Expert makeup artists possess the power to turn the face into almost anything. The prime example of this is found in Hollywood movies, where makeup artists create fantastical characters out of actors. However, Dain Yoon, a Korean makeup artist, takes it a step higher. She turns her own face into surrealist illusions that have to be seen to be believed. And she does all this with watercolors!
What this 26-year-old makeup artist does is something totally mind-blowing. In an interview with i-d.vice.com, she states:
“I’m a classically trained fine artist, who happens to use herself as a canvas.”
When painting her face, she doesn’t consider just the body parts, but also their movement, the background, the atmosphere, lighting, and other minute details.
It seems Yoon has inherited the artist genes from her parents – her mother is an artist and father, an architect. Always keen on art, she studied at two prestigious art schools – Yewon Arts Middle School and Seoul Arts High School – and did a scenography course at Korea National University of Arts. It provided this artist an opportunity to design theatrical makeup and paint the bodies of actors.
This training prompted Yoon to start her own creative work and she began experimenting on herself. She chose her face since she considers face to be the strongest and the most sensitive part of the body that allows her to convey her most delicate emotions.
Yoon, born in Seoul, South Korea, is a full-time artist her approach to this unique art is quite methodical. She first conceptualizes the idea and then creates her idea in color on her face in such a way that it communicates to her audience what she wants to convey. Her work may look Photoshopped but is totally authentic. Her meticulous and detailed work can take anywhere from three to 12 hours.
Yoon, currently based in the US, enjoys a fan following of over 630,000 on Instagram alone. She preferred this platform because of its visual nature. It instantly drew a global audience. Why her work has achieved such tremendous popularity is because she places quality over quantity and focuses more on innovative work, rather than on quantity.
Yoon has won many awards and her works are exhibited in various art shows all over the world. She has also collaborated on projects with a number of brands, such as Apple, BMW, Estée Lauder, Instagram, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, and many more.
Dain Yoon 윤다인