The Make up Artists on Penny Dreadful

There were three main make up artists on the set of Penny Dreadful including Vincenzo Mastrantonio also known as Enzo, Nick Dudman head prosthetic artist and Sarita Allison. They all work together to create the fantastic make up looks we see in the show.

Vincenzo Mastrantonio
Beginning as an apprentice, Enzo was influenced to become a make up artist from his father, also a make up artist. He got to be on set as a child and got to see work such as Christopher Tucker on The Elephant Man. He used to practise with his best friend trying to recreate scars and other effects. He became a professional by 1990. Other films he's worked on include Safe House, Avengers 2, Romeo and Juliet and Titanic. He soon progressed from a artist to the key makeup designer or head artist. 
While working on Penny Dreadful Enzo collaborated with all the different departments, such as the costume, hair and directors to form a concept for each character's look and feel. Once this is decided the products are then chosen and the tests begin before the final process. Things such as the period in which the show is being filmed, what they are doing, who the characters are and finally the actors themselves are considered when creating the characters. He uses his love of history and art to inspire him for these types of projects as well as working off others ideas. 
When creating characters the artist also has to consider that the cameras are in high definition so sometimes less makeup but cleverly applied make up is better. One of the most complicated characters to create was the Somnolent Women as they have to consider the actors costume and the fact they are wearing contact lenses. He used products such as Le Maquillage Professional White base, Laura Mercier shadows and La Prairie finishing powder. 

Nick Dudman
Nick is a world renowned makeup effects artist known for works such as Batman, Interview with a Vampire and the ten years he spent on Harry Potter. He has won a BAFTA for his work on Fifth Element and an Oscar for his work On Harry Potter Deathly Hallows part 2. 
On the set of Penny Dreadful Nick had a team of talented makeup artists backing him and he even collaborated with Enzo on characters such as Ethan when he became a werewolf and on Sembene's scars. To create the perfect look it took a lot of test runs of products and gave the artists time to get used to working on that particular actors face. Nick said that the makeup was there to enhance the characters performance rather than over powering it, the looks were there to be as realistic as possible. 
Eva Green who plays Vanessa Ives had her own make up artist Morna Ferguson, once the general idea for Eva was discussed Morna took care of her. However for some of the scenes Eva required some effects. The prosthetics team created a bold cap that had tufts of hair, and blood soaked cuts, it had a really great effect on the screen. 

Sarita Allison
Sarita was in the fashion industry for five years after studying Art and Design at St Martin's College. She even modelled for a bit but she soon started to teach herself the art of Makeup. She began by reading Vincent Kehoe's classic makeup artist books and went on to do a short course at Greasepaint Makeup School to learn prosthetics. To work with the best she would ring them up and keep letting them know she was interested in working with them. This worked with none other than Nick. She new the guys in Nicks workshop on first name terms over a 6 month period of ringing, trying to get through to the man himself. Finally she heard back from him and got to work beside him where he realised her talent. Sarita is very unique as she works in a male dominated world. 
Working alongside Nick on the set of Penny Dreadful, she helped create many of the looks. This included the 6 hours it took to create the Vampire makeup as there was the make up, False teeth, Contact lenses and nails to create. She was also a part of creating the mortuary scene in which over 100 body casts a week and 400 litres of fake blood were used in one day. 

References:
Imdb Editors. (No Date ). Penny Dreadful . Available: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2628232/combined. Last accessed 17th April 2015.
My Make up Bag Baby. (July 7, 2014). Pro makeup artistry on PENNY DREADFUL, part 2!. Available: http://mymakeupbagbaby.com/pro-makeup-artistry-penny-dreadful-part-2/. Last accessed 17th April 2015.
Victoria Northbrooke. (6 July 2014). IMATS 2014 – PENNY DREADFUL – NICK DUDMAN & SARITA ALLISON INTERVIEWS . Available: http://www.victorianorthbrooke.com/imats-2014-penny-dreadful-nick-dudman-sarita-allinson-interviews/. Last accessed 17th April 2015.