Face painting has come a long way since human history began. Obviously, it is difficult to pin down the origin and exactly when face and body painting began, although some claim that Native Americans were the ones who started this art.
Wikipedia, however, offers some ideas. Since ancient times, it has been used for traditional ceremonies, warfare, hunting, religious reasons, and military purposes (such as facial camouflage). In popular culture during the hippie movement of the late 1960s, it was common for young women to decorate their cheeks with flowers at special events. At the same time, there were those who painted peace symbols on their faces in anti-war demonstrations.
In the 1980s, face paint found its way into professional wrestling shows. Popular wrestlers like The Ultimate Warrior, Road Warrior Hawk, and Doink the Clown used this art to create unique character outfits that literally rocked the wrestling world. To this day, some WWE Superstars still use face paint designs to dramatically increase the visual impact of their characters.
In recent decades, face painting has been a common sight at carnivals, private parties, paid and street performances, and large open-air markets (especially in Europe and America). Aside from that, it is also very popular with children at birthday parties, theme parks, and seasonal festivals throughout the Western world in particular. Although most face painting activities are geared toward young children, many adults like to be painted as well, especially at special events such as fundraisers for charities.
I remember when I was a child, circus performances were quite common. This group of performers travel from country to country with their herds of animals and large boxes of tools and gadgets to entertain the crowd. Those were the days before we had cable TV or HBO. One of the funniest performances when watching the circus was when the clown shows up to delight the crowd. Most of these professional clowns had to have their faces painted. Fortunately, they had a fairly easy and simple design.
Whatever the origin or history of face painting, this beautiful art is here to stay.
Enjoy!
