It brings me great pride and excitement as her teacher and mentor of over 2 years, to see her from her beginning to what she has accomplished! Dina is a humble person with an kind personality, extremely gifted talent, and a hunger to learn and make her art the best it can be. She began as a cake decorator, but upon stumbling upon my classes in 2012, she quickly adapted her cake decorating skills to the art of make-up and FX sculpture through my teachings. Always one of the top students, she met each class project with enthusiasm, and often went above and beyond what was asked of her in class. Her execution for each piece was unmatched, and it was inspiring to see her progression over the years.
Here is a look back, a walk down memory lane, like a proud parent looking through a photo album, to see some of her journey of becoming Syfy's latest Face Off Champion ...
Here she is in the class that began Dina's transition into the FX world, the Art of Mask Making at Kosart Atelier! Looking back at where she started in 2012, I am so proud of how far she has come!
Dina putting her cake decorating skills to use making her first mold in Art of Mask Making class at Kosart Atelier in 2012! She learned quick and always made it look like "as easy as baking a cake" ... literally ... haha...
Here is Dina watching an airbrushing demo in the Art of Mask Making class at Kosart Atelier in 2012:
Dina with her mask concept design, her unpainted latex mask, and a cake of
her mask that she baked for the entire Art of Mask Making class at Kosart Atelier! We knew she was a
special artist with amazing talent from day one, seeing how her cake was sculpted just as well as her sea creature mask. It tasted awesome too, though I was sad cutting into it!
Dina sculpting her giant lizard full-head mask in Advanced Mask Making class
at Kosart Atelier in 2013! There were
so many amazing masks in that class sculpted by the students, but Dina's
was definitely one of the standouts!
Here Dina introduces her signature technique of "piping" texture on her lizard
sculpture in Advanced Mask Making class at Kosart Atelier, a technique that she borrowed from her cake
decorating skill set! She was always inventive with her approach,
quickly adapting from the culinary baking world to the FX world with
style!
Dina's imaginative makeups made her a stand out in my Art of Make Up FX
classes as well at Kosart Atelier! Here
is her 2D character makeup from 2013 that shows her creativity and
anatomical understanding:
Upon mastering the 2D makeup applications, Dina excelled at the 3D out-of-the-kit makeup techniques to create this
terrifying zombie makeup in the Art of Make-Up FX class at Kosart Atelier in 2013!
Dina was always a leading student at Kosart Atelier, soaking up every technique and always asking the
right questions. Now she won the Face Off Season 7 finale after leading the
completion all season!
Dina took her makeup FX to the next level in our On-Skin Silicone FX workshop at Kosart Atelier:
Dina continued her training by learning the FX approach to airbrushing in
the Airbrush FX workshop at Kosart Atelier painting one of the vastly growing army of GRUNT masks! Can you spot our star?
The final class that Dina took is the Advanced Make-Up FX class at Kosart Atelier in 2013, combining everything she learned to date
with new techniques in sculpting, molding, casting, and applying
foam-latex prosthetics!
Once again Dina soaked up all the techniques in the Advanced Makeup FX class at Kosart Atelier in 2013 to create a
beautifully sculpted and detailed prosthetic, putting her at the top of
the class:
With an eye for detail, Dina learned to apply and paint prosthetics with precision in the Advanced Make-Up FX class at Kosart Atelier in 2013, as
she is seen here applying her Dragon Empress prosthetic to herself with
the rest of the class:
Here is Dina's final makeup application of her first prosthetic that she learned to
create in the Advanced Make-Up FX class at Kosart Atelier in 2013, her final training that prepared her for
Face Off! When I saw her final makeup, I knew she had what it takes to
not only compete on Face Off, but also take the title, so I encouraged her to audition! It has been such
an honor for me as her teacher to watch her grow as an artist from the
beginning to where she is today! I am so proud of all that she has
accomplished!
Photo by Bear McGivney.
After her taking classes at Kosart Atelier, I brought Dina in to be part of my team to work on several Kosart Effects Studios projects to continue teaching her beyond the classroom, and also get her more prepared for Face Off season 7!
She missed a few of the team projects due to filming her season, but did also work on a Mrs.
Doubtfire-esque make-up that I can’t give many specifics yet. However, Dina assisted in molding the life-casts and helping to float-off the make-up I designed and sculpted, and assisting in application of an 8-piece encapsulated
silicone prosthetic for one of the set days.
Though she missed much of this project due to filming her season, she jumped right in like a natural, helping to apply a silicone prosthetic for the first time.
On Face Off, Dina won 5 out of the 13 Spotlight Challenges, and also won 1 Audition / Foundation Challenge. One of her wins, for the Greek God challenge, she was the ONLY top look with her stunning Aphrodite make-up! She had an outstanding run on Face Off, and in my opinion, one of the best competitors ever on Face Off! Plus it was fun watching her do techniques that she learned here at Kosart Atelier, including when she fixed her cowl with cotton and latex, just as we did on our Cyclops project. And it was fun watching her showing off her own technique of "piping" detail onto her sculptures and make-ups!
Face Off Photos by Brett Patrick Jenkins.
I had the pleasure of going to Dina's Finale Party last week, to share in the excitement of her victory. It was so exciting to see everyone there to cheer on #TeamDina as she brought the title back home to Chicago! And seeing her win and her reaction, along with her boyfriend's and mother's reaction on screen, and there in person brought a tear to my own eye. I am honored to have been there, and especially to be part of her incredible journey of becoming her own accomplished artist that she is today. Watch how her Finale Party reacted when she was announced the winner:
Dina is an outstanding artist and a remarkable
person, having became more than a
student, she became a colleague, and more importantly, a friend. Dina's talent goes far beyond what she knows she herself is capable of, and I think her winning Face Off season 7 proves that! I am so thrilled that the world now sees what I have seen since 2012. It takes a lot of courage to put oneself and his/her work on display to be vulnerable and open for critique and criticism the way Dina did, but she did, and won on her own, and now returns with the confidence of a champion! Dina always had the talent and artistic vision, and I am so thankful that she brought that talent through Kosart Atelier so that I could unlock the FX world for her to unleash her talent in. I am so excited for her and proud of her, and I am looking forward to what her future holds, and I look forward to all the projects to come!
You can come see some of Dina's work in person, along with over 50 award-winning artists from all over the world at the 4th Annual MALEFICIUM Dark Art Exhibition Opening and Artist Reception on Saturday November 15th from 3pm to 10pm at Kosart Gallery in Westmont, IL!
So now that is 2 Face Off wins from Kosart Atelier! The Kosart Legacy lives on! You watched me win Face Off Season 4. You watched my student Dina win Face Off Season 7. Now watch my return to Face Off for Season 8 as I coach a team of new contestants! Be sure to watch SEASON 8 on Tuesdays
beginning January 13th, 2015 9/8c on Syfy!
Photos by Kosart Effects Studios LLC,
Kosart Atelier, Bear McGivney, Brett Patrick Jenkins, and Syfy,
and copyright their respective artists. All Rights Reserved.
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