Kathakali: The face painting of Kathakali involves a lot of study and practice. Mostly the basic make up is done by the artist himself but the white make up of the Chutty is put on by experts trained in the field. Chutty is the rice flour or paper frames attached to the face and also the white painting to outline the face. The characters are painted according to the various traits attributed to their nature.
- Pacca– Green is attributed to the royalty and to noble protagonists e.g. Krishna, Rama, Arjuna etc. It depicts a valorous hero and a real mane. Some Pacca characters that are also ascribed with intense anger as a characteristic trait along with the innate nobility such as Lord Shiva, Agni and Balarama the green paint is changed to saffron.
- Kathi – This is also ascribed to the royal but those who have an evil nature, the heroic but given to evils such as lust, arrogance, haughtiness etc. e.g. Dhuryodhana, Ravana etc. Their face is painted green like the pacca characters but has a knife like streak of red on the sides of the nose.
- Tadi – Some special characters are provided beards and are painted in striking manner. Thus there are 3 types of Tadi.
Red Tadi- Extremely evil characters are painted in a red Tadi fashion. They are of evil disposition and are extremely villainous e.g. Dusshasana.
White Tadi- White Tadi represents an extremely learned and pious disposition. The character is usually a man among men e.g. Hanuman. In Hanuman’s case a number of fine designs or patterns are drawn on the face to represent the Vanara (monkey) nature.
Black Tadi- This represents an evil character just as the red Tadi does but the Black Tadi is a preplanned evil doer or a schemer while the Red Tadi is impulsive.
- Kari – A Kari character is an all evil person. A demoness for example may be painted kari or all black. Sometimes a forest dweller may also be painted Kari.
- Minukku– Minukku is minimal yellowish painting proffered to all female characters, brahmins and sages. Messengers and charioteer are also ascribed Minukku.
- Teppu – Special characters such as birds, bees, cowards etc. are painted with special colors and in a different style
Ottan Thullal: In the Ottan Thullal, face is painted as in the Pacca style o Kathakali. The eyes are accentuated and the lips reddened to make the satire more expressive and provide a dramatic effect to the histrionics. The face is painted green with white bordering to highlight the former.
Pulikali: For an art like Pulikali the entire body needs to be painted. This is both painstaking and laborious. Often the painting goes on all night. The performers’ bodies are shaved by dusk the evening prior to the performance and then starts the painting. With a tiger’s picture for inspiration, the painters work meticulously to create an exact likeness of a tiger. The tiger's face is often painted on the chest of the performer and his body is filled in with the yellow coat and black stripes that resemble the beast. The work is intricate and the artists labor hard to make the tiger as ferocious as possible. Sometimes the shiny coat and dark spots of a leopard are copied and very rarely a performer is also painted a black panther. The colors used most are yellow, black and red.
Theyyam: In case of Theyyam, the face paining is literally treated with reverence. He eyes of the dancer are blackened with mashi. The mashi is prepared and the eyes outlined with thick bold lines. In no other performing art is the painting of the eyes highlighted as much as in Theyyam. The Theyyam artist is painted in hues white, black, red and yellow. The Theyyam artist ties a cloth band round his head and lies down allowing artists to paint his face and body. The face painter can indeed be innovative but the artists working on his body meticulously stick by set patterns. The painting consists of designs made on a solid color background with fine brushes. These brushes are made from palm leaves. The different patterns of face-painting for Theyyam are viradelam, kattaram, kozhipuspam, kotumpurikam, and prakkezhuthu.
The paints used in face and body paintings in Kerala traditionally are herbal natural dyes. Manayola, chayilium, turmeric, vermilion, lime and rice powder are used for painting the various colors. The natural ingredients are ground in stone and mixed with natural oil such as coconut oil to provide the colors. An in-depth knowledge of the proportion is needed to grind and mix these paints for otherwise it is bound to adversely affect the skins of the artists. Nowadays synthetic colors and talc are used especially in arts like Pulikali. These have a number of advantages viz. are fast drying, brighter (more vivid) and provide a sheen that natural dyes cant. However, on the downside these harm the skin textures of the artists who wear them.
Face and body paintings are an integral part of these dances and virtually every performing art forms in Kerala. In dances like Mohiniyattam etc. there is a minimal use of this art and only the eyes are highlighted. More or less, it is undeniable that face and body painting is used in all the dance forms in a manner that shall highlight the emotional sensitivity behind the art. Intense emotions or tender love, anger or sarcasm, the face says it all and herein lies the importance of this fine art.
