CHAPTER 11 Modeling with Highlights and Shadows

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You have already studied the general structure of the face. The next step is to learn to modify the appearance of this structure through the use of highlights and shadows. Although the illusion created may involve making cheeks rounder, chins more pointed, or noses crooked, more often than not, it will include some aging.

In youth, firm muscles and elastic skin fill out the hollows and smooth over the bumps in the bony structure of the skull. But with age and the accompanying sagging of muscles, this bony structure becomes increasingly evident. Therefore, the first thing to do in learning to age the face is to visualize the bones of the skull and to locate them by prodding with the fingers.

Unquestionably, the single most important factor in learning to create the illusion of three-dimensional changes in bones and flesh through the use of two-dimensional painting techniques is a thorough understanding of what happens when directional light falls on a three-dimensional object (see Chapter 2). Once this is understood, the solution to most problems concerning realistic modeling in makeup can be found simply by asking three questions:

1. What is the exact shape of the structure (a cheekbone, for example, or a wrinkle) that is to be represented?

2. Where is the light coming from? (On the stage it will normally be from above rather than from below.)

3. What happens, in terms of light and shadow, when a light from that direction falls on a structure of that shape?

The answers to these questions will make it clear where the structure (wrinkle or cheekbone) would be light and where an absence of light would make it appear dark. These light and dark areas can then be painted onto the face, creating for the observer the illusion of prominent bones and wrinkles where they do not actually exist.

Before beginning to do this, it’s a good idea to take time to practice the technique of modeling hard and soft edges.

Modeling Hard and Soft Edges

It would be best to do the following practice on the back of your hand or the inside of your wrist or your arm if any of those areas is sufficiently free of hair. Choose a medium flesh tone for the foundation, a medium dark color (such as S-13f, FS-13-g, or PR-12-g) for the shadows, and a very light color (such as OF-1-b, OF-1-c, F-1-a, FS-1-a, FS1-c, or FS-3-a) for the highlights. Use a wide or an extra-wide flat brush. With your brush, take up a small amount of paint and transfer it to the back of your hand—not in a spot you plan to use for your practice. Then work from the paint on your hand, using your hand as a palette. This enables you to control the amount of paint on your brush much more effectively than when you work directly from the stick or the container of makeup. (This applies, of course, only to creme makeup or to greasepaint, not to cake makeup. Makeup can be taken directly from cakes without using a palette.) If you are using paint from a palette box (see Appendix A), you can use the inside cover of the box as your palette. Both the hand and the palette box cover can also be used for mixing colors.

The following procedures for modeling hard and soft edges, though they are quite specific as to how to do what and in what order, are not intended to deter you from experimenting with other techniques for achieving the same results.

SOFT EDGES In making a soft-edged highlight (or a soft-edged shadow), begin with the area of greatest intensity.

1. Using a stainless steel spatula, remove makeup from the container onto a mixing tray, stainless steel palette, or ceramic tile.

2. With a brush or sponge, cover a section of skin with a medium foundation.

3. Using your brush, take up some highlight color from your hand or your palette.

4. With a single, firm stroke of your brush, make a stripe of highlight color. (If you have used a brush of the correct width, taken up the right amount of paint, and used the right amount of pressure in applying it, you will need to make only the one stroke before blending the edges.)

5. Either wipe your brush clean or use a clean brush, then draw the brush lightly along one edge of the highlight, overlapping the edge. Repeat this until the edge blends imperceptibly into the foundation. If you are using cake makeup, the brush should be slightly damp, and you should wipe the makeup off the brush after each stroke, redampening it when necessary.

6. Repeat step 3 with the opposite edge. This should give you a strong highlight with two soft edges. If it is not strong enough, repeat the entire procedure on top of what you have already done.

7. Repeat step 2 with a medium shadow color, applying the stripe of paint a short distance away from the highlight.

8. Repeat step 3 on the side of the shadow away from the highlight.

9. Do the same on the other side of the shadow. In the blending of the shadow color towards the highlight, avoid any overlapping of the highlight color with the shadow. When you have finished, there should be a gradual transition in value between the lightest area of the highlight and the darkest area of the shadow. In other words, you should now have modeled, in essence, a cylinder. (See FIGURE 2-2.)

HARD EDGES Hard edges are used in realistic makeup only to create the effect of a crease in the flesh. For a hard edge to be fully effective, the lightest light must meet the darkest dark without any overlapping, smearing, or fuzziness. Hard edges should be clean and sharp. The following steps can be used to practice making a hard edge:

1. Cover a section of skin with a medium foundation color.

2. With your brush, take up some highlight color from your hand or your palette.

3. Holding the brush so that the bristles are perpendicular to the edge you intend to paint, draw it carefully along the skin where you want the hard edge to be. If the hard edge is to fade out at one end (as it usually should), gradually lift the brush so that it touches the skin more and more lightly as you move along. If there are irregularities in the edge, go over the entire edge again in the same order to make corrections.

4. Wipe your brush clean. If you are using cake makeup, the brush should be damp.

5. If you want the highlight to be considerably wider than it now is (as on the upper lip when highlighting the nasolabial fold), place your brush in the same position as in step 3 and, barely touching the skin, draw the brush away from the hard edge, pulling some of the paint outward. How far you pull the paint out depends, of course, on the width you want the highlight to be. Moving down along the highlight, keep repeating this stroke for the entire length of the highlight. If you do not want to widen the highlight but only to blend the edge, skip this step entirely.

6. In order to soften the outer edge of the highlight, wipe your brush clean, then holding it parallel to the hard edge, stroke it very lightly over the outer edge of the highlight, overlapping the edge with the brush. Keep doing this until you have a soft edge that blends into the foundation color.

7. Examine the highlight. If it needs strengthening, repeat the entire procedure on top of what you have just done. Keep doing this until it is as strong as you want it to be. It would be well at this point to powder what you have already done.

8. Using your shadow color and working in the opposite direction, follow the same procedure as for the highlight, being extremely careful to maintain the clear, sharp edge, and never to let the shadow overlap the highlight. (See FIGURE 2-2.)

When you have learned to model hard and soft edges convincingly, you can then apply the technique in creating the illusion of three-dimensional changes on the face.

Modeling the Face and the Neck

In order to make sure that the final makeup will fit the actor’s face, you should always be aware of how every highlight and every shadow relates to the structure of the face, including bone, cartilage, muscle, fatty tissue, and skin. To demonstrate this, model your entire face and neck by using highlights and shadows to bring out the bone structure and to create the effect of sagging muscles and flesh.

Begin by covering your entire face with a medium deep (8, 9, or 10) cake, creme, or greasepaint foundation color in a shade suitable for aging. This should be a grayed color (d, e, or f) in a warm hue (R, S, FS, or SF). Then, using a pale cream or ivory color, highlight areas of the face as they might look in middle or old age, with bones becoming more prominent and flesh sagging. (See FIGURE 11-1, which can be used as a guide but should be adapted to your own face rather than copied exactly.) For this exercise make the highlights very strong, but soften the edges except when creating the effect of creases. Subtle modeling effects can be introduced after you have a thorough understanding of the basic concepts and have practiced the techniques. The following information provides a series of steps for laying in a foundation of highlights and shadows. Detailed instructions for contouring specific areas of the face are then presented later in the chapter.

1. Using a wide (FIGURE 11-2H) or extra-wide (FIGURE 11-21) flat shading brush, highlight the frontal area marked H1 in FIGURE 11-1.

2. Still using your wide brush, apply similar highlights to the superciliary arch, emphasizing the area just above the eyebrows, marked H2 in FIGURE 11-1. If you look at your forehead in profile, you may find a horizontal break or a change in direction of the planes about halfway up. If you do, this break will represent the top limit of the highlight area.

3. Since the top of the orbital bone above the outer corner of the eye (H3) nearly always catches the light, highlight it, softening the edges. A medium brush (FIGURE 11-2E or F) can be used for this. You may also wish to highlight the lid itself, though if you were creating a very deep-set eye, it would be shadowed instead.

4. Using a wide (FIGURE 11-2G) brush, highlight along the top of the cheekbone (H4), softening both edges of the highlight. (See FIGURE 11-32.) To locate the top, lay one finger horizontally across your temple, press firmly, and move it down until you find it being pulled outward by the cheekbone. Then press downward against the bone. Where your finger rests will be the top of the bone. It is the top plane of the bone, not the outside or the underside, that normally receives the most light.

5. If you want a pouch under the eye, continue the cheekbone highlight to the pouch, letting it stop with a hard edge along the lower boundary of the pouch and making it strongest at the very edge of the pouch (H5).

6. Using a medium brush (FIGURE 11-2E or F), highlight the bone and the cartilage that form the top or front of the nose (H6) since these invariably catch the light strongly (See FIGURE 11-28A, B.) Keep the highlight off the sides.

7. With the same brush, add a small highlight (H7) to the tops of the nares. (See FIGURE 11-28C, D.)

8. Highlight the chin (not too strongly since it picks up a significant amount of light by virtue of its position on the face) with a wide or a mediumwide brush. Be sure to keep the highlight below the break between the lip and the chin, making it strongest right at the break (H8), where there will be a fairly hard edge in the very center. (See FIGURE 11-48A, B.) This edge softens as it moves away to the right and to the left.

9. Now you can begin to use sagging muscles and flesh along with the bone structure in placing your highlights. The flesh at the corners of the mouth may puff out or sag with age, catching the light. Highlight this area (H9) with a medium or a wide brush. (See FIGURE 11-48C, D.)

10. The jaw line (H10) normally catches a highlight; but since, in age, it is the sagging flesh rather than the bone that is most strongly lighted, highlight this area with a wide or an extra-wide brush, keeping your edges soft and emphasizing the irregularity caused by the sagging flesh. (See FIGURE 11-41A, B, C.) If your own jawbone is firm and youthful, you can use photographs, paintings, or drawings to determine what might happen to it and how it might catch the light if there actually were sagging flesh.

11. The upper lip, all the way from the nose to the mouth, catches light, especially at the crease of the nasolabial fold (H11 in FIGURE 11-1). With a wide or an extra-wide brush, held as shown in FIGURE 11-38C, D, start your highlight at the nose, making a very sharp, clean edge along the crease, then fade it out (FIGURE 11-38E) as it moves towards the center of the lip.

12. Now observe the area marked H12 in FIGURE 11-1. This is the top of the nasolabial fold. It may not always be this pronounced, but the area is nearly always prominent in age. It catches a strong highlight with soft edges. Be sure not to carry the highlight all the way to the crease. A medium brush can be used. To the outside of the crease is an area (S16) that folds under and away from the light and therefore should not be highlighted.

13. Since, with age, the sterno-cleido-mastoid muscles of the neck (H13) usually become more prominent and catch the light, highlight them as you would a cylinder. If your own are not obvious, you can usually find them by turning your head as far as possible to the side and feeling the opposite side of your neck with your fingers.

14. There is likely to be a little light picked up by the larynx and the tracheal column (H14). Make the edges of the highlight soft.

