Peking Opera Face Painting (Traditional Character Makeup Symbol)

Peking Opera face paint is an important part of Chinese opera culture, it is the cosmetics used by Peking Opera actors on stage and the symbol of Peking Opera roles. There are many kinds of face paint, and each character has its unique face paint, which expresses the character's personality, identity and destiny through different colors, patterns and lines. Let's learn more about the types of Peking Opera face painting and the steps to do it.

Types of Peking Opera Faces

There are five main types of Peking Opera faces, which are green, red, black, white and flower. The green face usually represents the roles of young heroes, scribes and scholars, such as Xiang Yu in "Farewell My Concubine" and Xu Xian in "The Legend of the White Snake". Red faces usually represent the roles of loyal and brave, heroes and righteous people, such as Jia Baoyu in Dream of Red Mansions and Sun Wukong in Journey to the West. The black face usually represents sinister, treacherous, cunning and vicious characters, such as Xue Baochai in Dream of Red Mansions and the Bull Demon King in Journey to the West. White faces usually represent feminine, charming, and love-struck characters, such as Bai Jingjing in Journey to the West and Lin Daiyu in Dream of the Red Chamber. Flower face usually represents special characters, such as Jia Mother in Dream of the Red Chamber and Guanyin Bodhisattva in Journey to the West.

Steps

1. Prepare tools and cosmetics

Cosmetics include white powder, pigment, rouge, crayon, puff and brush. Tools include mirrors, vanity tables, combs, hairpins and so on.

2. Wash your face

First of all, you should wash your face to remove grease and dirt so that the cosmetics can adhere to your face better.

3. Apply base color

Apply white powder all over the face as a base color so that the subsequent pigments adhere better to the face. Be careful to apply it evenly to avoid varying thickness.

4. Drawing Outlines

Draw the outline lines of the face with black paint or crayon, paying attention to the thickness and smoothness of the lines in order to express the character's personality and fate.

5. Color

Choose the appropriate color to paint according to the character's personality and identity. Pay attention to the evenness and clarity of the color so that the audience can see the character's face clearly.

6. Drawing Eyeliner

Draw the eyeliner with black paint or crayon, paying attention to the thickness and length of the line so as to express the character's demeanor and emotion.

7. Apply rouge

Paint the cheeks and lips with rouge in order to show the character's aura and emotions.

8. Retouching

Touch up the details of the face with white paint, such as eyebrows, nose, mouth, etc., in order to make the character more lifelike.