Interview With FashionClub.com's Makeup Artist Karla Ticas

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Karla Ticas has been working with FIDM on virtually every Fashion Club shoot since 2008 as our makeup artist. We love her work and since she's such an inspiring part of the team, we thought we'd introduce her to you! She's not only a makeup artist, but an up and coming photographer who was just recognized as one of the winners of The Face of Smashbox Contest.

How did you get your start? My mom knew a celebrity makeup artist here in Los Angeles and when I was 16 years old, I started assisting her. She took me on photo shoots and commercials, and she did some celebrity jobs for clients such as "Hollywood Squares." I got that initial exposure to the industry and I decided then that I wanted to be a part of it. But then in my senior year of high school, I decided I'd rather be a photographer. It's another way of being in the industry, and since I'm really good with people I knew I could run a crew. When I was 18 years old, I moved to Santa Barbara to go to college. It was really difficult. At one point, I thought I could either drop out, or persevere. I decided I was going to push through—and not only would I finish, I would be the best in my class! I graduated with a really strong portfolio in October of 2007.

What happened next? I shot out like a bullet. I was ready to be a freelance photographer. Well, I thought I was ready until I entered the real world. Then I thought, "I'm not ready. I have no idea what I'm doing." And there's a million other people in L.A. doing the same thing. The advantage I had was my makeup background. I ended up working left and right and everything just fell into place from there. I've been doing photography and light makeup since 2007 on my own. That aspect of visual communication is how I pay my bills and thrive.

Who are your clients? I naturally lean towards cosmetics companies. Just 5 months out of school, I got my biggest job thus far—for a hair company. It was a very good paycheck. I've also shot with different designers here in L.A., but it's almost always centered around cosmetic companies. When I photograph beautiful girls, I tend to focus on beauty shots instead of fashion.

What is the difference between beauty shots and fashion shots? Beauty is more of a focus on the skin, makeup, and hair. And fashion is more about accessories and wardrobe, with a light focus on hair and makeup. The poses have to show the clothing in the best way possible. But with beauty, you have more room to play.

What do you love about makeup styling? It's a love/hate thing—I hate getting my kit together! But at the end of the day, it's really nice touching a face again. When I started doing makeup and I was working for a cosmetic line, I started connecting with women on a different level—about their insecurities. So, overall, it's not just the makeup—it's the fact that you can connect with someone one-on-one. With photography, it's not necessarily like that—I have conversations with models as I pose and shoot them, but with makeup it's more intimate. It's nice connecting with someone on that level, creating their look and making them feel pretty.

Any blogs or websites you love? Fashion Gone Rogue hunts down every fashion/beauty editorial and they post it on their site. It's great for daily inspirations. {this is glamorous} has very feminine, girlie things, which I love. And I like Apartment Therapy. They all go hand-in-hand with design.

Where do you find inspiration? Movies. I think I grew up loving the industry and movies subconsciously because of my dad. He's a big movie person. I used to catch movies with him every Saturday growing up. I knew every actor. Most of my inspiration comes from film.

Tell us about your most insane shoot. I recently did a shoot with $6 million worth of jewelry for a magazine based out of Lebanon! A security guard hand-delivered the jewelry and stayed for the entire duration of the shoot. And in the same week, I shot for a wedding magazine with jewelry from Harry Winston, Cartier, and David Yurman. It was a week full of diamonds.

What photographers do you admire? Sarah Silver, Jamie Nelson, Miles Aldridge. They have work that's very feminine and colorful—things that I aspire to be. I also love painters that do women portraits like Silvia Ji, Joshua Petker, and Shawn Barber.

Have you received any awards you'd like to tell us about? Last year I won the Face of Smashbox Contest—the search for the next big photographer, makeup artist, and model. I won the photographer part. The winners were flown out to L.A. to shoot a campaign for a new product. I got to shoot with the latest and greatest camera equipment, so that was definitely a plus!

Do you have any upcoming projects you'd like to share? I'm thinking about putting together a body of work to do a gallery show by the end of the year.

How do you like working on the Fashion Club shoots? I appreciate it so much because it's an amazing group of women and I can relate to it. At one shoot, I get to know Harriet more and at another shoot, I get to know Marianne more. Everyone is on it. They "get" what they do. They love what they do. And it's good to know that women still run the show at the end of the day, so it's cool.

Watch Karla Ticas at work on our last shoot as she shows us step-by-step amazing beauty how-tos on Makeover Magic!

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