Luckily for fans of Star Trek, the 50th anniversary of the franchise coincided with last year’s release of Star Trek Beyond, one of the most exciting films in the movie series. That was thanks in part to makeup artist Joel Harlow taking the new alien creatures where no one had gone before. Nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Star Trek Beyond, Harlow took on the daunting challenge of creating more than 50 new alien races for the film–one in honor of each year since the first episode aired on television back in 1966. Those designs will be featured in a giant chronicle published this week by Titan Books. Star Trek Beyond: The Makeup Artistry of Joel Harlow by Joe Nazzaro is surprisingly the first book to focus exclusively on the makeup artistry for Star Trek.
The closest prior work on creating makeup for aliens from beyond the Final Frontier, Star Trek: Aliens & Artifacts by Michael Westmore and Alan Sims (still available at Amazon here) was a shorter, trade paperback overview of Star Trek makeup and props, and Westmore’s recent book, Makeup Man by Michael Westmore (reviewed here at borg.com) focuses more on the pre-Star Trek work of Westmore. Star Trek Beyond: The Makeup Artistry of Joel Harlow author Joe Nazzaro also co-wrote a magazine-length overview of Westmore’s makeup work for Starlog, still available from time to time here.
Sofia Boutella shown with Joel Harlow’s makeup for Star Trek Beyond’s new heroine Jaylah.
Together with a staff of artists, Harlow embarked on the unprecedented scope of the project, while documenting the entire creative process for each of the 50 new alien types in exhaustive detail, from preliminary sketches to final make-up application. Below is a preview of Star Trek Beyond: The Makeup Artistry of Joel Harlow courtesy of the publisher. The new hardcover book is available for pre-order here at Amazon for only two more days at more than $15 off the cover price (price listed as of October 1).
