Making Faces Brings Out the Animal in UM Theatre Students

Slowly they took shape, a brush stroke at a time – a raccoon, basset hound, koala, cheetah, monkey, spaniel puppy and a couple of bears. University of Mobile students studied drawings and photos, looked to stuffed animals for inspiration, and dabbed multicolored layers of theatrical makeup onto their faces to create the menagerie in theatrical makeup class.

Professor of Theatre Dianne Murphree said the face-painting session was the first project in the spring semester class.

“First they learned to do a self portrait using graph paper,” she said. Then students chose an animal, designed a make-up plan in proportion to their own face, and began the process of transforming from college student to animal. Along the way, they experimented with shading and proportion, mixing paints to match the yellow-orange of a cheetah or the smokey gray of a koala.

Murphree said students will also experiment with make-up techniques to age their faces and make them appear thin or fat. They will learn to create the look of an accident victim, with a broken nose, cuts and gashes, stitches and bruises.

Murphree said the UM theatre program in the Center for Performing Arts gives students a variety of experiences, so they can discover their talents.

“In addition to acting, they learn things like set building and costuming,” Murphree said. “They get a taste of it all.”