Now, if you have done your highlighting skillfully, your skull structure should be more apparent, and your flesh, in some areas, should have begun to seem more puffy and perhaps to sag. Observe yourself in a spotlight at some distance from the mirror to determine to what extent this has happened. Although the highlights ought to be stronger than you want them to be in the finished makeup (see FIGURE 11-3A), they should, nonetheless, have begun to give an effect of age.

You will notice, provided you have used a sufficiently dark foundation color, that, as a result of the contrast between it and the very light highlights, the foundation color appears darker than it actually is. As a result of this optical illusion, you will need to add less shadow color than would be required if you had used a lighter foundation color. You may, in fact, need only to deepen the shadow slightly in certain areas—the eye sockets, for example, the deepest part of the wrinkles, or the underside of the jowls. Use your shadow color sparingly. Avoid adding any more than is necessary in order to create the three-dimensional effect that you want.

15. Brush a little deep shadow into the part of the eye socket next to the nose (S15 in FIGURE 11-1), keeping the edges soft. A medium-wide brush is a good choice for this area. This shadow continues up underneath the inside edge of the browbone and fades into the crease of the eye. It may also continue down onto either side of the nose blending and fading as it nears the tip. The soft edges of this shadow should not be blended onto the front plane of the face (H12) or onto the ridge of the nose (H6). Unless the eyes are to appear sunken in, avoid the eyelid and the area marked by H3. You may choose to contour the eye by shading the inside (continuing the shading from S15) and outside (use a slightly higher value than at S15 or simply apply less color) areas of the lids.

16. Using the same color and a medium-narrow flat brush (¼ inch to ½ inch), merely suggest a shadow beginning at the root of the nasolabial fold just above S16. The edge of the shadow along the crease should be hard; the edge towards the cheek should be soft.

17. Deepen any other areas (such as those marked S in FIGURE 11-1) that obviously need deepening.

18. If you have been using creme or grease makeup, it should now be powdered. Press translucent powder into the makeup, and remove the excess with a powder brush. (Be sure to choose a translucent powder that does not darken the highlights too much.)

You may find that, although you have achieved a three-dimensional effect, the results are quite stark and unnatural. The next step, therefore, is to add a touch of rouge—not only on the cheeks, but also on the nose, on the jowls, and in some of the shadow areas. Use a natural shade of dry rouge and apply it with a rouge brush. You may even wish to add rouge around the eyes to make them look weaker. Always be very careful not to get the rouge into the eye. Look again in the mirror to see how the rouge creates the effect of blood under the skin and begins to bring your makeup to life. With every realistic makeup you do, always consider the possibility of touching shadow areas with rouge for a more lifelike effect.

If the makeup is still too white or too contrasting, the solution—not only here but in most makeups that need toning down or pulling together—is to use stippling.

STIPPLING Colors darker than the highlight and lighter than the deep shadow are usually best for stippling. Use your base color, if you like, or for a pinker effect either use a pinker color or add a stipple of rouge. If you want the foundation color more yellow, stipple with something yellowish. This is a good opportunity to experiment with different colors of stipple. In any case, stipple gently, barely touching the sponge to the face, so as to give added texture to the skin. Keep examining the results in the mirror as you go, and observe that, as you tone down the highlights, the makeup begins to lose its three-dimensional quality. It is important, therefore, to avoid over-stippling. (For more detailed instructions in stippling, see Chapter 10.)

The preceding instructions are for an exercise in modeling technique, not necessarily related to a particular character. To check the effectiveness of your modeling before you stipple, it’s a good idea to take a close-up black-and-white photograph of your makeup with an instant-picture camera, making sure that the light is coming from the direction you imagined it to be coming from when you did the makeup.

After you have studied the photograph carefully to see if the makeup looks the way you meant it to, turn it upside down and look at it again. That will help you determine how convincingly three-dimensional the modeling really looks. Then, after making any improvements you would like to, it would be a good idea, for purposes of comparison, to photograph the makeup again, both before and after it has been stippled.

The next step is to refine the approach to a makeup by making choices related to a particular character, beginning with colors for foundation, highlights, and shadows.

Foundation Colors

In selecting the foundation color (unless you already know approximately what color you want), you would do well to analyze the character as suggested in Chapter 5. On the basis of your analysis, decide first on the appropriate hue (such as red or orange), then on the value (the relative lightness or darkness of the skin color you want), and finally on the intensity (the brightness or grayness of the color). That should automatically lead you to the correct section of the color tables, and from the listings there you can select one that seems appropriate. If you do not have the color you select, choose the nearest one you do have, and mix the color you want, using the colors you have available. You may, of course, wish to choose a darker foundation color than the character would normally require in order to decrease the amount of shadow needed, as was done for the preceding exercise.

If your own skin—whether it is dark or light—is the right color for the character, then you may not need a foundation. If you choose to use one for other reasons (to cover skin blemishes, for example), it can be the color of your own skin.

Highlight Colors

Since highlights, in a realistic makeup, represent the character’s skin color seen in strong light, they will usually be of a higher value of the foundation hue. For corrective makeup they will normally be about three shades lighter and for a very subtle aging effect, a bit more. For a greater aging effect, increase the contrast between the foundation color and the highlight.

Some useful highlight colors for light-skinned performers are Mehron’s Shado-Liner #17, Ben Nye’s Ultralite and Natural Lite, Joe Blasco’s TV White, Bob Kelly’s Ivory, Kryolan’s Hilite and TV White, and in cake makeup, Mehron’s 1B and Kryolan’s TV White. Kryolan’s and Bob Kelly’s sticks for covering blemishes can be used when you prefer makeup in stick form for highlighting.

Dark-skinned actors can choose a color six to eight shades lighter than their own skin. Mehron’s Lt. Buff and Warm Honey, Ben Nye’s Soft Caramel and Ivory, Joe Blasco’s Darkskin Highlight (DH1), Kryolan’s O34 and F16, and Bob Kelly’s Medium Fair and Tantone foundation colors are good possibilities.

Highlights used in age makeups will nearly always be toned down somewhat by being stippled and should, therefore, usually be lighter—sometimes considerably lighter—than you want them to appear in the final makeup. How much they are toned down can be controlled by stippling.

Shadow Colors

Whereas shadow colors for modeling in corrective makeup are usually about three shades darker than the base, they can be many shades darker for stronger contrasts in age. They may be of the same intensity as the foundation or grayer, but they should rarely be brighter. For character makeups it is advisable to use two shadow colors—a medium one (which is applied first) and a deep one, which adds depth to the shadows. The medium shadow can be either a grayed version of the foundation color or, more often than not for light-skinned performers, a shade with more red in it than the base. In realistic makeup, shadows that are too cool for the base color tend to look dirty. If the actor is going to be wearing a red costume, more red than usual can be used in the shadows. The deep shadow should be several shades deeper in value than the medium one. Low values and intensities of Red, Scarlet-Red, Red-Scarlet, and Scarlet are the ones most commonly used for light-skinned makeup and for some Native Americans. For Asian performers, the shadow colors might have a slight olive or yellow undertone. For many darker skinned performers the need for shadow colors is minimal and in some cases simply not necessary. With heavy character makeup being the exception, the deep skin tones provide their own natural shadow effect.

There is no universal shadow color suitable for all base colors, but there are currently available ones that can be used with a number of different foundation colors. For medium shadows, Bob Kelly’s Medium Rose Shadow, Ben Nye’s Character Shadow, Joe Blasco’s Lightskin Shading #2 and Darkskin Shading #2, Kryolan’s Shadow #1, #2, and #3, and Mehron’s Mocha Rose (RC11) are especially effective. For deep shadows, Joe Blasco’s Gray-Violet, Mehron’s Smokey Taupe (RC 12), Bob Kelly’s Grey Violet (S1-17), Ben Nye’s Dark Brown, Extra Dark, and Misty Violet Shadows, and Kryolan’s Shadow #4 and #5 are all useful.

Both medium and deep gray shadow colors are also available. Any of these can, of course, be mixed with other colors to lighten them, darken them, gray them, or change the basic hue. Or you can mix your own shadow color for each makeup to go with the foundation color you’re using. If there is a shadow color of your own mixing that you find useful with various foundation colors, you might mix up a batch in a small flame-proof container and heat it over a gas flame, a candle, or an electric burner, then pour it into small containers or a palette (see Chapter 7) for future use.

If you are using cake makeup (dry or moist type) and have a shadow color that is not red enough, instead of mixing colors, as you would with creme or grease makeup, you can apply the shadow, then add red to it afterward by brushing on dry rouge as you are completing the makeup.

Now that you have experimented with highlights and shadows in restructuring the face as a whole and considered the problem of choosing colors for specific characters, the face will be divided into areas so that you can examine in detail the modeling of these areas. The five area divisions—forehead, eyes, nose, cheeks, and jaws—are diagrammed in FIGURE 11-4. Each area will then be subdivided into planes for more detailed analysis. The discussion of each area will indicate the various possible treatments of that area.

Area 1: Forehead

PLANES The forehead is divided into five planes, as shown in FIGURE 11-5. Planes A and C are the frontal and the superciliary bones; D, the temporal hollows; and B, the slight depression between the two prominences.

A simple method of aging the forehead is to highlight and shadow these planes. The two prominences, A and C, catch the light (FIGURE 11-6A and C) and should, therefore, be highlighted. The depression, B, falling between them, may be slightly shadowed. Be careful, however, in doing a realistic makeup, not to emphasize the transverse shadow too strongly. If you are using a fairly dark foundation color, you will probably not need to add any shadow at all since the foundation color, if dark enough, will itself serve as a shadow.

The highlighting can be done with a brush, a sponge, or the fingers. FIGURE 11-7 illustrates the technique that can be used with a brush. A wide or an extra-wide brush should be used. If you have only narrow brushes, then use your fingers for creme or grease makeup or a sponge for cake.

For a prominent overhanging brow, carry a strong highlight all across the front plane of the superciliary arch, rather than just over the eyebrows, and shadow deeply across the bridge of the nose to sink it in.

The temples (FIGURE 11-6D) are nearly always shadowed for age. These shadows may be barely perceptible in middle age but are usually quite pronounced in later years. The shadows tend to be more intense at the inner edge and to lighten as they approach the hair.

In placing the highlights, keep in mind the light source on the stage. With light coming from above, a strong light will fall on the upper part of the frontal bone. If there is a horizontal division approximately in the middle of your forehead (most clearly observable in profile), the area coming forward below this division will catch another strong highlight, and the area immediately above the division will be less strongly lighted. This is the area where you may or may not wish to use a very slight shadow. When there are no wrinkles to crease the skin, all edges of highlights and shadows will be soft. If you want to make the forehead more rounded or bulging, apply the highlights and shadows in a curved pattern.

WRINKLES If you want to give the effect of a wrinkled forehead, make sure that you model the wrinkles meticulously and that you follow the natural wrinkles—otherwise, you will have a double set of wrinkles when the forehead is raised. Young people who have not yet developed any natural creases and cannot form any by raising the forehead may wish to use photographs of wrinkled foreheads as a guide.

