Shine!

Face painting ideas for the “SHINE!” mime drama

A picture is worth a thousand words! And since most clowns/mimes don’t talk, facial expressions and body gestures can make a good mime program great! As you prepare to do face paintings, think of how best to give the actors an artistic appearance that reflects who they are as individuals and followers of Christ. The make-up should reflect the character being playing in the mime service.

Christ: You will probably want the Christ figure to stand out from the rest of the clowns who are portraying disciples and soldiers. You can paint a large cross across the face as shown at the right. The cross could be centered on the forehead or off-set on a cheek. If the disciples also want to have crosses on their faces, you might consider making their crosses smaller and uniform. Other facial symbols for the Christ clown may include a dove, flames of fire, a heart, or a candle. Be as creative as you want to be.

Disciples: Have fun bringing out the characteristics of each clown / disciple with creative facial symbols. You could highlight the eyes with black painted streaks or outline the lips with red paint. Some creative ideas for facial symbols could include rainbows, a sun, trinity circles, flowers, balloons, a small cross, musical notes, stars, a fish, a tear, etc. Have fun with the make-up and work at making each face interesting and unique. There are really no rules for make-up for the disciples, just enjoy being creative and colorful!

Judas & Soldiers: Give the soldiers a different facial appearance that will set them apart from the disciples. You might paint half of the face black and the other half white. Facial symbols might include nails, a chain, dice, etc.

Judas: The facial symbols on Judas might appear similar to the other disciples. Judas might have symbols on the face that reflect his betrayal of Christ, such as a question mark or coins.

Links:
Shine! For more information about the SHINE mime drama.
Photos: For more photos and ideas about make-up click here.