J. Anthony Kosar

J. Anthony Kosar is an award-winning artist and entrepreneur who specializes in Special FX Make-Up, Prosthetics, Sculpture, Creature FX, Masks, FX Props, Concept Art, Illustration, and Fine Art through his company Kosart Studios, LLC. Anthony was the Special FX Make-Up Department Head and Make-Up FX Designer on Candyman (2021) and Fargo (Season 4), designing and creating all the character and trauma make-up FX. As a member of I.A.T.S.E Local 476 Studio Mechanics Chicago, Anthony's credits also include: Lovecraft Country (Pilot), Empire (Seasons 3-6), Chicago PD (Seasons 4-6), Chicago Justice (Season 1), Station Eleven (Mini-Series), as well as Shameless, Next, Somebody Somewhere, Proven Innocent, Beats, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Indiana Jones 4, Avatar, Hubie Halloween, Defiance, Psychogenic Fugue, The Leftovers, and many others. Born in 1985, Anthony grew up with a passion for art, drawing and painting since he could remember. He also grew up on stage and in theater thanks to his mother Lynda's background as a Dance Instructor and Choreographer. Combining these experiences of visual and performing arts, along with his love for Halloween, monsters, and movies, has led Anthony to pursue a career in Special FX. After years of winning art completions, and doing his own make-ups for Halloween, in 2002 at age 16, he created his first foam-latex prosthetic through self-taught, trial and error as there weren't any resources for FX in the Midwest at that time. Kosar attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago, IL, earning his BFA in Illustration, and was Valedictorian of the class of 2008. Though he studied illustration to get a strong foundation in art, color theory, composition, and anatomy, he took what he learned from 2-dimensional visual storytelling, and applied those principals to further teach himself the art of sculpture, make-up, and special effects. While still in college, in 2007, Kosar interned at legendary Stan Winston Studio, and was part of the team creating effects for Indiana Jones 4 and James Cameron's Avatar, along with several commercials. This is still one of Anthony's favorite experiences, interning for his hero Stan Winston just 8 months before Stan passed away. In 2013, Kosar became the Face Off Season 4 Champion. Face Off, a reality-based competition on the Syfy Channel is the biggest competition for Make-Up FX, and Kosar won 6 of the 11 Spotlight Challenges, plus 1 of 4 Foundation Challenges, setting the record of most consecutive wins in a row and most wins by a single contestant on a single season. As one of the series most well-known and respected champions, Kosar has been brought back multiple times after his season during the run of the show. Anthony continues to build Kosart Studios into the leading and most sought-after special FX studio in the Midwest, but is not just limited to just this region. Kosart works across the continent, from NY to LA and from Canada to Mexico, creating the highest quality, custom FX for film, television, web media, photography, advertising, theater, and the haunt industry. Kosart Studios specializes in all forms of make-up FX, including hyper-realistic age, character, believable likenesses, true-to-life trauma, as well as creative fantasy, sci-fi, and horror creature FX. Kosart Studios also produces award-winning illustration, concept art, sculpture, product development, and graphic design. View his work at: www.kosart.com