Before beginning to model forehead wrinkles, observe your own or someone else’s natural wrinkles, and with your light source from above, note where the wrinkles catch the light. Is it above or below the crease? Carefully examine photographs in your morgue and those in this chapter (especially FIGURE 11-8) to see exactly how the light pattern falls, giving the effect of a series of half cylinders. (The lower photograph shows what happens when the light source is from below.) Once you understand the principle involved, you will never make the mistake of painting wrinkles upside down, and you will always keep your hard edges crisp and clean in order to form sharp creases. Following the steps given below may be of help:

1. Using a medium flat brush with your highlight color and holding it so that the flat end of the brush lies parallel to, and barely touches, one of the natural creases in the forehead (FIGURE 11-9A), draw the brush along the crease, fading the color out at each end. Make sure the paint touches the natural crease at all times but never crosses it. It is best not to try to model wrinkles with the forehead raised, since the paint is very likely to smudge in the creases, resulting in messy edges.

2. Holding the brush in the same position (FIGURE 11-9B) and starting near but not at one end of the highlight you have just applied, move the brush along the length of the wrinkle again, almost to the end, this time pulling it downward in a series of short, vertical strokes in order to increase the width of the highlight. Be sure, however, not to make these strokes the full width you want the finished highlight to be since space must be left for blending.

3. Using a clean brush, soften the lower edge of the highlight until it blends imperceptibly into the foundation. This should be done by drawing the flat of the brush along the highlight, overlapping the edge. (See FIGURE 11-9C.) Repeat this until you have a good blend. If you blend downward, the highlight will tend to become too wide. However, highlights for forehead wrinkles are usually wider than the shadows because of the angle of the light source. If the light were coming from directly above, highlights and shadows would be the same width. But as the light source moves forward, the light area is naturally increased and the dark diminished. Observe the relative widths of highlights and shadows in FIGURE 11-8. Make sure that the ends of wrinkles, instead of being thick and blunt, are fine and delicate, disappearing imperceptibly into the foundation.

4. Since you must treat not only the wrinkles in a wrinkled forehead but the entire forehead area, highlight the superciliary arch and the frontal bone, making all edges soft.

5. Using a very narrow brush, paint a line of shadow immediately adjacent to the hard edge of the highlight (FIGURE 11-9D).

6. Following the technique described for blending the highlight in step 2, pull the shadow upward, away from the crease, keeping it narrower than the highlight. (See FIGURE 11-9E.)

7. With a clean brush, and using the technique described for softening the edge of the highlight in step 3, blend the upper edge of the shadow into the foundation color. (See FIGURE 11-9F.)

8. Check your wrinkles for roundness and depth, making sure that hard edges are strong and crisp and that soft ones fade away subtly. Check also for projection—in a spotlight, if possible—and make any necessary adjustments. Then powder— unless you are using cake makeup, in which case powdering will not be necessary.

9. Unless there are reasons for its not being done (wanting a pale and bloodless look, for example), a touch of rouge should be added to the shadows and should extend into the highlights. A small, soft brush can be used to apply the rouge. If you prefer to use moist rouge, it should be applied with a narrow shading brush before the makeup is powdered.

10. If the wrinkles look too strong and obvious, stipple the entire forehead, as illustrated in FIGURE 11-10B, with the base color or any other color or colors you consider appropriate. Using more than one color tends to give a more natural effect. Stipple carefully, watching the effect as you go so that you don’t wipe out everything you’ve done. If the stippling grays the shadows too much, you can add more rouge. If you use a red stipple, extra rouge will probably not be necessary.

In making wrinkles, you may prefer to use flat-cut pencils (see FIGURE 11-11) for applying the color. For blending the color, however, brushes should be used, though cotton swabs (FIGURE 11-12) can be substituted if a proper brush is not available.

Area 2: Eyes

No feature is more important in suggesting character than the eyes, and none can be changed in a greater variety of ways. FIGURE 11-13 illustrates a few of the changes that can be made in a single eye. For photographs of youthful eyes and eyebrows, see FIGURE 9-5; and for aged ones, FIGURES 11-16, 11-17, and 11-18. In studying these photographs, always determine the light source in the photograph and make the necessary adjustments for stage lighting.

PLANE A (FIGURE 11-14) extends forward from the eye to the bridge of the nose and is nearly always shadowed for age. It is seldom highlighted except for Oriental makeups or for counteracting heavy shadows in deepset eyes. The center of this plane is usually one of the darkest parts of the whole orbital area. (See FIGURE 11-13F.) The lower edge fades into the shadow on the side of the nose. The outer edge is soft and turns into a highlight on the bridge of the nose. The inner edge is always soft, fading into plane B. In general, the greater the age, the deeper this shadow. A medium or wide brush can be used for this area.

PLANE B is the transition area between Plane A and Plane C. The shadow colors applied to Plane A are usually lightened as they cross B and approach C.

Plane C is often rouged for youthful makeups and is usually highlighted for age makeups (FIGURE 11-15A). In old age, the skin in plane C may sag and actually cover a part of the open eye. (See FIGURE 11-16A and K.) Although we cannot do that with paint, we can approach the effect by strongly highlighting C₁ and shadowing the lower edge of C2 (FIGURE 11-14A). A medium or a wide brush can be used for C₁ and a narrow one for C₂. If the light is coming from above, the lightest part of the highlight will be nearest the eyebrow—in other words, on the superciliary bone where it forms the outer edge of the eye socket. It will gradually recede into a soft shadow as it approaches the B-C division, whether or not a fold is to be made. (See FIGURE 11-13F.)

The deepest part of the shadow is at the bottom of the area, and it turns very gradually into a highlight as it approaches C₁. The dotted line indicates only a general division of the whole plane, not a specific one. The inner edge of plane C is a definite division, however, and should be heavily shadowed if sagging flesh is to be represented. If not, then the transition to B is a gradual one.

It is usually best to use two colors for the narrow shadow that creates the impression of a fold of flesh. With the basic shading color, a medium shadow can be applied along the division between B and C and blended carefully to form two soft edges. Then the simulated crease can be deepened with a darker shadow. This deep shadow should also be lightly blended. If the whole orbital area is to appear sunken, then plane C may be shadowed rather than highlighted.

Frequently, wrinkles (commonly known as crow’s feet) cut across the outer edge of plane C₂, as in FIGURE 11-16A. If you use these wrinkles, be sure to make them true wrinkles, not lines (see discussion of forehead wrinkles). Model the wrinkles first with highlights, using a ¹/₈-inch brush or an eyeliner brush, then add the shadows with an eyeliner or a pointed Chinese brush, keeping the creases very sharp and clear.

PLANE D is the eyelid itself and may be either highlighted or shadowed. If the whole eye is to appear sunken, plane D may be shadowed; but if the eyeball itself protrudes, catching the light, D should be highlighted and the upper division between it and the other areas deeply shadowed. (See FIGURE 11-13F.) When D catches a highlight, C₁ normally does too (FIGURE 11-16B), though there may be a deep shadow between the areas.

PLANE D is sometimes highlighted in the same way for glamour makeups, with the eyeshadow used only on the lower part, close to the eye. For either age or glamour, the actor may, at times, want to create the effect of a more prominent lid than he or she has naturally. This can often be faked quite successfully with paint. (See FIGURE 16-11E.) With a medium brush and your highlight color, draw the enlarged lid on the natural eyelid in approximately the pattern shown in FIGURE 11-13F. Then, with a deep shadow, outline the new lid and, with a medium brush, shadow upward towards the eyebrow, just as you would if there were a natural crease. The secret of modeling this false eyelid convincingly is to make the shadow edge very dark so that it gives the effect of a deep crease. (See FIGURE 16-11H.) The effect is more convincing if the eye is not opened too wide.

If the character would be wearing eyeshadow, it would usually be concentrated largely on plane D, though fashion has sometimes decreed that the color be extended over the whole orbital area. In any case, for realistic plays, if the eyeshadow is supposed to be apparent, the placement and the color should be determined by what choice the character would make. Would she follow the latest fashion or would she not? (If she would, what was the latest fashion at the time?) Would she choose a conspicuous color or a conservative one? (A color that might seem conservative in one period might be conspicuous in another.) Would she take care to avoid colors that clashed with her costume or wouldn’t she? (Eyeshadow colors that do clash with the costume can be somewhat jarring and should be used only when that effect is intended.) Would she wear false eyelashes or wouldn’t she? (If she wouldn’t, don’t let the eyelashes be obviously false.)

To give the effect of weak eyes, which may accompany extreme old age, the lower part of D and all of Plane E can be rouged with a narrow brush. Using red around the eye opening tends to give an effect of age or weakness of the eyes or may indicate that the character has been crying. In using red around the eyes, apply and remove it with great care so as not to get any into the eyes. And never under any circumstances use any makeup inside the lashes, next to the eye itself. If there is a warning on any particular red makeup not to use it around the eye, use another shade of red or another form of red makeup that is not considered unsuitable for use in that area.

PLANE E is usually shadowed for age (see FIGURE 11-18F), the division between E and F usually having a fairly hard edge. Since a strong shadow under the eye (plane E) tends to add strength, it should usually not be very pronounced for extreme old age. Rouging helps give an appearance of weakness and age. As noted earlier, any red makeup this close to the eye should be applied and removed very carefully.

PLANE F is seldom shadowed in its entirety. Usually the shadow starts at the inner corner of the eye (FIGURE 11-17I), then fades out along the lower edge, never reaching the outer corner. This can be done with a single shadow color (FIGURE 11-13B, D, and F) or with two. A deep shadow color (dark brown, gray violet, or dark gray) can be added—also beginning under the inner corner of the eye but fading out sooner than the medium shadow. A medium or a medium-narrow brush can be used. (See FIGURE 11-15D.) Be careful not to shadow plane F too heavily unless you mean to suggest dissipation, illness, or lack of sleep.

The whole F plane sometimes becomes rather wrinkled (FIGURE 11-16K), and diagonal wrinkles may cut across the lower edge of F₂ on the side away from the nose (FIGURE 11-16H). These should be carefully modeled like tiny cylinders. An eyeliner brush or the narrowest available flat brush can be used. If you want plane F slightly puffy, it can be highlighted as shown in FIGURE 11-15B, using a narrow brush. This same kind of highlight is used when making a full pouch (see the following section).

The secret of shading the various planes of the eye effectively lies in a constant variation of intensity of shadow and highlight and in some variation in color. Not one of these areas should ever be flatly shadowed or flatly highlighted. You should start your shading at the point of maximum intensity, then decrease it gradually in other parts of the area. The use of two colors in the shadow and the addition of rouge can be very helpful in achieving a convincing effect.

EYE POUCHES In order to make a pouch (FIGURE 11-18), highlight F and shadow F₂, as if you were modeling a half cylinder that ended abruptly along the bottom edge of F₂ The entire lower edge of F₂ should be hard, with a deep shadow that blends up across F₂ and turns into a highlight on F1. The division between F1 and F₂ should always be a soft edge. The cheek area below the pouch will catch light coming from above and will therefore be strongly highlighted.

One of the secrets of making a convincing pouch is to keep the shadow heaviest at the bottom, where the fold of skin naturally falls, creating a deep shadow, and to let it become thinner and thinner, usually fading out almost completely before it reaches the corner of the eye (FIGURE 11-18K). The fact that these subtle variations must be made in a very small area means that pouches, in order to be convincing, should be modeled with care and precision, keeping the hard edge clean and sharp. Always use both a medium and a deep shadow, and make sure the pouches look rounded at the bottom, where the sagging skin turns under. A flatly painted shadow will look exactly like paint, not like a pouch.

