About Brandi Beast

As a strange little girl, who grew up in Northeastern Pennsylvania, I learned at a young age that monsters would enchant me. My grandfather took me on all sorts of magical and horrific adventures through the images on our tv screen. He was the first inspiring force that has steered me towards the path I am on today. Films like “Legend,” “American Werewolf In London,” and “Jurassic Park” just woke up the creativity in me. We could never get enough creature features, always being invited to his house whenever something good was on tv. I was the little girl who dressed up as the Disney Beast in pre-school when I could have been a princess. I was the girl who wanted to be paid to be a professional velociraptor. I always watched behind the scenes footage of these makeup shops creating iconic characters, and knew it was what I wanted to be. It was a real job! What I didn’t realize was that everyone would think I was crazy when I would try to go to college in the early 2000’s asking to be a “Creature Concept Artist.” I’m so glad I kept striving, always push when you feel passionate about a dream.

As I grew older I found myself working for local haunted attractions, such as Reaper’s Revenge and Circle of Screams. This was when I experienced what it felt like to bring creatures to life for the first time. It was positively intoxicating. From there I pursued a crazy dream to go to makeup school in California. There was a scholarship through Ve Neill at Cinema Makeup School, it was a long shot, but it was worth the try. I teamed up with the amazing Lisa Petz Photography and put together my first portfolio and submitted. To my amazement, I was selected as the winner of the scholarship back in 2016 and it afforded me the chance at this new life. My time at CMS was an incredible experience and I met talents like Andrew Velazquez, Nelly Recchia, and Lee Joyner. It was through teachers like these that I strived to be as professional and approachable as I could, while always pushing my art to new limits. Ve Neill granting me that scholarship opened all sorts of doors, and to this day I am still discovering new ones, I will always be grateful for that. I took every opportunity during my years in California, getting to work on all sorts of projects. I gathered my first experiences in a professional makeup effects shop under the expertise of Barney Burman. I demonstrated makeup at conventions like “Son of Monsterpalooza” and “Stan Lee’s Comic Con.” I curated the IMATS Museum in 2020, and worked for KNB EFX INC. for 4 years. I still have to stop and give a huge thanks to Lee Joyner for the opportunity to represent the CMS school for a small job that ended up changing my life. It was an amazing ride working with my idols and learning so much. I boarded “The Orville” for 2 years, assisting the makeup department and the Isaac character. I created tons of background masks for “The Walking Dead,” and corpses for “Lovecraft Country.” I loved how every day was a new challenge. Meeting people like Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero altered my life in the best of ways. These men became more than idols on a tv screen, they treated their employees like an artistic family. I will always be fond of the days I spent in that space and with such top notch people.

Now I am on a new venture, pursuing my own visions. I hope to share them with the world and always offer something unique. I believe each artwork I make has its own personality and I can’t wait to see who connects with each piece. My promise is to always challenge myself to bring out the story of a creature of character, it is so much more than just a mask or a piece of art. So here’s to bringing my crazy beasts into the world as something different….creations for people who are different and proud of it.