For decades now, the makeup sponge and the makeup brush have represented the prime tools needed by the makeup artist for successful realization of his or her ideas. Not much has changed in the sense over the years - apart from the shift from natural to synthetic brushes, and then back again to natural, and then the acceptance of latex makeup sponges.

But major changes have taken place over the past few years - to include air as one of the materials - media, actually - that have proved widely successful for the application of professional makeup. The technology involved with compressors and airbrushes has developed to such a degree by now that the techniques currently possible have led to fascinating results in the professional makeup area. As a result, more and more makeup designers have eagerly embraced the new possibilities.

This new application technique has recently attracted considerable attention owing to the widespread introduction of new media technologies that make high-resolution images available. These new media possibilities, now becoming increasingly available on the everyday level, make it even more essential to employ extremely fine-quality and naturally appearing makeup. Transition zones in makeup will ideally be invisible with the new media - or at least hardly capable of being seen. It will also be more necessary than ever to carefully make up facial wrinkles, so that high-definition presentation will not exaggerate their effects on screen. At present, airbrush techniques apparently offer the best possibilities of satisfying these new requirements.

A review of the technological characteristics of television media can vividly demonstrate the extent of this challenge. American NTSC television images until now consist of 525 lines on the screen, and the PAL system primarily used in Europe offers 625. High-definition television (HDTV) of the future, however, will enable 1080 lines, and the number of pixels pro line will show the dramatic increase from 720 to 1920. This means that the total number of pixels on the screen has increased from the original level of 378,000 (NTSC) and 450,000 (PAL), to no fewer than 2,073,600. This almost fivefold increase over currently used systems shows the magnitude of the problem facing makeup artists.