If you have the beginning of a natural pouch of your own, it will be easy to determine the correct size and shape. If you do not, then you should decide on the basis of what seems to fit in best with your eye.

The following is a step-by-step procedure for modeling a relatively simple eye pouch with paint, as illustrated in FIGURE 11-18. Other pouches will require a similar technique, with some variations, depending on the particular effect desired.

1. Very carefully highlight the area around the pouch (FIGURE 11-18A), keeping the edge of the highlight next to the pouch very strong and sharp and clean. Pull the highlight away from the edge, as illustrated in FIGURE 11-18B. Then, with a clean brush, soften the lower edge of the highlight so that it disappears into the foundation color. (See FIGURE 11-18C.) This highlight should be modeled with a medium or a medium-wide flat brush. Holding the brush as shown in FIGURE 11-18A will give you a clean, sharp edge.

2. Highlight the inside of the pouch with a narrow brush, as shown in FIGURE 11-18D. If the lower lid (plane E) is going to be shadowed, the highlight can begin at the division between E and F with a definite edge. If the lower lid is puffy and becomes part of the pouch (FIGURE 11-18F), the upper edge will be immediately below the eyelashes. In either case, soften the lower edge of the highlight in order to make a gradual transition—as if you were modeling a tiny half cylinder. This can be done either by stroking it gently with a clean narrow brush or by patting it lightly with a cotton swab.

3. With a medium shadow, model the fullness at the bottom of the pouch, keeping the lower edge very clean and sharp and letting the upper edge fade out towards the highlight (FIGURE 11-18E). This fading out can be done, as with the highlight, by using either a clean narrow brush or a cotton swab. (For an alternative procedure for steps, 3 and 4, see the paragraphs following step 10.)

4. With your deepest shadow color and your smallest brush, deepen just the bottom edge (not the side edges) of the pouch (FIGURE 11-18G), then pull the paint upward slightly to soften the upper edge of the shadow. Have the courage to make this shadow extremely dark. (Note the darkness of this lower edge in FIGURE 11-16F and H.)

5. At this point you may wish to add a touch of rouge to the area between the shadow and the upper highlight, using a small brush. Or you can add the rouge later. (See step 10.)

6. If the lower lid (FIGURE 11-18E) is not actually part of the pouch itself, as in FIGURE 11-16A, it is usually shadowed. This can be done with a flat brush approximately the same width as the lower lid. It’s usually best to begin at the outer corner of the eye and brush across the lid, allowing the shadow to fade out a bit as it approaches the inner corner of the eye. (See FIGURE 11-18F.)

7. Powder the pouch with a puff, and remove excess powder with a powder brush. (If you are using cake makeup, this step will, of course, not be necessary.)

8. If the pouch looks too smooth for wrinkled skin in the rest of the face, or if the contrasts are too strong for the rest of the makeup, stipple it very carefully with your sponge.

9. The stippling should now be powdered.

10. If you have not added creme rouge in step 5, or if you have and it is not strong enough, brush the lower part of the pouch with dry rouge, using a small eyeshadow brush.

It is possible to vary this technique for modeling pouches by substituting red for the medium shadow. Highlights are applied as usual (steps 1 and 2). The variation comes in step 3. Instead of applying a medium shadow, model the area with red, bringing the color up a bit higher than you normally would for the shadow. This color can then serve as the red between the shadow and the highlight, thus eliminating step 5.

For step 4, instead of using a brush, you can, if you prefer, use a dark pencil that will be compatible in color with your deep shadow. In working with a conventionally sharpened pencil, draw your hard edge with the point, then shade with the side of the lead. With a flat-cut pencil (FIGURE 11-11B), run the sharp edge along the crease to form a hard edge, then pull the pencil upward, away from the crease, to complete the shadow in the same manner that you would use a flat brush. In shading with your pencil, decrease the pressure of the pencil as you move away from the hard edge, then blend the edge with a clean brush to soften it.

Check your morgue and the various illustrations in this book for other types of eye pouches and for ideas on aging the eyes without the use of pouches.

ASIAN EYES Because Asian eyes require very special treatment, it will be more practical to consider them separately. An examination of photographs of Asian eyes will show that they are occasionally quite slanted (FIGURE 9-5Q) and sometimes not slanted at all (FIGURES 11-17U and 11-35D).

The lid itself ordinarily disappears completely under a fold of flesh that is really an extension of planes A, B, and C in FIGURE 11-14. (See FIGURE 11-19A.) This fold overlaps the lower lid slightly at the tear duct (FIGURE 11-19B). It is this epicanthic fold that is particularly characteristic of people of Asian descent. Sometimes there is also an overlap at the outer corner of the eye (FIGURE 11-19C).

One of the most striking characteristics of Asian eyes is the flatness of the orbital area. Because the eye itself is prominent and the bridge of the nose is not built up, the dip between the two (plane A) is likely to be relatively slight (FIGURE 11-19D).

If the Asian eye is to be achieved with paint alone, it is usually necessary to highlight the entire orbital area, and especially plane A, in order to bring the eye forward and counteract the natural shadows. Sometimes there is a slightly puffy effect in plane E (FIGURE 11-19). If you wish to create this effect you can model it as a pouch or as a transverse wrinkle with the usual shadow and highlight.

In addition to the highlighting, two small shadows are necessary. One is a crescent-shaped shadow at the tear duct, which gives the illusion of the epican-thic fold. This shadow must be precisely placed, as shown in FIGURE 11-13E. The second shadow is placed on the outer third of the upper lid and may extend very little beyond the eye. For women who would be using makeup, a slight upward curve to this shadow is often effective.

The eyebrows normally are slanted slightly upward or are rather short and relatively straight. Instead of following the eye downward in a curve, as is usual for youthful brows in Caucasians (FIGURE 11-13A), Asian brows may taper off quite abruptly at the ends (FIGURE 11-13E). There are, however, variations. (See FIGURES 9-5Q, and 11-19.) For aged Asian eyes, see FIGURE 11-20.

For Caucasian eyes that do not adapt easily to this painting technique, three-dimensional makeup (Chapter 12) may be required.

Asians who wish to play Caucasians can shadow plane A, simulate a tear duct with makeup, using a touch of red for the mucous membrane, and extend their eyebrows downward (FIGURE 11-13A). They may or may not find it necessary to highlight planes B and C and shadow the division between them. Slanting eyes, unless they are very pronounced, are not always a problem, for Caucasian eyes are sometimes slanted. But if they are a problem, the slant can be counteracted to some extent by bringing the shadow at the outer corner of the eye downward instead of upward.

Eyebrows

Changing the eyebrows for corrective makeup has been dealt with in Chapter 9. But besides having the potential for making the face more attractive, eyebrows provide a particularly useful means of characterization. FIGURE 11-13 illustrates a few such changes that can be made with an eyebrow pencil, paint, and an eyebrow brush in order to age the eye as well as to suggest character. (See also FIGURE 11-21.)

Using the eyebrows to suggest character can be just as important in makeups for youth as for age. FIGURE 5-3, for example, shows a straight (not a corrective) makeup with no changes for character. In B and C the eyebrows and the eyeshadowing have been changed—not to improve the face or to age it but to create a look more appropriate for a specific character. In this case, the principles of optical illusions for making eyes appear farther apart and closer together (see FIGURE 9-3) have been used. Note how the general look of the face has been altered as a result of this relatively simple change. Note also what character impressions each change creates.

In determining what you want to do with the eyebrows for characters of any age, it’s a good idea to manipulate the natural eyebrows with your fingers, as previously suggested in Chapter 9 and illustrated in FIGURE 11-22, in order to help determine the effect on the face of different eyebrow shapes and positions. Unless your eyebrows (or those of your subject) are unusually adaptable, you might do well to add hair to them, cover them completely with additional hair, or block them out (FIGURE 11-23) by one of the methods suggested below or others you may devise. If part of the natural brow can be used, you may prefer to block out only the part that needs to be eliminated, as was done in FIGURE 11-13E, for example.

In blocking out the brows, the problem is twofold—to flatten the hairs against the skin so that they will stay down for the duration of the performance and to cover the flattened hairs by some method that will conceal their color, using a flesh tone to match the rest of the skin.

BLOCKING OUT WITH SOAP In soaping, rub a moistened bar of soap repeatedly over the brows, which must be free of grease, until they are flattened down (FIGURE 11-24A.) In flattening the brows, spread the hairs with a fine-tooth comb, as shown in FIGURE 11-26B. When they are dry, cover them with creme foundation or with rubber-mask grease. Make very sure that you blend the paint carefully into the skin at the edge to prevent the outline of the brows from becoming obvious when the makeup is finished. Then press powder into the paint and remove the excess with a powder brush. If the brows still show through, add alternate layers of paint and powder until they are effectively blocked out. If the brows are heavy, one or more coats of plastic sealer can be applied over the dried soap. For firm adhesion, be sure to spread the sealer beyond the soaped area. Apply the makeup over the dried sealer. Unless the brows are very light, soaping is probably the least satisfactory method of covering them, since with this method the hairs are more likely to loosen during a performance, allowing the brows to become visible. The brows in FIGURE 19-3 have been soaped out.

BLOCKING OUT WITH SPIRIT GUM A more effective method than soaping is to flatten the hairs with spirit gum. Brush the gum well into the brows, comb the hairs upward at an angle onto the forehead, then when the gum is very tacky, press the brows down with a damp cloth so that they will lie flat and give as smooth a surface as possible. When the spirit gum is dry, it should be covered with sealer in order to keep the paint from loosening the gum. Rubber mask grease, greasepaint, or creme stick can then be stippled over the brow, using more than one coat if necessary. Cake makeup should not be used; it will not adhere properly to sealer.

The spirit gum can be removed with alcohol or spirit-gum remover or, if necessary, with acetone. Be very careful, however, not to let the liquid run down into the eyes. The safest procedure is to dampen cotton or a cloth with the remover, then bend over so that the eyebrow is lower than the eye before removing the spirit gum. Or you can use a makeup remover that will remove both makeup and spirit gum. (See Makeup Removers in Appendix A.)

BLOCKING OUT WITH WAX You can also mat the brows down with derma wax or, preferably, with Kryolan’s stick of Eyebrow Plastic (FIGURE 11-26A), blending the wax carefully into the skin at the edges, then covering it with one or two coats of sealer. If the brows are very heavy, it may help if you flatten them with spirit gum and let it dry before applying the wax, in order to help keep the wax from loosening. In flattening them, spread the hairs with a comb (FIGURE 11-26B). After the sealer over the wax is dry, makeup can be applied. Rubber-mask greasepaint gives the best coverage.

