If you love acting you already know that stage roles in local and regional theaters don't come with professional makeup artists. Knowing your lines, hitting your marks, and setting the right tone are important aspects of your performance. Your appearance, in the form of theater makeup, is also important if you want to be convincing. Seasoned professionals have some advice for actors making up themselves.
The way you're accustomed to making yourself up for the street is not the way you need to approach getting into character. Subtlety in your cosmetic choices will wash you out as soon as the stage lights hit your face. You need a ton of foundation lathered onto your face and neck. If you're concerned about what color will work best, a cosmetic consultant in your favorite department store should have some good suggestions.
You have to emphasize your eyes. To do that you will need several sets of quality false eyelashes. If you try to skimp and buy cheap ones, you will find that they make your eyes itch and have a tendency to come loose at the worst moments because they never fit the way they're supposed to. Use liquid eyeliner instead of pencil and pink, brown, and gold eye shadow instead of blue, green, and purple.
Highlighting facial structure is popular right now. It is something you will have to learn to do, but not overdo. You can use as much blush as you like though. You might see a clown when you look in the mirror, but when you get onstage your audience will only see a subtle shade. Filling in eyebrows is sometimes forgotten by amateur actors, but important to do.
If you ever get to play an accident or murder victim, you'll have to know how to make your wounds look realistic. You can apply liquid latex to the affected area. If you don't have access to the latex, school glue will work just as well. Makeup paint or eye shadow in reds and black work great to simulate blood.
Shading black, yellow, and purple eye shadow to get the effect of bruising is all you need if your character gets mixed up in a fight or runs into a door. The actual colors you use will depend on the age of the bruise. Just like in real life fresh bruises are red, black and purple. The skin turns yellowish as the bruise ages.
Hopefully at some point you will have the opportunity to play a character that requires you to age or start out as a much older person than you actually are. To make this role believable, you will need some liquid latex to make wrinkles. Once it dries on your face, you will remove it and apply plenty of makeup, making sure it gets into the creases in your skin.
You might never become an internationally acclaimed actress, but you will have lots of fun on the stage. It will give you plenty of chances to express yourself creatively. Applying your own makeup is a good way to make your character uniquely your own.
The way you're accustomed to making yourself up for the street is not the way you need to approach getting into character. Subtlety in your cosmetic choices will wash you out as soon as the stage lights hit your face. You need a ton of foundation lathered onto your face and neck. If you're concerned about what color will work best, a cosmetic consultant in your favorite department store should have some good suggestions.
You have to emphasize your eyes. To do that you will need several sets of quality false eyelashes. If you try to skimp and buy cheap ones, you will find that they make your eyes itch and have a tendency to come loose at the worst moments because they never fit the way they're supposed to. Use liquid eyeliner instead of pencil and pink, brown, and gold eye shadow instead of blue, green, and purple.
Highlighting facial structure is popular right now. It is something you will have to learn to do, but not overdo. You can use as much blush as you like though. You might see a clown when you look in the mirror, but when you get onstage your audience will only see a subtle shade. Filling in eyebrows is sometimes forgotten by amateur actors, but important to do.
If you ever get to play an accident or murder victim, you'll have to know how to make your wounds look realistic. You can apply liquid latex to the affected area. If you don't have access to the latex, school glue will work just as well. Makeup paint or eye shadow in reds and black work great to simulate blood.
Shading black, yellow, and purple eye shadow to get the effect of bruising is all you need if your character gets mixed up in a fight or runs into a door. The actual colors you use will depend on the age of the bruise. Just like in real life fresh bruises are red, black and purple. The skin turns yellowish as the bruise ages.
Hopefully at some point you will have the opportunity to play a character that requires you to age or start out as a much older person than you actually are. To make this role believable, you will need some liquid latex to make wrinkles. Once it dries on your face, you will remove it and apply plenty of makeup, making sure it gets into the creases in your skin.
You might never become an internationally acclaimed actress, but you will have lots of fun on the stage. It will give you plenty of chances to express yourself creatively. Applying your own makeup is a good way to make your character uniquely your own.
About the Author:
You can get an overview of the factors to consider when purchasing theater makeup kits and view our selection of kits at http://www.taylormaidbeautyandtheatrical.com/about-us right now.
