design, were so successful this entire semester, and my students all totally killed it. I am so impressed.

My final exams ended yesterday, and here are some pics from their projects that my Advanced Makeup Design class did, some process shots of them working, and some other pictures of my classes throughout the semester. My Advanced Makeup Design final involved my students breaking down a script, designing 4 key characters, and then executing the most creative character out of the bunch. They had to use multiple techniques that we had learned throughout the class, and most of them actually incorporated new techniques that they had to research to learn how to do. I guided them through most of their designs, and helped them finesse their newly learned techniques. It turned out so fantastic. I am totally wowed right now by their achievements this semester. 

We had so much fun! I going to miss these students so much - what a great batch this semester. So much talent! I love my job! <3

So, it's been a while.....because lots has been going on in Tara's world!

At the beginning of the month, I was part of the Living Line art show at Wet Salon and Studio on South Congress. It was my 9th time to show at the salon. It is such a sentimental space for me, and unfortunately due to the building they are located in being torn down in Spring 2017, our show will be the last to grace their walls, which is a real honor. I was joined with the likes of illustrators Ami Plasse and Leola Perez, and our opening was a hit! I sold most of my smaller pieces and a couple of my larger prints.

I also finished Monsieur Squidsy, my rad hand-carved squid sculpture! It's made of basswood, canarywood, tire wire, and mini soaker hoses, and it took me forever to finish. I'm pretty ecstatic with the finished product, and I'm also pretty ecstatic to start on another wooden piece. 

I'll keep this short, but my work will be up through February 2017. Wet Salon is located at 1109 S. Congress 78704. Go check it out during their business hours if you get a chance!  

Crunch Time Debuts Today! Check out the first two episodes!

In a highly classified location, a gang of brilliant, misfit grad students are interrogated by government operatives. The question: How did it all begin? The answer: With a last ditch effort to win back love... by way of an extremely dangerous, untested, lucid dreaming machine.

Rooster Teeth's Crunch Time premieres today! This is the show that I was Department Head Makeup on almost exactly a year ago, and it was such a fantastic experience. A fun, crazy, eccentric concept with kind of an 80s flair to the style of it, Crunch Time was an uber creative, funny, and bold production to work on. It brings something new to the table, and the production design by Stephen Fay totally killed it. I did makeups on characters from Killer Clowns and Goth Girls to Vampire Dentists and Abraham Lincoln for this one, and we collaborated with some fabulous actors and improvers from all over the place. 

Here's Rooster Teeth's summary of the show:

"(WARNING: MATURE CONTENT) New comedy series from Rooster Teeth coming September 2016 for Rooster Teeth Sponsors. Crunch Time follows a group of grad students who use big science for petty purposes. After recklessly handling cutting-edge tech in their school lab, this brilliant team of jackasses create a small, but potentially world-ending black hole that grabs the attention of government operatives. Since the “wanna-be” scientists can’t pinpoint exactly where their experiment went wrong, they must work with the secret government agency, sent in to save the day, by detailing EVERY illegal thing they’ve done in the lab thus far."

Anyways, check out the show, we all worked really hard, and I think it totally killed it. Crunch Time has arrived! 

Today is the Day! "Day 5" premieres today at 4pm on Youtube!

Rooster Teeth's Day 5, the post-apocalyptic mini-series that we've been working on for the past few months, premieres today, and here's a great Indiewire article on how great it is! This is super exciting. We worked so hard to try and make this show so epic, and today is the day we find out. Click on the image or link below to be directly to one of Day 5's wonderful reviews, and check it out at 4:00 pm on youtube! I know I am! :) :) :)

http://www.indiewire.com/2016/06/day-5-review-rooster-teeth-post-apocalyptic-drama-thrills-and-kills-1201690151/

Chuck Klosterman Asks: Will Violence Save Football? | GQ

Great editorial piece that I did the makeup for that’s being featured in this month’s GQ magazine! I am quite proud of this one……it’s such an experience to pick up a magazine in a store and see your work and your name in it. It’s also great to do a little basic spfx and have it seen vs. the normal “pretty” makeup - it’s a nice mix up. I did the sweat, dirt, scratches, rug burns, and eye blacks for this football player. It’s also shot by the super talented Adam Voorhes, and the freaking amazing props are made the his wife, the most wonderful Robin Finley. They totally killed it. Enjoy the article!

http://www.gq.com/story/chuck-klosterman-excerpt-will-violence-save-football