BLOCKING OUT WITH PLASTIC FILM Eyebrows can also be blocked out by covering them with plastic film (see Appendix A). These are the steps involved:

1. Prepare the plastic film by painting liquid plastic (see Appendix A) on glass (FIGURE 11-25A) or any smooth surface, such as formica, that will not be affected by the plastic, or on the outside of a grapefruit (FIGURE 11-25C), an orange, or even a large lemon. For eyebrow covers, the fruit is preferable since it gives a simulated skin texture. The plastic can be applied with a brush (FIGURE 11-25A), an orangewood stick (FIGURE 11-25C), or a glass rod. Using a rod or an orangewood stick saves cleaning the brush. Three coats of the plastic should be sufficient. Each coat should be thoroughly dry before another coat is applied. In order to avoid trimming, paint the plastic on the glass or the fruit in the shape and size required to cover the eyebrow, overlapping it all around.

2. When the plastic is dry, powder it, then lift one end with tweezers or a fingernail. Powder the underside as you pull it up (FIGURE 11-25B and D).

3. Cover the eyebrow with eyebrow paste, derma wax, or spirit gum (FIGURE 11-26A). Then comb the brow upward (FIGURE 11-26B), spread the hairs, and press them flat against the skin.

4. Press powder into the flattened brows (FIGURE 11-26C). If the brows are dark, it may be helpful to stipple the brows with a little makeup. Confine the makeup to the brows, and keep it off the surrounding skin. If grease or creme makeup has been used for this stippling, powder again.

5. Apply spirit gum to the skin around the brow (FIGURE 11-26D) or to the plastic piece, then very carefully lay the plastic piece over the brow (FIGURE 11-26E), making sure there are no wrinkles or rippling of the edges. Press the plastic down firmly with a damp sponge.

6. Using a small brush dipped in acetone, go over the edges of the plastic (FIGURE 11-26F) in order to dissolve them and blend the plastic into the skin. (If you are going to apply three-dimensional eyebrows—crepe hair or real hair ventilated on lace—it should be done at this point.)

7. Stipple your makeup (rubber-mask greasepaint gives the best coverage) over the plastic and onto the skin area around it (FIGURE 11-26G), then powder, pressing the powder into the makeup with a puff. Remove the excess powder with a powder brush (FIGURE 11-26H). If the makeup is not covering adequately, stipple on more makeup, then powder again.

8. Stipple your makeup (rubber-mask greasepaint gives the best coverage) over the plastic and onto the skin area around it (FIGURE 11-26G), then powder, pressing the powder into the makeup with a puff. Remove the excess powder with a powder brush (FIGURE 11-26H). If the makeup is not covering adequately, stipple on more makeup, then powder again.

PAINTED EYEBROWS In addition to coloring the natural brows and filling out and reshaping them with pencil, it is possible to pencil or paint certain types of eyebrows over natural brows that have been blocked out. (See FIGURES 11-23, 11-24.) If the penciling is to give the illusion of natural hairs, it should be carefully done with short, light, sketchy strokes in order to avoid a flat, painted look.

CREPE-HAIR EYEBROWS Crepe hair can be added to the natural brows or applied over brows that have already been blocked out. When using hair to fill out the natural brows, add a few hairs at a time, touching the ends with spirit gum and putting them in place with a pair of tweezers. The added hairs can be trimmed after the spirit gum has dried.

When the brows are to be blocked out with spirit gum, crepe hair can be attached to the whole spirit-gummed brow or to any part of it while the gum is still tacky. In fact, if any part of the natural brow is to be covered by a false brow of at least equal thickness, it is usually best to attach the crepe hair, a few hairs at a time, directly to the gummed area rather than to apply the whole false brow over a blocked-out one. The makeup to cover any exposed part of the natural brow can be applied after the false brow is securely in place.

For natural-looking crepe-hair eyebrows, it is usually best to mix at least two colors. If you want the hair to have a natural sheen, you can apply a small amount of brilliantine, hair dressing, petroleum jelly, or even cold cream to the surface of the brows. If you want smooth, neat-looking brows, comb very carefully, pull out loose hairs, and trim away scraggly ones. Further instructions for using crepe hair can be found in Chapter 14.

VENTILATED EYEBROWS When false eyebrows are to be used for a number of performances, real or synthetic hair ventilated on lace is more satisfactory than crepe hair. Instructions for ventilating are given in Chapter 14.

AGING THE EYEBROWS In aging the eyebrows, first decide exactly what effect you want, then determine how that can best be achieved. The brows may take a variety of forms. They may be sparse (FIGURE 11-17E and K), irregular (FIGURE 11-16K), bushy (FIGURE 11-16E), or overhanging (FIGURE 11-16L). They may be wide (FIGURE 11-17D), narrow (FIGURE 11-17M), thick (FIGURE 11-17D), or thin (FIGURE 11-17K). But in suggesting age they should never look plucked unless that is really appropriate for the character.

Eyebrows can be aged quickly, when that is necessary, by running a white stick liner, white creme stick, or stick hair whitener through them against the direction of hair growth (FIGURE 11-13B). This can also be done with clown white, cake makeup, white mascara, or shoe polish (not recommended).

Area 3: Nose

If the nose tends to flatten out under lights or if it is to be altered in appearance for either corrective or character requirements, it will need a certain amount of remodeling. The nose area has seven planes (FIGURE 11-25).

PLANE A is the very small depression usually found, except in the classic nose, between the superciliary arch and the nose. It is shadowed for age and usually contains one to three vertical wrinkles (FIGURES 11-16A and D, and 11-41H). The two appearing at the inner ends of the eyebrows have their inception in plane A of the eye socket (area 2) and usually become narrower as they continue upward (FIGURE 11-37). The center wrinkle may be narrow at both ends and wider in the middle. These are the frowning wrinkles and if made rather deep, they will lend severity to the facial expression. Like all facial wrinkles, they should follow the actor’s natural ones if there are any. Painted wrinkles must never conflict with an actor’s natural wrinkles—including those that appear when the actor smiles or frowns.

PLANE B is the prominent part of the nose and is highlighted both in indicating age and in sharpening and narrowing the nose. If the nose is too long, the lower end of the plane can be left the base color or lightly shadowed (FIGURE 11-29B) as indicated for corrective makeup. The width of the highlight will largely determine the apparent width of the nose. (See FIGURE 11-29.) If the nose is too sharp and needs to be broadened or flattened, plane B can be left the base color or lightly shadowed. If the tip is to be broadened or rounded slightly without the use of prosthesis, it can be done by rounding and broadening the highlight (FIGURE 11-29A). Applying and blending the highlight on plane B is illustrated in FIGURE 11-28A and B.

The effect of a broken nose can be achieved by giving the illusion of a crook or a curve in plane B. (See FIGURE 11-29D, 11-30.) This is done by using not only a crooked or a curved highlight to reshape plane B but also shadows to counteract the natural highlights on those parts of plane B which should not be prominent on the crooked or broken nose. In FIGURE 11-30, for example, A represents a normal nose, and B, C, and D show three possible shapes that could be created by the application of highlights and shadows to the nose in A.

Once you have decided on the shape you want, this is the procedure:

1. Using a flat shading brush of the width the highlighted area is to be, paint a strong highlight on plane B to create the shape you want for the new nose. Drawings B, C, and D in FIGURE 11-30 are diagrammatic representations of two possible broken or crooked noses that could be created with highlights and shadows on the nose in drawing A. Note that in no case does the highlight extend beyond plane B into plane C. Any extension of the highlight onto the sides of the nose (plane C) would result in part of the highlight’s disappearing whenever the head was turned at more than a very slight angle. The edges of the highlight should, of course, be slightly softened.

2. The three shaded areas in FIGURE 11-30B and D and the two in C show the correct placement of the shadows for the noses illustrated. The purpose of the shadows is to counteract those natural highlights that would destroy the illusion of the crooked nose. In other words, the shadowed areas are supposed to look as though they are part of the side of the nose. To work effectively they must be fairly dark and be confined to plane B. They must not extend into plane C. Since any part that did extend into plane C would not be receiving as much light as the part on plane B, the part that extended would seem darker than the rest of the shadow and would tend to destroy the illusion. All edges of the shadow should be softened and blended into the highlight on one side and into the foundation on the other. To check the effectiveness of the illusion, look at the nose in a mirror with a spotlight on the face from at least several feet away. This particular illusion should always be checked at a distance—in a spotlight, if possible—to determine how effective it really is.

3. Unless you are using a water-base makeup, powder the nose, making certain that the shadows do not shine. If they do, the illusion will be destroyed. And keep checking from time to time throughout the performance. A real broken nose can be straightened by reversing this procedure, as explained in Chapter 9.

PLANE C is nearly always shadowed for age. For realistic makeups, the edges between planes B and C, as well as the outer edges of plane C, must always be soft. If the nose tends to flatten out under light, as it sometimes does in youthful makeups, plane C can be subtly shadowed to give the nose greater depth.

PLANE D may be shadowed with plane C, especially if the nares are too wide, but usually a highlight on the upper part of the nare, as in FIGURE 11-28D, will give the nose more form. To widen the nares, highlight plane D (see FIGURE 11-28C and D). To make the nostrils appear larger, outline them with a black eyebrow pencil. (See FIGURE 11-31.)

PLANE E is usually shadowed for age, but the fact that it receives only reflected light from the floor and sometimes a little from the footlights, if there are any, means that it is automatically in natural shadow. Carrying the highlight from plane B down into E will give the nose a droopy effect.

Area 4: Cheeks

The use of rouge for cheeks and lips will depend on the natural skin pigmentation and on whether natural or artificial coloring is being represented. For creating natural coloring in the cheeks for youth, avoid rouges that are either too purple or too orange. The lighter values are easier to control than the deeper ones. The SR, RS, S, and FS shades from 6 to 12 (a, b, and sometimes c or d intensity) are useful for lightskinned women, and RS10-d, RS-11-b, FS-9-b or similar shades are effective for light-skinned men. Dark-skinned female performers will often choose a rouge color of high intensity that is not too blue or too orange (this often depends upon the color of the costume). While subtle shades may be appropriate for print work and on film, they will simply dissappear on stage. The R, SR, RS, and S shades from 12 to 16 and all in b intensity should be appropriate. Study people to determine the natural placement. There is a great deal of variation. Rouge may be high or low, near the ear or near the nose, confined to a small area, or spread over most of the cheek. Note also other areas of the face—such as nose, forehead, and chin—that may show some color. For all performers, a touch of rouge in these areas can increase the realism of the makeup.

In representing street makeup, ask yourself what color the character might choose, how much she would use, and where she would place it. Would she follow the fashions or be ultraconservative? Might she use too much or none at all? Would she apply it carefully or carelessly? Might she notice whether it clashed with her dress, or wouldn’t she care?

In other words, the problem of the addition of artificial coloring should be considered from the point of view of the character, since it is, after all, a choice over which she (or sometimes he) presumably has control. But remember one thing above all—if a character would not be wearing makeup, it is your responsibility to not let her look as if she is.

