Beauty Echoes Art

Kannagi Desai reflects on how the strokes of an artist's brush interact with the canvas of human skin, proving makeup is as much art as expression

- Kannagi Desai

Beauty has always been an act of self-expression, but its lineage extends far beyond vanity-it is a direct descendant of classical art. Growing up, I always heard and observed that wielding makeup brushes was akin to handling an artist's brush-with intention, precision, and flair. Little did I know that this sentiment echoed an artistic legacy, centuries in the making, where beauty techniques like contouring and highlighting were descendants of art movements that defined entire eras. In the kaleidoscopic world of makeup, art is no longer confined to canvases and galleries-it finds its most dynamic expression on the human face.

Consider stippling, for instance-a method that traces back to Impressionist artists like Georges Seurat, whose technique of layering dots built entire visual landscapes. In modern makeup, stippling brushes mimic this pointillist precision to blend foundation seamlessly. Like paintings where each tiny mark contributes to the bigger picture, stippling in makeup is about constructing depth, one delicate touch at a time.

LIGHT & SHADOWS

The interplay between art and beauty isn't a mere metaphor; it's a lineage of shared techniques and philosophies. Look no further than chiaroscuro, the dramatic interplay of light and shadow perfected by Renaissance masters like Caravaggio and Leonardo da Vinci. This technique, originally developed to create depth in oil paintings, finds its contemporary counterpart in contouring and highlighting-sculpting the face to emulate dimensions once immortalised in oils.