Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-02-12
ART In FACE MAKEUP
HENRY IRVING TELLS CT THE
MOST EFFECTIVE METHODS.


The Great Tragedian Chats in Ills Dress
Ing Room About Stage Disguises-
teriais and CoiorS Simple LineS Pro
duce Great Effects
To gain an interview with Henry Irwin.
requires a good deal Of patience. How
ever, one morning met him by chance .,
he was coming from the theSter intro
duced myself and quickly dIiverrd ~,
petition. asking him to allow me TO bl
present some evening in his dressing room
while he was making mp | was convinced
that an actor like Irving could teach me
more Of the art Of making up in Que hmu
than ] was able to pick up in month s OF
practical experience made my request
so urgent that he could not refuse it, the
more so as he seemed to he in great hurry
and anxious to get rid of me-
few evenings later the stout ianitoi
growlingly let me enter. The day before
had sent an appropriate present to his mas
ter, including note reminding him of his
promise.
At that time a revival Of the Merchant
OF Venice" was the attraction mt the Ly
ceum
Entering the dressing room with its mir
rors, wardrobes, screens and toilet tables,
on which wool, wigs, powder boxes, bottles
OF all sizes and sticks of grease paint were
lying in great disorder found the actor
already dressed for his part but his face
was not yet made up He nodded to me
and beckoned his dresser mere boy to
proceed in his work
mo set rules can be laid down for making
up faces, began Irving, seated comfortably
in an arm chair "A painter might AS well
try to give to his pupils in II few set rules
the drawing of II Raphael or the coloring of
a Titan. Every Thespan must study
these things for himself, as they cannot be
taught. The ordinary textbooks are value
less; nevertheless might be able to give
you few valuable hints"
WIGS AND Boards.
In the meantime the little dresser had
combed the Shylock wig, and now handed
1t to Irving, who seized it at the temples
and drew it down on his head, and then
holding one hand on the part so rs not TO
remove it again, pulled the "poll' of the
wig downward with the other hand. This
Is the only right way to put on IA wig
"The object of making up is not to mask
the face, but to aid and emphasize its eX
preston. This is the most important point
in our art and should never he lost sight
Of" he resumed, undergoing the unpleas
ant procedure of having his entire face be
smeared with cold cream and then care
fully wiped off with towel
'The best materials for boards is soft,
raw wool, like this" and he seized a small
lump of dark brown and mixed it with n
lighter shade, mot put up in brads as
very often sold ut the wigmakcrs Good
wool if pulled should not tear, even if
drawn in long strips to the thinness Of a
SPIDERS web" Holding the wool in the
left hand he modelled it with the right
until it had the desired shape of u goatce
and slight mustache. Then the boy dipped
piece of white glue into water, held it
over the gaslight and applied it to Irving's
chin and upper lip.
"Only a few dots" Irving advised, they
are sufficient to attach Il beard" The eX
IRENE thinness, which allowed the skin to
shine through, added vastly to its natural
appearance.
"And now the brows," calculated Irv
ing.
''False browse" inquired doubtfully.
"They are us easily put on as postage
stamps on letter" the little dresser al
lowed himself to remark. you simply
daub them with II little spirit gum and
slap them In place"
"Hush," said his master with faint
smile, "To show you how far the change
of single feature of face can alter its
expression let us consider the eyes; they
will do IA well as any other part"
EFFECT or SIMPLE LINES.
And he suggested a few methods of dis
guises. TO make an eye look obliquely n
short line with brown running down at the
outside and up at the inside corner of the
eye is drawn. 70 enlarge an eye brown
line is drawn along the upper eyeld. To
counterfeit eyes that have been weeping
rose color is used, for the expression of
grief light gray (antimony), Eyebrows
that begin near the root of the nose and
slant upward imrart the cunning diaboli
cal expression of Mephistopheles a
strong black dot at the inside corner of the
eye heightens this effect. The eye of
mailman is represented by red line under
the eye, also by reddening the space be
tween the upper eyeld and brow
Sternness such rs is desirable in Shy
lock, may be acquired instantly in drawing
two vertical lines between the eyes. by
far the best advice was that the color of
the brow should always be darker than
that Of the hair, and the color of the hair
darker than that of the beard or mustache.
He had now come to the drawing of
wrinkles The two between the eyebrows,
as mentioned above and two from the nos
trils to the corners of the mouth were nee
essary. To counterpart exactly a natural
wrinkle he first drew sharp lines with n
brown pencil then rubbed it into Abe com.
plexion, powdered it with miniature pun
and labored on il until it looked more like
a shadow than a line
THE WHOLE SECRET
wrinkles can only be drawn where the
face suggests wrinkles. otherwise the
makeup turns into n cariCaturc. The
whole secret Of making up consists in
knowing what to leave out. A few dots
and lines with red or black at the eyebrows,
nostrils or corners Of the mouth are suni
cient to change a whole countenance
In making up the actor always considers
beforehand the size and arrangement of
illumination of the theatcr he is to play in.
The lighter the theater is the more careful
he has to be.
"A makeup exactly suited for the large
stage Of the Drury Lane would appear
frightful daub in the Lyceum,n remarked
Irving,
The actor has also to consider n certain
central point of observation, and Irving &C
complished this by introducing into his
dressing room an eXpedient, the discovery
of which is credited to Charles Fechtcr
He arranged electric lights on either side
of his large makeup pier glass, BY walk
ing toward or away from the mirror the
actor can study how his face will appear to.
the audience In various parts OF the the
alter.
Before this mirror stood Henry Irving
giving a few last touches TO his costume