Actors applying makeup in front of dressing room mirror
Make-up classroom

THDA145, Make-Up Design and Application: This course teaches students the theory and practice of make-up design and application, through a combination of lecture, discussion, demonstration and intense application. Students independently complete an extensive research portfolio called a “make-up morgue” while learning the principles of make-up design and application in weekly classroom laboratory format. The department will provide course materials. 

Course Objectives

  1. Analyze a text to develop a character analysis and create a makeup design from that analysis.
  2. Clearly communicate a design choice through sketches, drawings and makeup plot.
  3. Effectively execute a design on the human form, primarily through a variety of paint techniques and some basic 3-D techniques.
  4. Develop a fluency with the tools and materials available to a designer to realize a makeup design.

Methodology

This course will meet primarily in a studio format. Some initial days are spent in a combination lecture/demo form, but very quickly this course gets into the makeup studio. The course is grounded in a “hands on philosophy,” so the student will spend many hours working on developing techniques at application of makeup materials and learning to see the effects of the work. Students complete a source book of images called a “makeup morgue,” have an opportunity to work on a THDA production designing makeup for an actor (or two), and create a final project, which pulls all of the aspects of a students’ development as a makeup artist into a final application.

Evaluation

  • Weekly Class Projects: 50%
  • Tests: 10%
  • Production Responsibilities: 10%
  • Makeup Morgue: 15%
  • Final Project: 15%