Makeup progress for King Lear
Makeup progress for King Lear
KING LEAR
Thisold man torn to rags by a tempest of emotion, on the ultimate boundary of life, is obviously difficult to portray; tenderness and rage, madness and dignity, must all be shown. He is pent, baffled, and buffeted by things physical and mental for a while. Then there is the hurried decay of body and of brain.
In Fig. 1 observe that the nose has been slightly built up. This is done to give added dignity to the face. For the great weight of beard and hair would tend to make the nose look smaller than it really is. After the nose has been built up the wig is put on that the position of the join may be indicated, also what parts of the natural hair must be treated with white paint. The groundwork is laid on: this should be of 2-1/2 yellow and a little brown. The shadows round the eyes are of groundwork mixed with blue. The wrinkles are of groundwork mixed with additional brown and lake. The temples should be shadowed with this colour.
Find out where the wrinkles would come by pursing up the face. Use as many as possible to suggest extreme old age, being always mindful that the intentions of nature are not ignored. Be careful that the lines on the face are not drawn in too decisive a manner, as at a distance they seem much stronger than they really are. The modelling tool is most suitable for the drawing and the subsequent modification of the wrinkles. It may be also used for applying the more delicate high lights. Each wrinkle should be accentuated with a light just above it. Fig. 2 shows the make-up at a stage when it is ready for the addition of the moustache and beard. Observe the whitened hair just above the temples. This is done with white grease paint.
Fig. 3 shows the beard in position. A tape goes over the head to partly support its weight, and it is secured with spirit gum. Note the blending of the left cheek and beard with crepe hair, also how half the chin is covered, observe how the character of the face is altered by the bushy eyebrow. Fig. 4 shows the make-up almost complete and ready for the wig to be put on. Put the wig on, carefully blending the join. Accentuate wrinkles and shadows here and there. Powder and treat the eyelashes with white paint.
Fantasticto the point of madness, of romantic daring. Simple and kind; and above all a nobleman of great dignity.
I have chosen this extreme make-up as a foil to the Falstaff.
Falstaff is a creature of utter coarseness. Quixote as a singularly imaginative man is one of extraordinary sensitiveness.
The chief effort was to make the face as long and as thin as possible.
First compare the four progressive prints. See how much longer the head is in Fig. 4 than in Fig. 1. As the four photographs are taken to exactly the same scale it is possible to accurately measure with a draughtsman's compass the additions that have been made to the chin and forehead. It will be found that the head has been increased by one third.
First the nose is built up with paste. By giving it a very pronounced hook it is decidedly lengthened and thus made to accord better with the new proportions of the face.
The prominences of the forehead and cheek bones are next accentuated with nose-paste (Fig. 1).
The wig is placed in position and the forehead made up with a ground work of 2-1/2, yellow, and 13, a flesh colour that should suggest parchment. The wig is then removed until the make-up is almost finished. This keeps it from becoming soiled.
Covering the face with groundwork is the next step. A sunken appearance is given to the eyes by painting round them with brown. Shadows are worked into the cheeks. Lines are drawn from the inner corners of the eyes down on to the cheeks. Similar lines are indicated at either side of the nose. A broad perpendicular stripe from the nose to the top of the forehead, and the temples are darkened.