Gregory Hewett, more commonly known as Gregory F/X, has been practicing makeup since he was in the sixth grade. As a novice in the field, Gregory F/X watched makeup videos on repeat, frequently reaching out to numerous makeup artists for tips. Unfortunately, they weren’t much help. After being written off due to his young age, Gregory F/X decided to take matters into his own hands — it worked out. Now, the special effects artist has appeared on popular special effects makeup reality show “Face Off,” teaches his skills to budding artists and frequently puts together informative commercials for the public.

Last Wednesday afternoon, Gregory F/X spoke of his journey to success in the field and showed off one of his creations at the Special Effects Makeup Demo, part of Howloween HorrorFest, in the D.H. Hill auditorium.

Starting off the event, Gregory F/X gave a rough timeline of events which led him to where he is now. For Gregory F/X, the road to success was paved with utmost dedication to his artful craft — which he now teaches to aspiring makeup artists of all kinds.

“I promised myself that if I ever got to a point where I was going to teach somebody, I would never base it off age, and I would never base it off your desire, saying ‘oh, they’re into it this day, but might not be the next day,’” Gregory F/X said. “If you have a passion for it, I don’t care what age you are — I’ll show you all the secrets.”

Gregory F/X’s  path to the big time was paved with unlikely routes throughout the way but, ultimately, his persistence is what set him apart. His best advice to budding artists is to “practice every day” and take chances in the field. For Gregory F/X, this meant auditioning for popular special effects reality show “Face Off,” in which contestants battle it out for the chance to win $100,000 and the title of “best new special effects artist.”

Although Gregory F/X got sent home fairly early in the game, his “Face Off” stint only added to his experience in the realm of special effects makeup. All the while, the notable artist continued to teach his art form at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) often while made up as a demon to inspire his students to create their own works of art.

“I’m known in the business for extremely realistic, anatomically correct makeups,” Gregory F/X said.

One of the ways Gregory F/X works to create these lifelike masterpieces is by sculpting, which is key in the world of special effects makeup. One of the most rewarding ventures Gregory F/X took on, however, did not involve sculpting, but rather the happiness of a young boy wanting to meet his favorite special effects superstar.

“About a year ago, I got a call from the Make-A-Wish foundation,” Gregory F/X said. “They asked me to do Elijah’s makeup and I said, ‘Elijah, what’s your favorite makeup for Halloween?’ and he said, ‘clowns… scary clowns,’ so that’s what I did.’”

Throughout the presentation, Gregory F/X showed examples of makeup he’s done in the past. One of the more memorable being the makeup he did for an informative commercial about drunk driving. On set, Gregory F/X worked to create realistic representations of victims of a drunk driving accident, and filmed the commercial in order to prevent and inform young drivers, hoping that “it will save at least one life.”

After sharing his story, Gregory F/X brought out a living representation of his work — a zombie bride, who students could take pictures with as she walked around the auditorium. Jesse Lopez, a librarian at NCSU Libraries, acted as the brains behind Howloween HorrorFest.

“I came up with this idea of Howloween HorrorFest, and this is the third week of that series,” Lopez said. “It started off because I really like horror films, and I wanted to try and expose undergraduates to horror films they might not know about.”

Howloween HorrorFest showed three films, “Cabin Fever,” “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and “The Descent,” all of which took place in North Carolina.

“What I try to do is connect all these films to workshops,” Lopez said. “For the first one we did a [virtual reality] workshop in our VR space, and the second one was a soundtrack [workshop] in our digital media lab and this third one is Gregory F/X.”

Overall, the special effects-related event gave students a behind-the-scenes look into what it takes to create fan-favorite films and TV series through intricate makeup application.