[This page is part of a mirror of my Canvas learning system pages I created for my Drama 112 Intro Stage Makeup class at DVC.  If you want to use this content for another Canvas class shell you can find it in Canvas Commons by searching for “Tara Maginnis” and you can download all or part of this directly into your shell with all the extra cool formatting of colored divider lines, right side embedded Giphy animations, etc. already put in, if you are working with a different system, it is ok to copy and paste from here, and then customize the pages as you need  for your classes].

The official class how-to video:

  ….Has me replicating the appearance of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, commonly known as Lenin.  It has a crepe hair beard and mustache, as well as a wax nose as part of the design (you are not required to do a wax nose again, I’m just showing off). 

Written Notes on the topic of making crepe hair beards can be found at https://www.mallatts.com/blog/articles/how-to-make-a-fake-beard-with-crepe-wool

I use spirit gum to apply my beard, and you can too (spirit gum comes in your Deluxe kit) providing you are not allergic to tree sap.  Not sure if you are allergic to tree sap/spirit gum?   Do a Patch test to find out

If you are Allergic to Spirit Gum/Tree Sap:

If you are allergic to sap/spirit gum, you can also use either eyelash adhesive or a surgical adhesive like Duo (from most drugstores in the makeup section), or you can special order ProsAid (special effect makeup adhesive) online instead.  It is also possible to apply crepe hair with latex, but this is very slow to dry, and is like pulling band-aids off your arm multiple times to remove so I do not recommend it.  If you want to know more about adhesives, and some fun stuff to stick in them for FX you can listen to this young woman with amazing lipstick natter on for quite a while on a bunch of them in a highly irritating but very informative way:

What About Non-Lenin Beards?

I am not the be all and end all of laying hair, and there are other methods of doing this.  It is worth your time to watch these short videos on Crepe hair application that use some of these other methods if you want one of these sorts of beards:

For a multi-hued beard:

For a very straight beard:

For a super kinky-fizzy beard:

If you want to do sideburns, here is how:

If you happen to have a crafter’s flock gun, there is this type of beard as well:

I have found more beard related videos at my “Crepe Hair and More” list at YouTube to browse if you are interested.

What About Alternate Adventures in Spirit Gum Videos?

As an alternate you can use spirit gum to apply a “beard” or “eyebrows” or something similar out of many lightweight materials. 

The techniques of Crepe hair laying can also be applied with human hair, yak hair, wig hair, fur and other light weight substances like feathers, artificial flowers and leaves, plastic, mylar, pipe cleaners, fun foam and paper.

As an example watch this Quick time lapse short on a makeup using peacock feathers to make a beard:

There are shockingly few videos on how to do this, but the overlapping steps are similar to what you do with crepe hair, and the results are often spectacular:

This works with eyelash glue as well:

OMG! They both sound exciting, I’m not allergic to wool or anything but I want to do both!

You can.  This second Adventures in Spirit Gum assignment is similar to the Mythical Fantasy project, and you can include this weird technique into that project later in the semester, AND do the crepe hair beard this week to get in the skills the best way which is with the crepe wool!  This is an primarily for if you have a reason not to do the crepe hair this week, like wool allergy, missing crepe hair, etc.

So pick your poison and move to the next step!

[This page is part of a mirror of my Canvas learning system pages I created for my Drama 112 Intro Stage Makeup class at DVC.  If you want to use this content for another Canvas class shell you can find it in Canvas Commons by searching for “Tara Maginnis” and you can download all or part of this directly into your shell with all the extra cool formatting of colored divider lines, right side embedded Giphy animations, etc. already put in, if you are working with a different system, it is ok to copy and paste from here, and then customize the pages as you need  for your classes].

Explanation:

Famous Guys in Beards. Do a makeup design based on a well-known image of a guy in a beard/mustache. The best folks to pick are historical and newsworthy ones where you can get lots of images like Lenin, Darwin, Charles I, Frederick Douglas, Emperor Meiji, Dickens, Che Guevara, King Faisal, Osama Bin Laden, etc. or the Unibomber, members of ZZ Top, Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak.

