How I became one of Ghana’s biggest in my field – Male makeup artiste speaks

He is now a master in his field, with the wild ability to transform faces with his makeup products and tools, in an arguably women-dominated field. Nathaniel Amewugah, popularly known as Kruz K, is arguably one of Ghana’s best when it comes to the craft but his specialty is in special effects; what is usually known as SFX. Having won awards including, the Best Special Effects Makeup Artiste from the Ghana Beauty Awards, Prestigious West Africa Photo Arena Awards 2019 and Makeup Artiste of the Year at the Ghana Arts and Culture Awards among others, Kruz K shared his success story when he took his turn on GhanaWeb’s People & Places show; “Everything came when I was in school, in GH Media, and I went to acting class one day and our directing lecturer; Major Vine, he was the one who taught us a little bit of Halloween makeup. He was just doing a sketch of Halloween makeup and I was like; ‘this is so nice’, I was loving the whole thing. “So I came to the hostel that night and borrowed a friend’s laptop and I was using the school’s wifi, and then I went online, watching more videos and all and I realized this looks really interesting so I decided to take it up,” he told host, Wonder Ami Hagan on People & Places. According to Kruz K, this decision wasn’t an easy one because there were barely the right materials to begin his journey with but his determination led him to improvise. “Funny enough, there were no materials at that time in Ghana and even till now, so watching the videos and trying to create the thing was so difficult because you don’t have the materials available, so how then do you create? “So I decided to start research and found new ways to improvise and still do good work in special effects, talking to people who were there before me, so that was how everything started “Before I started getting my products from Nigeria, I was using the normal food colour, glue, tissue, cotton, it’s all about your creativity,” he further noted. Having excelled in his field, Kruz K was also sure to acknowledge persons he says were part of his growth journey. “I wasn’t the one who brought special effects. I only drove people’s interests into special effects but then there were pioneers before me – Mr. Johnson, the one who did the makeup for Kyeiwaa, and Kojo Hilton, the Art Ambassador for West Africa,” Kruz K stated. You can also watch the full interview with Kruz K here: WA