MODELING As you have already discovered in the study of facial anatomy, the cheekbone (FIGURE 11-33) is rounded, so that when light is coming from above (the usual assumption in makeup for the stage), the upper part of the bone receives strong light, whereas the lower part, which curves downward and inward, does not receive direct light and therefore appears considerably darker. This means that in modeling the cheeks for age or to achieve the effect of prominent cheekbones in youth, the cheekbone should be highlighted and the hollow below it shadowed. (See FIGURE 11-35E.) The following is a step-by-step procedure for modeling the cheekbone:

1. First, prod the bone (as you have done before in the study of anatomy) in order to find the underside of the bone that curves back in and does not receive direct light. Then, with a medium or a medium-wide brush, lay on a strip of highlight along the top of the bone (FIGURE 11-34A), making sure that it is actually on top of the bone, where light from above would hit most strongly, and not on the side of the bone, which would be strongly highlighted only if light were coming from the side. With a clean brush, blend the upper edge out so that it disappears into the foundation, and very carefully soften the lower edge as if you were modeling a cylinder.

2. With a medium or a medium-wide brush, lay on the shadow color along the lower half of the cheekbone, (FIGURE 11-34), taking care to leave a space between the shadow and the highlight above.

3. With a clean brush, soften the lower edge of the shadow, which should now blend into plane B of the diagram in FIGURE 11-32. Then very carefully soften the upper edge of the shadow so that there is a gradual transition from the light (A₁) to the dark (A₂). Avoid a definite line between the two.

4. Natural modeling of the cheeks for a woman can be accomplished by the careful placement of a dry or creme rouge in a lower value or of a higher intensity than the foundation just under the cheekbone. This will serve to add color to the cheek and contour to the face. Adding a brown contour, if not carefully blended, can often make the face appear dirty.

How much the cheek sinks in and how prominent the bone is will depend on the intensity of the highlight and the shadow. For youthful makeups the contrast may be fairly subtle. For age makeups it may be relatively strong.

The treatment of plane B varies considerably with individuals. The area just below the cheekbone usually catches a little light (FIGURE 11-35E), and the bottom of that area will, of course, be in shadow as it curves around the jawbone. But in between, various things may happen. Study some of the faces in FIGURE 11-35 and in your own morgue. Then analyze your own face, or the one you’re working on, in order to determine what treatment is likely to work best, making sure it is suitable for the character. If it isn’t, you may have to compromise between the ideal cheek you have in mind and the specific potential of the face you’re making up.

Placed just under the cheekbone, cheek color can also perform as contour shading when the color is lower in value or of a higher intensity than the foundation.

Nasolabial Folds

Plane C includes the nasolabial folds—the wrinkles running from either side of the nose downward to the mouth. These folds vary considerably in form and development. (See FIGURES 11-35, 11-36.) Each one has one hard edge and one soft edge. Wherever there is a crease in the flesh, as there is in the nasolabial fold, a hard edge is automatically formed (FIGURE 11-37E). Outward from this crease, the shadow lightens (FIGURE 11-37B) and turns gradually into a highlight as the crest of the fold is reached (FIGURE 11-37A, A’). Here is one possible technique of application:

1. With a medium or a medium-wide flat brush, starting near the inner corner of the eye, bring a stripe of highlight down along the fleshy area between the nose and the cheekbone (see FIGURE 11-38A). The upper edge of the highlight, falling along part of plane F₂ (FIGURE 11-14) of the orbital area, should be kept fairly hard. The width and the conformation of this highlight will depend, of course, on the type of nasolabial fold you have in mind, which must, in turn, be related to the face of which it is a part. If the fold is to be full at the nostril and taper off into nothing near the mouth, the highlight will follow a similar pattern. It will become not only narrower and closer to the crease as it moves downward but also less strong so that at its lower end it may simply disappear into the foundation. This can be done in a single stroke by twisting your brush as you go down in order to narrow the stripe and also by using less and less pressure. Other types of nasolabial folds will, of course, require different conformations of the highlight. These you can work out through observation and experimentation.

2. With a clean brush, blend the lower inside edge of the highlight (see FIGURE 11-38B) and the part of the upper outside edge which does not fall alongside plane F₂ of the orbital area.

Note: You may prefer to begin your nasolabial fold with step 3 instead of step 1, in which case steps 1 and 2 should be done following step 5.

3. Begin by smiling into the mirror to locate the crease of the fold on your own face. Relax the smile. With the edge of the flat medium brush, pick up a small amount of highlight. Remember to regularly sharpen or flatten the tip of your brush by lightly drawing the edge across the makeup, mixing palette, or the back of your hand, first on one side then the other. Now, while holding the brush at right angles to the natural crease in the skin and the ends of the bristles butting up against the crease, as in FIGURE 11-38C, paint a fine arching line downward along the crease, leaving a narrow stripe of strong highlight. It should begin along the side of the nare and end near the mouth. Make sure that the outer edge of the stripe coincides exactly with the crease and does not overlap it. This is your hard edge, and it must be kept sharp and crisp.

4. Starting with a clean brush at the top of the crease, pull the brush away from the crease, this time letting the highlight fade out as it leaves the crease (FIGURE 11-38D). Repeat this movement until you have gone the entire length of the crease.

5. Repeat the same horizontal strokes once more (FIGURE 11-38E), this time fading the highlight imperceptibly before it reaches the center of the lip. Additional strokes can be made for proper blending.

Note: If you chose to begin your fold with step 3 instead of step 1, steps 1 and 2 should be done now.

6. Using a medium flat brush held at right angles to the crease, with the ends of the bristles butting against it (the same way as in step 1, but from the opposite direction), paint in a narrow arching stripe of medium shadow color (FIGURE 11-38F), tapering it as you go down. The lower end should fade away into nothing. The inside edge of this stripe must follow exactly the hard edge of the highlight, barely touching it but never overlapping it. (Instead of a shadow color here, you may wish to substitute red, carrying it out farther beyond the crease than you would the shadow, as was suggested in the instructions for modeling eye pouches. If you do this, the deep shadow—step 7—will be somewhat wider than indicated in the instructions.)

7. With a clean, narrow brush, soften the outside edge of the stripe by pulling it away from the crease (FIGURE 11-38G) so that it blends imperceptibly into the foundation. There should be just a little of the foundation color showing as a middle tone between the highlight and the shadow. Wipe your brush and soften the outside edge of the shadow by overlapping it with the brush, held parallel to the crease (see FIGURE 11-38H), and moving the brush downward the entire length of the shadow.

8. With your narrowest flat brush and a deep shadow color, go over the hard inside edge of the medium shadow, fading it out at the bottom. (This is a repetition of step 6, using a deeper shadow color and a narrower brush.)

9. Wipe your brush and, barely touching the outer edge of the deep shadow, soften it along its entire length. (This is a repetition of the technique in step 7 but without carrying the shadow so far from the crease.) (If you have used red instead of a medium shadow for step 6, you will need to make this deep shadow wider.) You should now have a sharp, clean edge with a strong contrast between light and dark.

10. In order to give the fold an even more threedimensional effect, extend a touch of light or medium shadow downward from the eye pouch along the highlight. Observe this shadow in FIGURE 11-35A, for example.

11. If the fold seems well modeled but too strong, stipple it with your foundation color or with any other color or colors you think would be helpful. (See Chapter 10.) Be very careful to avoid overstippling and, as a result, losing the threedimensional quality of your fold.

12. Unless the character the actor is playing is to be very sickly, some red should be added to the fold. There may be only a little, or there may be a great deal. Observe people for amount and placement. The red can be applied after powdering by brushing on dry rouge or by stippling on creme rouge with a black stipple sponge. If you are also stippling with other colors, you can add the red at the same time. However, after the stipple is powdered, you can still add additional red, if you want to, by brushing with dry rouge.

The preceding instructions are intended for one specific form of nasolabial fold but can easily be adapted to other forms—narrow at the top and wider at the bottom (FIGURE 11-35F), narrow at the top and bottom and wider in the middle (FIGURE 11-36L), short (FIGURE 11-35K), full and puffy (FIGURES 11-35A and 11-36F), or long and sharply defined and sometimes joined to other wrinkles (FIGURE 11-35G). For folds that curve outward at the bottom and form what are usually called apple cheeks, see the following discussion.

APPLE CHEEKS The term as used here refers not to enormous fat cheeks, no matter how apple-like they may be, but to a nasolabial fold that spreads out and turns into a ball of flesh centered around the knob of the cheekbone. (See FIGURE 11-35I.) The nasolabial fold begins as usual, sharp and clear, but very narrow at the top and widening as it goes down. As the fold turns outward, the crease disappears and the shadow becomes quite wide, so that in essence you are painting a small sphere. In fact, one of the best ways of beginning the apple cheek is to smile as broadly as possible, then place a spot of highlight on the most prominent part of the round fleshy area that is formed. This highlight will usually be centered on the ball of the cheekbone under the eye. Then, using a wide brush and a medium shadow, paint in the shadow area as if you were modeling a sphere. Starting with the brush in the crease of the nasolabial fold, sweep down from the nostril, following the natural crease until it turns towards the chin. Then move away from the nose, around the ball of the cheek, and into the shadow under the cheekbone. This will give you a very narrow shadow at the beginning and a wide one on the lower part of the “apple.” The top edge of this shadow should be very soft and fade imperceptibly into the foundation. The bottom edge gradually softens as it moves away from the nose. (See FIGURES 11-39 and 11-58B.)

Apple cheeks will look more apple-like with a generous touch of rouge. They are not invariably red, but more often than not there is some color. The red can either be substituted for the medium shadow or be brushed on with dry rouge after the modeling has been completed and powdered. Stippling can also be used to redden the cheeks, provided you also want to add texture. In applying dry rouge, start at the nostril and brush downward and outward, following the form of the sphere but usually keeping the stronger color near the nose. You may want a little rouge on the nose as well.

Jawline

PLANE D of area 4 is the mandible, or jawbone. One of the most effective ways of adding age to the youthful face is to create the illusion of sagging jowls. The correct placement of the jowls can usually be determined by gently squeezing the flesh of the jaw between the fingers to see where it creases naturally or by pulling back the chin and turning the head in various ways until creases or bulges appear. (See FIGURE 16-5B.) It is also possible to estimate the usual position from photographs in FIGURES 11-36G, 11-35E and K, and 11-42.

The point at which the front and back areas of sagging flesh meet can nearly always be located by pressing the thumb or a finger upward somewhat beyond the middle of the jaw until you locate an indentation in the bone. This will be the correct point for ending the front sag and beginning the back one.

There are too many possible variations in jaws and sagging muscles at the jawline for us to give precise instructions for modeling that will fit every case, but general principles can be adapted and applied to individual faces. In any case, this is the procedure for modeling one particular kind of jowl:

1. Using a wide brush, sweep the highlight color down from the ear, around the curve in the jawbone, then up (see FIGURE 11-43A). This upward curve will take place at the indentation in the jawbone described above. Then sweep the brush in another wide arc along the lower part of the jawbone, leaving a small triangle of the foundation color showing at the point where the second arc begins. (See FIGURE 11-43B.) The second arc should end at the point you have already determined. A third and smaller arc starts at this point and then becomes part of the chin highlight. (See FIGURE 11-43B.)

2. Using a wide brush, fade the top edge of the highlight upward into the cheek area (FIGURE 11-43C).

3. Using a clean brush, soften the lower edge of the highlight. (See FIGURE 11-43D.)

4. Using a medium highlight, make two small triangles just below the two points at which the arcs of the jawline highlights meet. These triangles should have fairly hard edges along the two diagonal sides and a very soft edge along the bottom. FIGURE 11-43E and F shows the first triangle. Be sure to leave enough space to add a shadow between the main jawline highlights and the little triangles.

