Meet Trason!

I first met Trason (I say met, what it really means is Facebook creeped) when a mutual friend asked if I would mind being his model for a demo at The Makeup Show Dallas. When I started delving into his multi faceted career of awesomeness, I was IMPRESSED to say the least! Dude has some serious chops, and is just all around cool. He has worked on Hairspray, major fashion shows, prosthetics, the list goes on and on (and on). So when I decided to do a blog series, I really wanted to include him. Here is what my new BFF had to say!

Trason, I first of all want to thank you for making time for our interview... you're a busy guy! Fashion, commercial, SFX... there's nothing that you haven't put your hands in! Do you have a favorite? Does one inspire you more than another?

Wow, you've done your research I see. The reason for me diving into such a multi-faceted field was only because my last attempted career in graphics and animation didn't pan out as well. Makeup isn't such a one dimensional art as we all know in this industry; it's got a multitude of dimensions to it. You can do almost anything and everything all at the same time using the same set skills you've learned with minor tweaks to fit that area of makeup. As far as a favorite goes; to be honest, I love them all and I only found love for each by exploring all of them at different points as I started my career.

Theatre taught me speed and accentuation of features and not to always look at a makeup close up but to observe it from a far and find the beauty in light and shadows.

Fashion definitely taught me that everyone's different and you can't cookie cut one look onto everyone's face the same way; it's always a learning process and be ready for anything.

Commercial, Tv & Film and Prosthetics - Be Ready! Things can change at the drop of a dime and you have to think on your feet and be open minded to suggestions from anyone no matter what the hierarchy. Plus you'll learn that patience is definitely a virtue.

Do you have any upcoming projects that you are excited about?

Nothing big yet, but I do have some self contained projects that I'm still ironing out the kinks in ;)

What advise do you have for someone trying to 'break into the business'?

Honestly, be open-minded to anything; I've told my students the same thing. Funny enough sometimes the different genres of makeup have seasons to it. That I learned this during my first year in the business, they all have time frames during the year and all have large down times; you don't want to be stuck doing nothing if you've chosen to push towards one field of makeup. It may not be for everyone; but at least try playing with all of them first before you decide. You never know, sometimes you may meet someone and make a big contact with them; they then ask you hey do you do beauty or sfx and because you didn't play long enough in it you didn't retain enough info and they find someone new. Sometimes in most cases you've lost that contact because of a simple "I Don't". But if you do remember a little to say yes; you should have enough industry friends that could help you refresh that hidden artistry.

I myself originally wanted to ONLY do SFX; but I loved theatre (my first job was literally 2 days after completing my theatre course), through that theatre show I was contracted onto a couple of fashion shows, which I did during my fashion course at school. My first film job was on the set of "HairSpray" assisting Tony Gardner and Steve Prouty on John Travolta's prosthetic production behind the scenes in Toronto (that was 2 weeks after I graduated school and only because I kept in contact with some of my instructors) Plus I believe I was working on a musical at the same time; Reefer Madness I believe.

You went to school for makeup artistry, do you think that it gave you a jump start?

CMU College of Makeup Art & Design definitely game me that jump start that I needed to change careers; yes is was uber expensive but in the end with a lot of hard work and self motivation; it did pay off. May I add that school was actually a random suggestion of a friend from my animation school days, all because I showed her my halloween pics from that year.

Let's talk Bdellium... amazing brushes, great variety and great price point. If you had to choose, what 3 brushes would you put in your kit?

Ah Bdellium Tools, my current stomping grounds. Definitely great brushes at an affordable price point, all hand crafted as well.

My fave 3 brushes, hhhmmm....

I'll do you one better, here's my top three for each field.

For Theatre:

957 Precision Kabuki - Sometimes we need to use heavier foundations in theatre and what better than a nice dense & tight foundation brush.

940 Face Blending - to pump up the contour on your theatre victims.

787 Duet Fiber Large Tapered Blending - to add those pops of highlight all over. (One of my personal favorite buys from the booth last year!)

For Beauty:

775 Duet Fiber - great for blending and completing an eye.

706 Fine Point EyeLiner - to give you that precise and perfect line.

962 Slanted Blusher - just great for contouring and blushing at the same time - love the angled brushes.

For Film & TV:

955 Finishing - great for touch ups on set with a mineral or touch up powder - something I throw into every actors setbag.

948.1 Slanted Foundation - another great dense brush that will help with blend in that concealer and foundation connection.

557 Swivel Lip or the 557 Retractable lip - hate cleaning you setbag of lipstick getting slathered all of it because your lip brush is "free to roam" Do it Bond style and conceal!

For SFX & Prosthetics:

SFX 195 Large Stippling - A must have in your kit, great for breakdown, large coverups.

SFX 116 Short Liner or the SFX 153 Capillary - both great for those tiny details.

SFX 125, 123 & 122 - some of the best glue brushes that I've used so far; and they've been tested against some of the harsher chemicals that we use in the biz.

Thank you so much! Can't wait to see you this weekend!

Can't wait to have you as a model this weekend!

THANK YOU!

I'll be modeling at bdellium for a tattoo cover demo done by Trason at 10:45 on Sunday... come by and check it out!