FAQ

Frequently asked questions

… if you ask - I’ll answer!

Ever since I started doing make-up, people around me ask me a lots of questions. Some questions are innocent, some of them are serious, some are dumb and even weird - and some are just funny enough to make me laugh. I’ll answer here all of them anyway. Or at least, the most frequent ones.

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Why do you insist on “NO 10 minutes make-up!”, and prefer “quality make-up” instead?

… and here is why: I have no boss upon me, nor I’ll ever have one again! I’m my own boss and I’d like to keep it that way. In a way, I’m freedom freak, and even a nerd!

I’m also NOT dependent on my incomes as a make-up artist. With the other words, I’m not dependent on you.

Make-up is not my hobby. It’s my second nature. It has it’s roots all the way back (more then 20 years ago) when I started doing portraits and a bit later also naked model-drawings and paintings… all the same, make-up is a “form of art” to me!

Marianne, Alexander -pastel 1996.

Thus quality make-up, and especially - working pleasure and FUN, are my highest priorities. Keep that in mind as these might not (always) be your priorities, so there are no disappointments.

In short; whenever comes a question: “could you do it with the same quality and just a little bit faster?!”, you can count on a straight answer: “NO! Not because I can’t, but because I won’t… Because I don’t have to!”
Smoking is bad enough for my health, I do know that one by now, so I don’t want loads of stress too.

I’ll therefore (most probably) not be doing “television make-up” and “bridal make-up” any time soon…

So, if you are under stress and/or in a great hurry, please make me (and yourself) a favor: hire someone else!

If you respect that, you’ll get my respect in return.
… and perhaps some COOL make-up too! ;-)

Are you in for a TFCD shoots?

Well yes. During my trips I have mainly TFCD shoots in mind, so that I can publish the pictures on this site as part of my travel diary. No worries, copyrights shall always be mentioned.. and with a little bit of luck your/our work is from time to time gonna be published in the newspapers, fashion magazines and beauty web portals. That’s why I prefer TFCD upon paid work.

Have you been involved in making of all the pictures that can be found on this site?

Yes, I did the makeup for all of them. If you however some time in the future, find the pictures on this site I haven’t been involved with (which I doubt you’ll ever find them here at all), I’ll put a note next to it.

Do you make-up celebrities?

It’s amazing how many people around me ask this question! In general, the answer is: NO, as I don’t (want to) do television make-up right now. Like, you have an hour (at most) to apply makeup on 5 people before in the air… To my honest opinion, it ain’t make-up. It’s bull$hit!

I occasionally do meet some great photographers and models, but it doesn’t matter to me that much because I treat all my models equally and with respect. So, to me it wouldn’t make any difference at all anyway. I did however meet a few famous people in the past… and the truth is, I never, ever lick(ed) someones a$$, certainly not because of his/her name, or whatever the reason. So, whether I’ll ever work with celebrities or not in the future, who knows… to be perfectly honest: I don’t care.

Just an example: an agent whom I’ve had a contact with a while ago, within an opportunity to work on a project with some famous Dutch photographers, I found her mail behavior very irritating and arrogant, so I finally decided to lose her and this is what I told her in order to achieve just that:

“… it seems you’re even pickier then I am. ;-)”

She of course wrote me back the next day: “that I came far, but wouldn’t be her final choice…” and I was glad to read just that.

Working with famous people???
To me it’s less important then make-up itself.

However, if I’d ever have an opportunity, I’d like to do the make-up for some of my favorite movies stars, like: Linda Fiorentino, Kim Basinger, Jeri Lynn Ryan, Tricia Helfer, Mila Jovovich and Heather Locklear… or ladies I just admire, like Cindy Jackson.

Are you gay?

No, I am not. Not all male make-up artists are homosexuals. I’m 100% straight… As the matter of fact, if I was a woman, I would definitely be a lesbian. The most men I know, are simply boring. So, I do not feel attracted to them in any possible way, honestly.

Did you become a make-up artist so you could date more women?

No. I don’t need a make-up art to date women.

I do however have contact with a lots of models, but our contacts are based on mutual respect and are mainly serious and on professional level… unless you get to like someone a lot, but when that happens, then it’s like it would happen anywhere else, as when you’d work in an office for instance.

When I’m at work, my mind is at work as well. Especially my mind.

To give you an idea, in 15 years time of naked model drawing & painting, it occurred only once that I’ve got something with a model. It wasn’t one night stand or anything like that. We just developed feelings for each other and had then a relationship that lasted more then a year… Sooo, if I haven’t meet her during the drawing sessions, I’m pretty much confident that I’d meet someone else, in a pub or elsewhere. That’s how it works (for me).

Marianne, Alexander - pastel 1998.

In a short: I don’t run after women and I certainly don’t walk after my d*ck… either when it’s about the models or the girls next door.

When it’s about the models, they are just the subject of my product delivery, whom I treat with respect, because they deserve it… they are working hard for it, just like I do.

Why do you believe you’re good?

