Recommended Reading: How to Get Started as a Professional Makeup Artist

For all those aspiring artists out there, check out this great blog post from Yisell Santos on how to get started as a professional makeup artist.

Here's an excerpt on "Assisting and Interning":

If you want to assist other artists it's always good to send an email.  Let us know that you would be interested in assisting and leave your name, number and a possible link to some work you have done.  I know not everyone is going to have a professional site or professional pictures right when they start out but a link to something (even if its attached pictures) so that we can get an idea of what your work looks like.  Contacting us with no example of your work what so ever will most likely end up in getting your email ignored.

DO NOT get annoying or stalkish.  If we respond saying that we will hold on to your information, then take that as it is.  Don't keep emailing us and calling us.  That will make us (especially me) not want to work with you.  Keeping in touch is different than sending constant "stalky" emails.  We're human and sometimes forget and emails get lost in the jumble of other emails.  After a good amount of time, send a friendly reminder that you're still interested in assisting.

DO NOT ask the senior artist to "recommend" photographers or contacts to you.  We built these relationships throughout the years of hard work and non stop networking.  We aren't going to just simply hand over our contacts to you.  Do your own networking and build your own relationships.

Below are some basic "rules" to follow.  These rules are there because, yes, unfortunately these have all happened to me and other artists I know.

To read the rest of Yisell's advice and recommendations, check out the full blog post here: http://yisellsantos.blogspot.com/2010/04/industry-dos-and-donts.html