Alternate “Adventures in Spirit Gum” Option:

If you have a wool allergy, or have had difficulty getting your crepe hair on time  you can instead create a Fantasy Character with facial “Hair” of a substance other than crepe wool. For this to work, the substance must be light weight and thin enough to be capable of laying  down in layers on top of each other like hair does.  For example: feathers, strips of paper or mylar (chip bags), pipe cleaners or plastic. This doesn’t teach the skills as well as crepe hair will, but it will do in a pinch and is a technique you may want to know about for the (late in the semester) Mythical Fantasy Creature  project which is coming up.

Overview:

This week you face the last and most difficult technical challenge of the  “realism” portion of the semester: “laying hair”. It is also the itchiest lesson, as unless you choose the to stick an alternate substance (Latex, Duo, etc.) to your face, you will be gluing wool to your face with tree sap*. Once you are over this hump, and into the “design/fantasy” second half of the semester you can relax and play with your new superpowers (highlight/shadow, nose wax, spirit-gum and crepe hair) in designing and making more types of makeup all of which are easier, and offer more room for you to design and play doing creative stuff. 

• Commercial Spirit Gum is a modern, refined form of one of the earliest glues known to man.  In it’s primitive form, you can make your own spirit gum simply by dissolving chunks of tree sap in alcohol, and filtering out tree needles and dirt with a cloth or coffee filter.  In the event of the apocalypse, get a jar, fill it with an inch of alcohol and drop in bits of dried tree sap. Add a small pebble or bird shot and shake and sit several times over a few days.  When it is dissolved, filter the cloudy mixture through a cloth into another jar.  Test it for adhesion.   If it is too thin, let some of the alcohol evaporate, if it gets too thick later, add more alcohol.  This is primal glue with many uses.  We tried making this at DVC, and it works fine but smells like a pine tree!

Activities:

• You will watch one or more Crepe Hair Beard Videos.
• You will research  and collect images of your famous bearded guy for reference.
• You will draw a color rendering of the makeup incorporating the beard and the appearance of said famous bearded dude.
• You will apply Crepe hair and makeup to your face to make your Famous Bearded Guy Makeup.
• You will do a short photo shoot (either with Tara in the hallway or on your own) to get fabulous photos of your makeup & rendering.
• You will upload your research, makeup and rendering photos to their respective assignment pages.

[This page is part of a mirror of my Canvas learning system pages I created for my Drama 112 Intro Stage Makeup class at DVC.  If you want to use this content for another Canvas class shell you can find it in Canvas Commons by searching for “Tara Maginnis” and you can download all or part of this directly into your shell with all the extra cool formatting of colored divider lines, right side embedded Giphy animations, etc. already put in, if you are working with a different system, it is ok to copy and paste from here, and then customize the pages as you need  for your classes].

•Fill in Date:  Group 1: Bring in evidence of research on Gothic, Horror Movie, or Silent film makeup. Do Gothic Horror Makeup and Gothic Horror Rendering. Group 2: Watch Wax nose video.

•HOMEWORK FAMOUS GUYS IN BEARDS: DO A MAKEUP DESIGN BASED ON A WELL-KNOWN IMAGE OF A GUY IN A BEARD/MOUSTACHE. THE BEST FOLKS TO PICK ARE HISTORICAL AND NEWSWORTHY ONES WHERE YOU CAN GATHER LOTS OF IMAGES LIKE LENIN, DARWIN, CHARLES I, FREDERICK DOUGLAS, EMPEROR MEIJI, DICKENS, CHE GUEVARA, KING FAISAL, OSAMA BIN LADEN, ETC. OR THE UNABOMBER, MEMBERS OF ZZ TOP, STEVE JOBS & STEVE WOZNIAK. DO A RENDERING.

•Fill in Date:  Group 1: View Beard Video. Group 2: Wax Nose Makeup rendering. Makeup using wax nose or forehead, completed in class.