Introduction

Why another makeup book?

In most theatre situations, the performers are responsible for providing and applying their own makeup. There are some cases in which a makeup designer/artist will train the performers in a specific style (perhaps for a chorus of munchkins or flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz) and provide specialty makeup. In many opera companies, a staff or contracted makeup artist will design and apply the makeup for the singers. But in realistic theatre productions (which are, arguably, the majority of contemporary performances) the performer is left to his or her own devices. Some performers have had makeup training in college, either through a course or in a workshop prior to a production. Those who have not are at a disadvantage.

I have been teaching theatrical makeup at the undergraduate level for 25 years. My students are attentive and hungry to learn. During every class meeting, proper makeup application techniques are demonstrated. Yet over and over these same dedicated students have difficulty replicating what they have been shown. One reason for this lack of retention is that few makeup texts demonstrate, step-by-step, the proper placement and blending of highlight and shadow.

Theatrical Makeup: Basic Application Techniques provides a reference for students and performers to use when applying their makeup. The primary focus of this book is on how to use highlight and shadow to contour the face for greater visibility and dimensionality under theatrical lighting. Additional topics include altering the natural shape of the face as a character device or to change the perception of one's age or gender, common skin textures and abnormalities, and historical makeups.

Theatrical Makeup: Basic Application Techniques demonstrates the basics, which is what most performers need to know. Animal and fantasy makeups Will not be covered, neither will the casting of three-dimensional prosthetics; those are usually the responsibility of a makeup designer, not each individual actor. If the reader is interested in advancing beyond what is presented here, those more complex techniques are addressed in other, more comprehensive, makeup texts.