Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Flores.
Kelly, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve always been a big fan of horror movies growing up. My mom took me to watch Freddy vs. Jason in theaters and I thought it was the scariest thing but I couldn’t look away. I’ve always kinda wondered how they would do all those crazy effects. I’ve also been drawing since I can remember and eventually, I started drawing my favorite horror movie characters. After high school is when I really started to get into doing my makeup and then I started turning myself into horror movie characters for fun with whatever makeup I had available.
My dad was always the victim to whatever creature I turned myself into and he always gave me the best reactions and so much support on whatever I wanted to do. One birthday my friend Krisrra got me a bottle of liquid latex and to this day, it’s the best gift I’ve ever gotten. After that, I would force all my friends to be my models and turn them into zombies for fun. Eventually, I decided to go to beauty school and my idea was to work for a big name brand makeup company but I was lucky to have an amazing teacher that taught me more about special effects and she brought me on my first set as her assistant and I knew exactly that’s what I wanted to do. Shortly after I finished beauty school, I got a message from one of my now closest friends on my makeup page on Instagram asking if I could do some bruises and cuts for their student film, and at the time, I’ve never done any special effects makeup that lasted longer than 10 min for a simple picture so making it last the whole day was definitely a challenge but everything worked out and I had the best experience and met so many great people on that set that have become like a second family to me. I’ve been working on set for almost three years now and I’ve worked on over 40 sets so I assume I’m doing something right.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t always been an easy road. I struggle with anxiety so sometimes it’s really hard to get out of my head, And self doubt whenever I get contacted to work on a new gig. Makeup and drawing is the way I’m able to express myself so as soon as I walk on set, it all goes away and I feel the most like myself.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I’m a makeup artist that specializes in special effects. I’m probably most known for making things look really gory and as real as possible. What I’m most proud of is when someone asks me to do something I’ve never done and I’m able to do it, I love the challenge. I would have to say my attention to detail is what sets me apart from others. I’m constantly learning new ways to do certain effects and to be as quick as possible onset. I love reading scripts too and finding old movie references as inspiration for making my makeup.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moment so far was having my dad come to a little indie film premiere with me to watch a movie that was one of the most challenging effects I’ve done. He watched me play with all sorts of weird makeup looks in the living room for years so it was really cool that it led somewhere and he was able to be apart of it. My mom is going to come with me on the next one.
Contact Info:
- Email: kfxmua@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/kfx.mua?igshid=zfaeaxjto1d1
Image Credit:
Daniel Rosenberg
John Remmen
Bryan Suarez
Holger
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