Face Painting Ideas for Your Next Time at the Carnival
Face painting can be a lot of fun for people of all ages. Fun isn't the only emotional response face painting delivers. Never overlook a face painter's ability to make someone's looks outright menacing. A dark and scary look might be most appropriate when hoping to look your best -- and worst -- during a Halloween or similar horror-themed event. Working with a face painter to craft the right look and style could bring out your best creepy look.
Make the Spooky Look Real
Garish looks contribute to the greatest effect when they embody realism. A monstrous appearance loses a lot when a poor paint job ruins the suspension of disbelief. Purchasing a do-it-yourself face paint kit won't deliver the same impact that a professionally trained face painter provides. Experience allows a professional to create a realistic-looking visage. The paint blends in with the flesh to look (in)human.
Style Combined with Menace
A menacing and terrifying look doesn't always require an over-the-top approach. Think of Boris Karloff's makeup in Universal's The Mummy (1933). A mix of an ashen appearance with aged wrinkles gave Karloff's face a malevolent aura. Some companies, such as Funny Face Network, know that a face painter can touch up areas under the eyes or mildly highlight an evil grin. These small touches may add a darkly dramatic dimension to your appearance.
Avoid the Offensive
Knowing how to use a cinematic-style makeup kit requires more than applying paint. Restraint is needed. Taking things too far to the point of offensive undermines the desired reaction. The current "zombie apocalypse" fad brought gore to the forefront of pop culture. Gore isn't necessarily mainstream though. A professional understands that a grotesque paint job heavy on "the red stuff" may prove repulsive. A talented face painter would likely go for scares and not an off-putting shock effect.
Blending in the Face Paint
Matching face paint to looks and apparel further brings out the desired menace. Add the right face paint to someone sporting shaggy brown hair and a beard and create a real-live werewolf. Ashen gray and green face paint blends well with similarly-colored clothing to create a living dead look. Face paint doesn't exist in a creative vacuum. A pro knows this and can create a total package of horror depending on what the subject brings with them.
Here Comes the Horror Show
When the time comes to present horror and menace arrives, merely wearing a costume seems so limiting. A terrifying face paint job might create something of nightmares and memorable monster movies.