A Study in Make-up
by
Grace Griswold
Nearly all great actors are masters of make-up. They must be, for the illusions of the stage are no less pictorial than those of painting and sculpture, with the added elements of movement and voice, all of which must be brought into working harmony with the thought and feeling of the part, in a perfect portrayal. Any serious incongruity in externals is felt at once, and destroys the illusion.
Women have not done as much as men in facial transformation, except in the way of burlesque and grotesquerie. Women's make-ups, on the whole, are far more conventional. The female face is more difficult to change without revealing the tricks. Heavy furrows and deep coloring are possible only for low types. Men can effect great changes by the use of beards and moustaches. A woman's art must be far subtler.
Look at the men across the way.[21] Notice their eyes. We always see the eyes first, although the mouth is a more unerring key to character. The mouth for emotions and impulses, and the eyes for thoughts. As the mouth is the gateway of the soul, so the eyes are its windows, but, like all windows, their function is rather to give light and view to the interior than to expose it to the impertinence of passers-by.... His level brows, which show him to be of a practical or scientific turn of mind, are deeply contracted. So much so, that not only are there two perpendicular lines between them, but one across the top of the nose as well. The heavy bone formation which the brows outline, indicates rare powers of observation. But this man has come a cropper. See how restless and unseeing are his eyes! He is searching for a solution to the problem which is troubling him. It is a purely intellectual problem, for the mouth, which is the indication of the emotions and passions, is unaffected by what is going on above. There is nothing sinister about the problem: you see that the eyes are wide open. Now it is settled, because he appears focussed: he is following a single line of thought.
[ [21] It was imperative that the long article be abridged. The reference here is to Miss Griswold's first sentence: "... take a ride with me in the subway, where we may perhaps glean some impressions for character portrayal upon the stage."
Now observe the man on the right. He too is thinking hard, but his mouth is drawn, jaws set, eyelids puckered to a mere slit. He has been wronged, or believes he has, and is planning retaliation. His nostrils are dilated, his breathing heavy. Both these men are laboring under excitement, but we cannot read their natures, because their habitual expression is distorted.
Do you see that dear soul opposite? There is work behind that face, work that has brought with it health. There has been good living, but no intemperance. See the strong muscles and the glow in the cheeks, with their Santa Claus rotundity. There is passion, too, but it is restrained: the lips are full, but the center line is straight. With less control, that line would tend to sag. Melancholia is also indicated in downward lines. In the case of this woman, the lip is perhaps too heavy to show delicacy of character, but it shows broad sympathy, and is redeemed by its upper consort, which reveals, except at the corners, a cupid's bow, full of tenderness. The Venus de Milo hardly escapes censure even with the lateral shortness of the lower lip and the softened outlines of the upper. This woman's mouth is larger, denoting generosity. Now look at the eyes—open just to the degree of frankness, but not of insincerity, like those of the vapid young person across the way. There are radiations from the corners, too: the footprints of many a pleasant smile. The eyebrows have the sympathetic upward sweep toward the nose, and there is a whimsical twist of the left eyebrow. Altogether, a pleasant countenance.
A perfectly straight compressed mouth always implies strength of will.