Opera Facial Makeup: Primary Color

Colors are used to exhibit a character’s personal qualities, and temperament is considered the “primary color.”This is the most important aspect of painted faces. But a painted face is composed of designs of different colors. Other colors are used to create designs or shading, or to set off the designs.

Face painting not only makes use of various colors, but makes use of each color’s optical properties as well. The mutual influence of warm and cold colors helps to set off the bone structure of the face, and the expressions of a character in a play. The multi-color face of an actor often produces mysterious and surprising effects.

The color of actors’ painted faces and color of actors’ costumes complement and influence each other, and are in harmony with each other. There is a standard use of color in terms of the actor’s costume. Yellow is the color that represents the highest nobility. This is why, when Zhao Kuangyin launches a mutiny and seizes the throne, he has a “yellow robe placed on him.” Colors signifying lesser nobility include purple, red, and black, among other hues.