5. Using a medium-narrow brush (FIGURE 11-43G), paint a medium shadow beneath the large highlight and above the small triangular ones, touching the lower highlight but not the upper one. Because this represents the underside of the sagging flesh, which would normally be in shadow, it should be modeled like a cylinder with the upper edge fading into the highlight. The lower edge can be softened slightly with a clean narrow brush, or it can be left hard (see FIGURE 11-43H).

6. In order to increase the three-dimensional quality of the fold of flesh above the two triangles, darken the lower edge of the fold with a deep shadow color (FIGURE 11-43I), then soften the upper edges of this shadow with a clean brush. The lower edge can also be softened slightly but need not be. The jowls should now appear to be three-dimensional.

7. A more realistic effect can usually be achieved by adding a touch of rouge. (See FIGURE 11-43K.) This can be done after powdering by stippling with creme rouge or brushing on dry rouge.

8. Stipple with one or more colors, then powder. (See FIGURE 11-43L and M.)

With some faces, there may be a deep vertical crease cutting up from the jawline across the cheek. This varies with the individual, but this is the basic technique:

1. With a medium-wide brush, sweep a highlight down from the upper plane of the chin to the bottom of the jawline, then back up in a small curve (FIGURE 11-44A). Blend both edges.

2. Locate any natural or potential crease in the flesh. This can usually be done either by squeezing the flesh together or by twisting the head around until a crease forms. Note that with light coming from the front, the roll of flesh behind the crease will catch the light; highlight this area, as shown in FIGURE 11-44B. The lower part of the highlight should be rounded to give a sagging effect. The crease edge will, of course, be hard and the other edges soft.

3. With your highlight, make another sag (C) at the turn of the jawbone. Soften all edges.

4. Using a medium shadow, make an arc (D) under the first highlight, carrying it up along the crease (E). This crease edge will be hard, the others soft. Both shadow and highlight should fade out before reaching the cheekbone.

5. Add two more areas of shadow (F and G) under the two remaining highlight areas, softening the top edge. The bottom edge may be semi-hard or slightly softened. In the illustration (FIGURE 11-44) the area towards the chin is semi-hard, whereas farther back it is slightly softer. Note the very dark triangle of shadow just below the crease in area F. Sagging muscles in the neck (FIGURE 11-43H) can contribute to the effectiveness of the sagging jawline.

In aging the jawline, it is often helpful, especially with youthful actors, to work from within as well as without. A small bit of sponge (either foam rubber or natural silk) can be placed between the lower jaw and the cheek to make the cheek protrude. Absorbent cotton or cleansing tissues can also be used. Naturally, the sponge must be sanitary. A new sponge or a sponge that is reserved for this purpose, and for the one individual, should be used, and whether new or not, it should be sterilized before use. The exact size and shape can be determined by experimentation, starting with a slightly oversize piece and cutting it down. Once the pieces are cut to the right size, they can be preserved for future use. They should be thoroughly washed and dried after each wearing and kept in a tightly covered box or jar.

The actor may object at first to sponges in the mouth, but it is not difficult to adjust to them. They do not interfere with articulation or projection, though they may change the quality of the voice slightly.

For a greater effect of puffiness in the cheeks, as well as in the jowls (as for the aged Victoria, for example), a large piece of sponge or cotton can be used. It would be well to start with an entire small or medium-size sponge and then cut it down as much as necessary. The larger the sponge, of course, the more uncomfortable it is likely to be and the more difficulty it is likely to cause for the actor. If sponges are to be used at all, they must be used for a number of rehearsals to enable the actor to become accustomed to them. No actor can be expected to go through a dress rehearsal, let alone a performance, with a mouth unexpectedly full of sponges. Studying people and photographs of people and modeling sagging jaw lines in clay before modeling them in paint can be very helpful.

Area 5: Mouth and Chin

This area includes seven planes (FIGURE 11-45). When there are well-developed nasolabial folds, the outer edge of plane A is always hard (FIGURE 11-37E). The highlight (FIGURE 11-37D) decreases in intensity as it approaches plane B, which may or may not be shadowed.

Depending on the natural formation of the actor’s upper lip, it is sometimes possible to model the areas A, B, and C in such a way that areas A and B appear to curve outward, with area C sinking in, as if the character had no upper teeth. This can be done by modeling the areas like a horizontal cylinder—strongly highlighting the upper part of areas A and B, then letting the highlight fade into a medium shadow on the lower part of A and B and into a deep shadow on area C.

Conversely, the upper lip can be made to seem to protrude by highlighting the lower part of plane A and fading the highlight upward into the foundation color as it approaches the nose.

The treatment given the lips for a specific character can be analyzed on the basis of color, size, shape, and texture.

LIP COLOR In deciding on the color for the lips, determine first whether you are representing natural lips or painted ones. If natural, then choose a color that will look natural on stage. What that color is to be will probably depend on the character’s age, race, sex, and state of health. In any case, it should relate to the color you have already chosen for the rouge, if any.

If the character’s lips would be painted, the decision will be made in terms of what lip coloring she would choose to wear and how heavily she would apply it. Fashion may or may not be a factor; personal taste or lack of it certainly would be. Normally the lip coloring will match the rouge unless the character would be likely to mismatch them or unless the lips would be painted and the cheeks natural (in which case, the color might or might not match.) Lip makeup is usually applied with a flat sable brush.

SIZE OF LIPS The size of the lips (both width and thickness) will depend to some extent on the actor’s own lips and how much they can be changed. For a realistic makeup, a very narrow mouth, for example, cannot successfully be made into a very wide one, but a wide one can sometimes be narrowed. The techniques for changing the apparent size of the lips have already been discussed as part of corrective makeup in Chapter 9.

RESHAPING THE LIPS Reshaping the lips may or may not involve a change of size. It will involve either changing the apparent natural shape to fit the character (FIGURE 11-47) or painting on a new shape as the character might. The reshaping by the character would presumably be intended either to produce what she considered a more becoming shape or to follow a particular fashion, such as the bee-stung lips of the twenties or the Joan Crawford mouth of the thirties.

LIP TEXTURE Observe in FIGURE 11-48 the variations in lip texture, which have to do largely with age, environment, and health. In youth the texture is usually smooth, but later in life, depending on the condition of the skin generally, the lips may be rough, cracked, or wrinkled. It is, therefore, important in aging youthful faces that the lips be aged as well. (See FIGURE 11-46B.) This caution is based on observation of too many makeups in which youthful lips in a wrinkled face have destroyed the believability of an otherwise effective makeup. Suggestions for aging the lips are given below.

AGING THE LIPS In addition to causing changes in texture, aging and changes inside the mouth (loss of teeth or wearing of false ones) can bring about changes in shape, size, and general conformation of the mouth. Lips are likely to become thinner (FIGURE 11-41B, G, M and J), and they may be cut by numerous vertical wrinkles, as in FIGURE 11-41H and I.

If the mouth is to be wrinkled, it is helpful to make it smaller and, if possible, thinner—unless, of course, it is already small and thin. Thinner lips can be accomplished by first applying foundation to both lips along with the rest of the face, then powder. Shape the lips by lining them with a natural lip tone on the bottom and a slightly darker shade on the top. After filling in the lips, blot with a tissue to remove any excess oil (if creme foundation is used). The lips should now be pursed tightly and gently stippled with a natural highlight. When the lips are relaxed the wrinkle effect will appear.

Painted on wrinkles can be accomplished with a narrow brush, modeling the wrinkles carefully and using strong highlights with very narrow, deep shadows to form deep creases. Be sure that each highlight has one hard edge and that the hard edge is very sharp and clean. (See FIGURE 11-49.) If the wrinkles are too strong, they can be toned down by stippling. The important thing is to make them convincingly threedimensional.

The most effective changes in texture can best be accomplished with three-dimensional makeup (see Chapter 12). But in using paint, you can stipple the lips or break the smoothness of the outline with wrinkles. The stippling is done along with that of the rest of the face, using the same colors. The lips should already have been reshaped, and if there are wrinkles cutting into the lip area, they should also have been done before the stippling.

In addition to the lips, the area around the mouth should also be aged. In old age, and sometimes in middle age, there is often considerable sagging of the muscles, particularly at the corners of the mouth. This frequently results in a crease angling downward from the corners of the mouth, with a roll of flesh above it (FIGURE 11-48B). Light falling on this roll of flesh from above will create a soft-edged highlight on top and a shadow with one hard and one soft edge below, just as it does with a nasolabial fold or a forehead wrinkle. The area immediately below the fold will be highlighted with one hard and one soft edge (FIGURE 11-50C and D).

This highlight may very well become part of a larger sagging area that does not usually have a sharp crease below it but often ends—in part, at least—where the chin begins. The exact conformation of this area and of the fold above varies considerably—not only with age, but with the individual. It’s best to study faces and photographs, then adapt the information you have accumulated in your mind to the requirements of the specific character, relating it, as always, to the individual actor’s face.

Study also the variations in plane E immediately below the lips, noticing particularly that this area can be either concave (FIGURE 11-36Q) or convex (FIGURE 11-41G). Concave is normal in youth, but it may sometimes become convex in old age.

CHIN Suggestions for changing the chin to make it more attractive have already been given in the chapter on corrective makeup. These same techniques can be used for character makeup.

The chin itself changes relatively little with age, except for the changes in the texture of the skin, which can be achieved with stippling. What is usually called a double chin is actually a sagging neckline, resulting from a relaxing of the muscles of the jaw and neck area. It begins just behind the chin and cannot be effectively simulated with paint unless the actor already has the beginnings of one that can be highlighted. Lowering the head slightly and pulling it back will help to emphasize whatever fullness is already there. (See FIGURE 11-51.)

A crease may develop, with age, between areas E and F (see FIGURE 11-42D). Or there may be a rather abrupt change of plane without an actual crease. In either case, the top of the chin should be more strongly highlighted than it would be in youth in order to emphasize the increased angularity. (See FIGURE 11-50A and B.)

Neck

The neck, of course, ages (see FIGURES 11-41 and 11-42) along with the face and sometimes even more rapidly. A youthful neck, like youthful lips, can destroy the believability of an otherwise effective age makeup. It has already been mentioned that both the front and the back of the neck should be made up. For juveniles, nothing else is likely to be necessary. But for age, the neck requires modeling.

There are four prominences in the neck that are important in makeup. They are labeled A, B, C, and D in FIGURE 11-52. Because the muscles, along with the top of the larynx and parts of the tracheal column, catch the light, they should be highlighted. All of these, being roughly cylindrical in shape, should be modeled like cylinders, with the highlight fading around to a shadow. The hollow at the breastbone, where the sterno-cleido-mastoid muscles almost meet, is usually in shadow. In old age there may be two folds of flesh starting above the larynx and hanging down like wattles (FIGURE 11-41C, H, and M). Small ones can be effectively painted on for a front view (FIGURE 11-53) but are, of course, ineffective in profile.

It is also possible to model the wrinkles that form around the neck and diagonally upward towards the ears. To determine the correct placement of the wrinkles, it is usually necessary to twist and turn the head until natural wrinkles are formed. These can be carefully modeled with highlights and shadows. For aging plumper characters, these transverse wrinkles should nearly always be used, but they should be wider and fewer in number.

