THEA 390-301: Stage Makeup

Everything seems to be back on track with my classes so I've calmed down a lot since my freak out in the last post. I've had to do non-stop stage makeup projects to make sure I meet the Monday deadline, even though the professor very kindly offered to give me extra time after all the problems that came up (though many were caused by her). But I'd rather get it done on time because I'm getting chemo Monday (if my white count is back up) and it doesn't make sense to put it off until a time when I will feel worse than I do now. Each project has to come with a character story to go along with the makeup we did since it is a theater class....

Unit 2-3: Aging (Nancy's Tragic Story)

Nancy (Age 40): When Nancy was in her 20s and a bit later into her 30s, she always got carded at bars and even when she bought cigarettes. She resented her baby face making her look so young and felt she wasn’t taken seriously. Fast forward to age 40. Nancy’s excessive drinking and chain smoking have taken a big toll on her face and her life. She tries to cake makeup on her ever deepening lines but they are just too severe and the dark circles that have worsened with time don’t improve with a good night of sleep. Her bad choices in life have left her unable to maintain a steady relationship or hold down a job. Her only comforts in life lie in shots of whiskey and one night stands, both found at the dive bar a few blocks from her apartment. She feels empty and lonely. Her now adult children rarely call or visit due to the chaotic childhood they both endured with an alcoholic as their mother. 

(These pictures were suppose to be for age 50 but the lighting really washed out a lot of the work I did)

Nancy (Age 65): I wish I could say that Nancy’s story got better, but sadly, it got much worse. Her alcoholism, depression, and lack of anyone who cared about her led to her becoming homeless. Her diet of booze, cigarettes, and food fished out of the trash, along with her exposure to the elements and obvious inability to have any sort of skincare routine led to a reversal of the “problem” she faced in her 20s. She now looked even older than she actually was. At this point, her haggard appearance was a blessing that helped her avoid getting raped in an alley. She died of pneumonia one bitter winter night while trying to avoid the cutting wind in a makeshift cardboard box “home.” There was no funeral and it was years before her children discovered her fate and Nancy's death was finally mourned. 

If these two look really over the top, that's because this is stage makeup. It is meant to be viewed from distance with harsh lighting toning it down. 

 

Unit 4: Bruises (Jessica goes for a run)

Jessica had grown up chubby. She was chubby as a small child, chubby in elementary school, chubby in junior high, and chubby in high school. It had always bothered her a bit but it was just something she accepted about herself. When she went off to college, she met and fell in love with an older student named Tom. Though Tom tried to convince Jessica he liked her body just the way it was, she convinced herself that there wasn’t any way Tom didn’t find her repulsive. She began to run every day. After she lost the first ten pounds, she received so much praise that she felt compelled to work out and run more and more. After some time, she was up to working out 6 hours a day. She had exercise bulimia. She lost interest in Tom and things she used to do for fun, her grades began to suffer, and her friends and family members became very concerned. One night at about 9PM, she felt the need to go for a run. She was jogging down a road near campus when a drunk driver swerved and hit her. She was taken to the hospital but her injuries were not severe: just scrapes and bruises. These pictures are how her face looked 6 days after the accident when Tom came to check on her, despite their failed relationship. He encouraged her to seek counseling for her body image issues. 

Next assignment: burns. Then I need to redo the first assignment: using shading and highlight to make my face more like someone with very different facial structure. I wasn't happy with how my first attempt turned out. Finally, for the midterm project, I have to tie everything I've learned together and create a character using all these elements.