• Because I love what I do.
• Because I’m a nerd.
• Because I happily learn from women, in cinema’s, trains, shops, pubs and even on the street. Actually, where ever I meet them. No, I don’t stare! ;-) … I watch closely what kind of make-up they wear, how they did it and especially: why they did it certain way; why do they think it looks good? That’s an interesting one …
• Because I sometimes take my girlfriends out in order to test my make-up on guys! Then I just order a drink, lean back at the bar and enjoy ‘the show’… O yes!, that’s how freaky nerd I am! Some even call me megalomaniac psycho… ;-)
• Because I had almost 40 shoots (those at school not counted) and applied my make-up on more then 100 models (those at school not counted) during my education only, in less then a year …
• Because I invested my money in it (+2000 euro for my education & travel costs, +1000 euro to buy more quality make-up, +1000 euro to travel all over the country doing plenty of shoots in order to build strong portfolio… all in less then a year.)
• Because I work with pencils and color pretty much my entire life.
• Because I’m not afraid to experiment in order to learn more.
• Because I respect what others do and expect from them the same.
• Because I wanted to prove my family they were wrong while brainwashing me as a kid by telling: “you can’t live from art!” and pushing me to become a medic or a lawyer… But I guess I already proved it to them a long time ago by quitting my law study and leaving my country forever.
• Because I learned from the best ones! (www.haagsevisagieschool.nl)
• Because I work(ed) hard for it.
• Because I’m not afraid of failure.
• Because I don’t have a problem with learning from those who are better then me… all the way up until I beat them.
• Because I know when to apply ‘less is more’.
• Because I know what it means to fall and how to get up again.
• Because I understand colors and women.
• Because I’m not brainwashed with politics, TV, occult and religion,… so we can also TALK.
• Because I believe in what I do.

… and just because I am.

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Other questions

What are the funniest things that happened during your travels?

Probably seeing: “it’s forbiden to smoke” and “the floor is wet” caution boards, under showers in Hong Kong.
Fire in Malcolms appartement in Sydney was very funny as well.

And the ugliest things that happened during your travels?

I’d place my bet on cabs drivers, not only in India but all around the world. To the most of cab drivers, the fact that you are a traveler + new in the city, equals an opportunity to drive you long way around and make a quick money.. for which I think is a travesty! They shouldn’t promote their cities that way. Because to good drivers, who bring me quickly and efficiently to places where I want to be, I always leave a tip - and the best ones I often pay double. The a$$holes I sometimes refuse to pay at all.

Can we also do photoshoots in your homeland?

Yes. As I’ve built a homestudio, with softboxes, backgrounds, mirrors, make-up tables and all, we can also shoot at my place when I don’t travel. So if you’re a traveling photographer, model, stylist.. just like me, and I like your portfolio, hit me when/if you’re around. There is also a guest room here where you can spend a couple of days (up to a week) for free.

Also, if you are a member of couchsurfing.com, you’re welcome to stay at my place. I enjoy having travelers at visit, male or female, doesn’t matter… as long as you’re respectful, you act cool (not acting as an a$$hole is often cool enough for me!) and we have good stories to share.

Please DO NOT contact me if you’re addicted to marijuana or any other substances, you expect me to help you finding a job and/or you want to stay in Netherlands permanently, so your visit to Netherlands is associated with that kind of stuff.

Are you religious?

No. I’m an open minded spiritual being. For me it’s on a quite different level then what the most religions preach. Spirituality is a personal thing. Religion is not.

Are you gonna be single forever?

Probably not. ;)
Some day I definitely want to have a family of my own. Preferably with a young, passionate, beautiful and loving Asian, Latina, or even Serbian girl (you never know where love is hidden and when and where you’ll meet the right one), so our kids can get their mother’s beauty - and my brains and talents. I think it would be awesome combination. :D

Are you present on social networks as well?

Yes. On big ones as well as on small ones. Here is the list of the most important social networks I’m on, just in case you want to add me on your friends list:

http://www.modelmayhem.com/732090
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1342398741
http://www.myspace.com/alexander_vidakovic
http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/travmakeupartist/ and
http://twitter.com/cool_makeup

… If I make a profile on any other social networks site, I’ll let you know through my Newsletter. Feel free to subscribe to my newsletter so you don’t miss anything.

Why is this whole site in Red, Green and Blue?

Because your monitor doesn’t support CMYK. ;-)
Just kiddin’! Red, Green and Blue (RGB colors) are 3 basic colors of your monitor- and I like to keep it as clean as possible. I also don’t like messy websites, so the idea is that the published photo’s won’t suffer if I keep the interface of this site within 3 basic colors and blank background. It’s simple but effective.

Why is it “traveling” in stead of “travelling”?

To be perfectly honest, I registered “world traveling artist” domain name intuitively. But no worries, both spellings (”traveling” versus “travelling”) are correct. Traveling is American-English, while travelling is just UK English… which however makes me wonder: why these people mess up everything? Even their spelling. :-/

Just dropped by to let you know I hate your writings, your make-up and everything else you do.

Thank you! It’s a nice thing to have some fans.

How can I sponsor?

If you have a product which you’d like me to promote, feel free to send me a message so we can discuss that.

But before you send me the message, please mind the following: I won’t promote any porn-industry products, gambling sites or anything that is illegal - or to my personal opinion immoral. I also don’t do MLM crap or anything that sales “air”, so if you’re up to that stuff, don’t even bother!

What are your posts/reading recommendations?

That would be then the posts listed bellow…

Best of World Traveling Artist

Who/what is “Lady Ashtray” and what’s going on in those Ashtray posts on this site?

Ashtray is a piece of metal and yet, not just an ashtray. It’s special one, one and the only “world traveling ashtray” that I know of. She writes also the articles for this site, so she’s undoubtedly the only existing writer-ashtray that I know of… ;-)

Check it out on my authors list, nick: “Lady Ashtray“, bottom right column of each page… have to mention that, ’cause I heard some people say that: “it’s not easy to navigate through my site” :p

…and she got even published in Noordhollands Dagblad on July 7, 2009. Yet, even these journalists were (unfortunately) unable to figure out what was the exact purpose of my Traveling Lady Ashtray. That’s what they said in their article.

Well… what can I say?! Tough lady. ;-)

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If you have any other question which is not answered on this page, or on about page, then go ahead, just ask!