Hands

In representing youth, the hands should always be made up to go with the color of the face. The extent of modeling needed for bone, knuckles, and veins of the hands will depend on both age and the care that the hands have been given. Usually, unless the character tends to be quite pudgy, the bones of the hands, in age, tend to become more prominent and the veins begin to stand out (FIGURES 11-54). The bones, both in the back of the hand and in the fingers (FIGURE 11-54) should be modeled like cylinders, with highlights along the top and shadows along the sides. The joints may sometimes swell and often, with light skins, redden. A little rouge will give the color. The swelling can be suggested by rounded highlights on top of the joint and narrow, crescent-shaped shadows around them.

A dark-skinned actor who wants to create the effect with makeup can make his hand into a fist and cover the joints with very dark brown makeup. The hand can then be straightened out and the dark brown makeup wiped off the surface of the joint, which can be shadowed, slightly highlighted, and powdered. This technique will leave natural-looking dark ridges in the deepest part of the wrinkles on the joints.

The veins, if at all prominent, should appear three-dimensional, not flat, which means that there should be a highlight along one side of every vein and a shadow along the other. (See FIGURE 11-55.) Decide arbitrarily which way the light is coming from. Veins should be treated as elongated cylinders. Their roundness will be particularly pronounced as they cross over bones. They are nearly always irregular, often forking out and meandering across the hand. If the actor’s natural veins are visible, they can be followed; and if the actor’s veins are prominent, they should be followed. Otherwise, it is possible to place the veins wherever they appear to be most effective. Be careful, however, not to use too many. A few veins carefully placed and convincingly painted will be far more effective than a complicated network.

The color of veins will depend on the type and color of the hand. A pale, delicate, fine-skinned hand will naturally reveal much more blue in the veins than a deeply tanned or a black or a brown one, on which the veins may not appear blue at all and can be modeled with the normal highlight and shadow colors. Often veins that are not extremely prominent are a light greenish blue, in which case a very pale tint of blue-green can be used for highlighting. Very prominent veins under a delicate white skin are likely to be a much deeper blue, with no green cast, and would be expected to have blue-gray shadows. Observe the coloration in elderly hands—of the skin as well as the veins.

The brown spots so often found on older hands can be painted on with a yellowish brown—about the same color as freckles (FO-13-c/d). They should be of various sizes and unevenly distributed. If the hand is to be rough textured, it should be stippled or given a three-dimensional skin texture (see Chapter 12).

FINGERNAILS In aging the hands, always make sure that the nails are aged in harmony with the rest of the hand. The aging may involve filing or cutting the nails (either real or artificial) to a length and shape appropriate for the character, and it may also require changing the color and the apparent texture of the nails, both of which can be done with creme makeup and makeup pencils, used with latex, sealer, flexible collodion, or spirit gum.

The color can be brushed on (see FIGURE 11-55E) when using creme makeup or stroked on when using creme-makeup crayons or makeup pencils. In general, creme-makeup crayons are preferable to regular creme makeup. Makeup pencils, if you happen to have the right color or colors, are especially useful for creating the effect of ridges in the nails. Vertical strokes can be applied with a white pencil, leaving slight spaces between the strokes to allow the natural color of the nail to show through. Or, instead of leaving spaces between the strokes, you can make alternating strokes of two colors, such as white and ochre, to give a yellowish cast to the nails. You can also achieve the same effect by applying creme makeup or makeup crayon with a very narrow brush.

Pencils can also be used for coloring the nails without giving the effect of ridges. After the color has been penciled on, you can blend it with a fingertip so as to color the entire nail—evenly or unevenly, whichever is appropriate. You may wish to apply the color heavily to conceal the natural color of the nails or sparingly to allow some of the natural color to show through. Any color applied to the nails should be powdered before proceeding with the next step.

When the nails have been appropriately colored, they should be coated with clear latex, sealer, or non-flexible collodion. No matter which one you use, it should be powdered when it has dried in order to remove the shine and give a duller finish to the nail—unless the character would be wearing clear nail polish, in which case the powder should be omitted or clear nail polish used instead of the latex, sealer, or collodion.

An alternative method of aging the nails is to coat them with spirit gum, then, with one finger, to tap the gum until it becomes tacky, at which point you can press white or neutral face powder into the gum. That gives a dull whitish effect suitable for some aged characters.

If dirt under the nails is appropriate, gray or gray-brown creme makeup can be applied with a small brush.

To create the effect of colored nail polish on aged nails, you can use red makeup pencil or apply lipstick, creme makeup, or makeup crayons with a narrow brush to make vertical stripes of color, as previously suggested. The red should then be powdered and coated with latex. If you want the effect of frosted nail polish, powder the latex; otherwise, leave it unpow-dered. Red pencils can be used on the nails without a protective coating of spirit gum; but since some reds stain the nails (or the skin), direct application of the pencils to the nails is not advisable—unless, of course, you have already experimented with the red you plan to use and have determined that it does not stain.

For removing makeup from the nails, latex can be peeled off, sealer and collodion removed with acetone, and spirit gum, with spirit-gum remover or acetone.

Teeth

Teeth, if too white and even for the character, can be darkened with an appropriate shade of tooth enamel. The effect of chipped or missing teeth can be created with black tooth enamel or black wax. Black eyebrow pencil can also be used, but it may require touching up during the performance. The teeth should always be dried with a tissue before being blocked out.

Black tooth enamel can also be used to make the edges of the teeth uneven. If they are already uneven and the character should have even teeth, the process can be reversed.

For stained or discolored teeth (FIGURE 11-56), you can rub brown mustache wax on the teeth with the fingers, then partially remove it with a cotton swab. If you want additional color along the sides of the teeth, you can add more wax with another cotton swab. The teeth must, of course, be dried before any wax is applied. The wax can be removed with a cleansing tissue.

If you do not have brown mustache wax, you can color clear mustache wax or derma wax with brown cake makeup by scraping the top of the cake with a knife to obtain a small amount of brown powder, then mixing the powder with the wax, using a palette knife or a modeling tool. When the powder is thoroughly embedded in the wax, it will, of course, be impervious to saliva in the mouth. For nicotine stains, you can use an appropriate shade of cake makeup or mix colors if you don’t have the right shade. Non-toxic tooth enamels and colors are available in shades such as Black, White, Nicotine, and Decay.

Reshaping the Face

There are times when, in addition to working with individual features, you may wish to think in terms of reshaping the face—making it more square, long, wide, round, or oval—in order to make it more appropriate for a particular character. (See FIGURE 11-57.) This can be done—at least to some degree—by means of highlights and shadows and beards, mustaches, hair, and eyebrows.

THE LONG FACE A face can be made to look longer by increasing the apparent height of the forehead and the apparent length of the nose (FIGURE 11-58A) and the chin by highlighting. (See Chapter 9.) Narrowing the face by subtly shading the sides of the forehead and the cheeks will also make it seem longer, as will a high, narrow hair style or one that covers the sides of the face. A pointed goatee (FIGURE 11-60B) or a long, narrow beard will have the same effect. A long nose and long nasolabial folds (FIGURE 11-57B) will also contribute to the illusion.

To make a long face look less long, follow the suggestions below for the wide face.

THE WIDE FACE To make a face look wider, you can do just the reverse of lengthening—lower the forehead (which can be done with the hairstyle, as well as with the makeup) and shorten the chin (if doing so would not be inappropriate for the character), highlight rather than shadow the sides of the forehead and the cheeks, shorten the nose, flatten and widen the hairstyle, and dress any facial hair horizontally (FIGURE 11-57C) rather than vertically. Making the eyebrows farther apart will also help, as will avoiding long nasolabial folds and making apple cheeks instead. In order to decrease the apparent width of a wide face, follow any of the suggestions for the long face that seem appropriate.

THE SQUARE FACE To make a face more square, the forehead should be vertical at the temples, giving a squared-off effect, and should usually be made to look as broad as possible. This can be done by highlighting the temples and even blocking out the hairline, if necessary, in order to take it farther back at the sides. The top hairline should be fairly straight across. If much hair needs to be blocked out, it would usually be better to wear a wig that will cover the natural hairline and provide a hairline more suitable for the character.

The jaw can be highlighted at the sides, if necessary, to make it look wider, and the chin can sometimes be squared off a bit. A square-cut beard can be very helpful. Straight eyebrows will also contribute to the illusion.

If the face is noticeably longer than it is wide, follow the instructions for the wide face in order to give a squarer look.

A square face can be made to look less square by rounding off the forehead, the jaw, and the chin, wearing a longer and more rounded beard, and giving the face an illusion of greater length (see THE LONG FACE).

THE OVAL FACE A face—unless it is already too round—can be made to look more oval by rounding off the upper corners of the forehead either by shadowing or by changing the hairline and doing the same to the jaw with shading or with a beard, creating a sweeping curve down to a rounded chin. A round face can be made to look less round by shadowing the sides of the cheeks, curving the shadow gently downward at an angle towards the chin.

THE ROUND FACE To round a youthful face and keep it youthful, follow the principles used in modeling a sphere, as illustrated in FIGURE 11-59, in which drawing A illustrates the shading and highlighting for a sphere and drawing B, the outline of a youthful face. The effect of roundness is achieved with a highlight (B₅) made in a round pattern in about the center of the cheek, and a thin, crescent-shaped shadow drawn in an arc from close to the eye, past the nostrils and the mouth, and around to the back of the jaw, as shown in B₄. All edges should be soft and the shadow very subtle. Although some faces cannot be made to look round without the use of three-dimensional makeup, an effect of roundness can usually be achieved by rounding various features or areas of the face, as illustrated in FIGURE 11-58B. Compare with the same face in FIGURE 11-58A. Rouging the face in a round pattern can also be helpful. An effect of roundness can also be achieved by rounding individual features rather than the face as a whole.

In addition, whatever effect of roundness you have achieved with makeup can often be enhanced with the hairstyle and facial hair (see FIGURE 11-60). A rounded collar in the costume may also help.

A naturally round face cannot be made thin, but it can be thinned somewhat by highlighting the cheekbones and shading the whole cheek with a color two or three shades darker than the base. When “aging” a round face, this same technique can be used, as illustrated in FIGURE 11-51. You may also wish to age the face with sagging apple cheeks (see FIGURE 11-41F), which give the impression of a happier disposition than would long, drooping nasolabial folds.

In this chapter we have concentrated on makeup for the face, the neck, and the hands, but other exposed parts of the body may require makeup as well. Cake makeup can be used for relatively small areas; but to cover large areas, body makeup is usually more practical. For details, see Body Makeup in Appendix A.

Bringing the Makeup to Life

Bear in mind, as you work on any realistic character makeup, such as those in FIGURES 11-61 and 11-62, the actor you are making up (whether it be yourself or someone else) is the only one who can bring the makeup to life and until he or she gets into character, the makeup will be incomplete. Assuming the character before the makeup begins and as needed thereafter is an essential part of the creative process. Bear in mind also that whenever the makeup is being photographed or checked, either in the mirror or onstage, the actor should always be in character.