Facial hair follow-up

[tim]

The handlebar moustache is an intriguing idea which I kind of like. Have you considered doing it in black, however? Perhaps the rest of the blue section could then become white, better blending with the other whitened area. There just seems to be too much blue around the mouth, overall, and it isn't counterbalanced by anything near the upper portion of your face around the eyes.

[hotdiggity]

Hmmmmm... the only reason I made the tache and goatee blue was to match the blue hair. It just seemed natural but by no means has to be that way. I will experiment a little with color. I had actually tried to use white over it all at the beginning and even with it cut super short, it looked too messy to me. Do you think that some blue around the eyes might mesh it in?

[Willace-the-Clown]

i have blue hair but my eyebrows & beard & mustash is green. plus i was thinking maybe you should put one of your head shots as an avatar your clown looks very good

[tim]

Originally Posted by hotdiggity

Hmmmmm... the only reason I made the tache and goatee blue was to match the blue hair. It just seemed natural but by no means has to be that way. I will experiment a little with color. I had actually tried to use white over it all at the beginning and even with it cut super short, it looked too messy to me. Do you think that some blue around the eyes might mesh it in?

Ideally, a face tends to be best balanced when is it relatively even in proportion. So big eyes/big mouth might work better than big eyes/small mouth or vice versa, for example. Similarly, with colors. Otherwise something just tends to seem "off". Though some people are more strident about keeping away from it entirely, I have no problem with blue, inherantly, (and even use it in my own makeuping in order to present a "softer" appearance, along with it complementing some of my other costuming.) So perhaps counterbalancing what's lower on your face with blue by the eyes somehow would better balance things. However, the greater challenge I perceive in what you are now offering is that the blue area is so large and intense as to stand out inordinately, taking attention from everything else, and thus detracting from your overall presentation (it also clashes with your red lip). As I see it, something must be done to tone this aspect down (less is more, in other words), offering a more inviting, attractive appearance to the onlooker.

[Fitzwilly]

Another thing to remember is that you want to connect with your audience. The most expressive part of the face is the eyes. You want your eyes to stand out. That is why we use eyeliner and mascara, old theatre techniques. As you are trying different things to create just the right look keep this in mind. Take pictures of each change. Let some time go by and then look at the pictures and see in which ones your eyes stand out.

[hotdiggity]

You all are so very helpful. Thanks a million. I will try quite a few things this weekend! Thinking about it all... I think I need to trim my wig back also. Maybe that will help my eyes stand out more along with the eyeliner...

[Fitzwilly]

Your enthusiam is fantastic. Keep up the good work, we are rooting for you. And keep us updated with new pictures.

[SillyWilly]

I have clowned both with and without facial hair. I started out as a Hoboken type clown so the beard or goatee if you will, was essential for the part, while other clowns were working extra make-up and saying clowns can't have facial hair, I was already setting a new path. I was unacceptable to the clown organizations of the day but I had my own thing, I found that just coloring it to match or even better not to match the current wig and face was all the fun. I never needed to apply hair or glue to make a reallly nice hobo, I incorporated this into my original Silly Willy persona, and have faces both with and without hair or goatees. It is a selective taste and a brave new idea to create clown faces both ways.
The clown industry, thank goodness , has finally begun to go with the flow and allow facial hair so long as it is not too scarey or outrageous , however it is still hard to compete in old style clown clubs with facial hair since they are still a little biased. I say if you choose to do it, whether it be real hair or make-up hair, do it with style and enjoy your character.

[Dylan]

Here is my feeling on facial hair. As I see it if you can pull it off do it, however, if you consider what they say in Strutter's Guide to Clown Makeup, it seems to me that traditionally facial hair is a no.

This dosen't mean you shouldn't do it, it just means that most people seeing a clown with facial hair that isn't tramp or character clown, will be a little wary. One other thing that is mentioned in Strutter's book is that it should be colored just like the rest of your face, not really dyed or colored to be like a wig of the face.

On a seperate note, the original poster mentioned in one of the post that at times he uses orange around his muzzle instead of the blue. I think that clown make up should be limited to the traditional colors: Red (or shades of red), Black, White, Skin Color and maybe Blue. I think that these shades look pleasing to the eye and won't look off.

Keep in mind that the general public has an idea as to what clowns should look like. If you deviate to far from that norm, using green or orange on your face, you may encounter resistance getting bookings and such.

Just my two sense.