Jest

In the first grade a lot of older kids noticed I had a winning smile and they started calling me "Joker". I think I knew who they were referring to back then, but I didn't like it, not one bit. They kept wanting me to smile for them, and I didn't like that attention. Afterall, having a bunch of people always looking at you and then calling you names based on your looks can be upsetting.

Eventually my friends picked up on it, and it sort of stuck. I thought that as I grew if my head got bigger then my smile would get smaller. Nope. Fortunately the name never really stuck and it would only be brought out on occasion. So for my senior year of high school I decided to go as Jack Nicholsons Joker. I remember the face paint. It was a pain because it tended to get on whatever it touched. In particular the color of my shirt. And I had wondered how the real character in the movie managed to keep it off his clothes. Well he didn't. If you look at pictures of him you'll see there actually is face paint on the collar of his shirts.

The other problem with the costume is the green hair. Back then I used a spray can that temporarily dyed hair green. The problem was that it got on my scalp, and I couldn't get it off very well. A short time after that I had to visit Ohio Northern as a possible college choice, and sure enough my green head came out all too clear under the bright sunny sky.

This year I decided to go as Heath Ledger's Joker, with those lessons in mind. I sprayed my hand and then smeared it through my hair to keep the dye off my scalp. And I used much less face paint. So without further ado here are the pictures.

Update, later today: After work I played some more. This should really be a Tasteful Thursday article. I've already given out two lessons on applying the makeup above and now I have more to say. I've decided the trick to the makeup is to keep it thin enough so the bare skin on your wrinkles can show through, and to be very generous with the black. Mixing the colors works best. Having three distinct colors looks too correct. But you want them to have their textures. If you smear them on then you'll get a smooth appearance and it will look too artificial and flat. The problem is trying to mix the colors and not get the smeared look. And by mixing them I don't mean white and black make gray. I mean mixing them such that you have white and black on top of each other without combining into a new shade much like spray paint art. I don't think I have the proper tools to pull that off, so I have to try different techniques with my fingers. Even with the new result I decided afterwards that my lips were still too solid red. They needed more black. But that's okay. Today was a trial run. This Sunday I am traveling to Columbus to celebrate little Stevie's wedding. Costumes are supposed to be worn at the reception. I'm hoping I've learned enough today to make a good appearance on Sunday.

Getting the makeup off was rather difficult. After my first attempt I looked in the mirror and thought my eyes looked a bit dark. So I rescrubbed them really hard. Finally I gave up when it just looked like I was wearing mascara. I'm going to try salsa dancing tonight, so hopefully the dark lighting will cover up the fact that I'm wearing makeup. Or maybe I'll look a bit more mysterious. Girls supposedly like dark and mysterious. I've also noticed that when I rub my forehead it feels like the makeup is still there. Maybe wearing all the foundation has improved my skin quality. Here's the new look.