We’ve done shooting of our products with a texture artist and cosmetic stylist to reveal the materials as well as possible for our new website! It was the first time we used a texture artist and as it is a new profession, we decided to ask her some questions and share them with you. Our conversation below:
Hi Sophie,
Can you tell us what your job as a texture artist is like?
I work with different brands and my job is essentially to make the product as beautiful as it can be, by making the texture as attractive as possible. There is no rule, it depends on the texture. You have to test, explore new things and be creative!
How did you become a texture artist?
I studied photography and started working as an assistant for many photographers. One of them was specialized in beauty, and it came quite naturally during a shooting I said to myself “how can I make the product looks beautiful? And that’s how it went down. I didn’t realize right away that I was becoming a texture artist, it came gradually. People started coming to me and saying, “oh, could you do this thing, you know, make the products pretty”. So, I think that’s how it all started.
And it’s a profession that’s been around for a long time?
With the beauty world expanding, I would say that this is a profession of the future. 10 or 15 years ago, there was not as much demand; all of this was accentuated with the importance of social networks. People are always creating new things, and they want more originality and creativity in their content. So, they call on us, to make the whole thing more visually attractive.
Do you do everything by yourself or are you inspired by other texture artists?
Obviously, I look at what others are doing, I am interested in the work of brands, what is being done right now and the trend. But in this creative job, you can’t know what will look good or not in advance, you have to test to see what will be good. It depends a lot on the quality of the product, by the way. As I studied photography, I was used to doing different tests before getting what I want. So, I proceed exactly the same way for the textures and to see what will make it pretty.
Would you say that it is a competitive profession?
I don’t really know, I think there are more texture artists in the United States, but I don’t know how many we are in London. Because there are also photographers who do the texture work themselves. In fact, most photographers used to prefer to do everything by themselves on their shots. Today, it has changed a little bit and they are calling more and more on us but it is still quite new.
Do you have any advice on choosing THE right texture from all the tests you do?
Always go with the first one! No, in fact, there are no precise rules, sometimes I choose the first test and sometimes the thirtieth. It depends a lot on the texture, for example a cream or a mask will often be easier to work on. A serum or oily texture should be repeated several times before finding the right consistency. But very often, we are more relaxed for the first try, then we test a lot of others and finally, we go back to the basics.
What’s the strangest product shooting you’ve ever seen?
We often work with hand models for shootings, and my favourite was when I worked with a model who insisted on having hot towels applied to his hands every 4 minutes to shoot. And we were inside. I never had any more explanations.
Do you only work on cosmetics or maybe on food?
I don’t do food, I do cosmetics and a little bit of drinks, but I don’t find it very interesting because the beverage brands are not very open to new proposals. They don’t like to test new things as cosmetics brands can, so it’s less challenging. I can be less creative and what I like is being able to test new things and experiment!
After testing all our textures, which one did you prefer to work on?
I love Body Milk, it has beautiful natural colour!
➡ Her Instagram account: @sophie_iona
