Teacher NotesI have taught International Studies class to 8th graders for several years. I am primarily a math

teacher with a degree in electrical engineering, so when my principal told me to teach International Studies, I was a little overwhelmed. Our team focuses on China with a big parade through the halls during Chinese New Year. We build dragons, lanterns, banners, “firecrackers”, costumes, and these opera masks. This is one of my students’ favorite projects.

MATERIALS:

You will need a blank mask for your students. Once I had them bring in their own, but it didn’t work out so well. I now buy them at OrientalTrading.com. They are much cheaper this way (about $5 per dozen).

Assorted acrylic paints – I have a few basic colors, but I offer extra credit to students who bring in paint. I use the small bottles from Wal-Mart. You won’t need very much. (Black and white are the most popular, so sometimes I buy a big bottle of both and tell the kids to bring in other colors.) TEMPERA PAINT DOES NOT WORK.

You will need plain white paper and markers or color pencils for the initial design.

Expect students to have a few do-overs, just make sure they let everything dry between layers.

I have also let students make miniature mask magnets of their designs. I have no examples because these make fantastic Christmas gifts to parents. They couple this with a nice copy of their short story and parents go wild! (I usually buy these blank magnets at oriental Trading, but they are currently out of stock. It would be cool for students to use clay to create their own magnet.)

This project leads to the study of other masks African, Native American, Mardi Gras… It would make a great museum of International Masks in your school. Students could also paint their own faces and wear costumes for a day.

Welcome to the Chinese Opera!

Scenes from the Opera

The actors are getting ready for the opera.

They paint their own faces.

Chinese Opera Mask, Guan Yu

Red Color Red indicates

devotion, courage bravery,

uprightness and loyalty.

Chinese Opera Mask, Zhang Fei

Black symbolizes roughness and fierceness. The black face indicates either a rough and bold character or an impartial and selfless personality.

Chinese Opera Mask, Tu Xingsun

Yellow signifies fierceness, ambition and cool-headedness.

Chinese Opera Mask, Lian Po

Purple stands for uprightness, sophistication and cool-headedness. The reddish purple face likewise shows a just and noble character.

Chinese Opera Mask, Xia Houdun

Blue represents staunchness, fierceness and astuteness.

Chinese Opera Mask, Cao Cao

White suggests sinisterness, treacherousness, suspiciousness and craftiness. Commonly seen on the stage is the white face for the powerful villain. It highlights all that is bad in human nature: cunning, craftiness, and treachery.

Chinese Opera Mask, Zheng Wun

A green face tells the audience that the character is impulsive and violent and depicts surly stubbornness, impetuosity and a total lack of self-restraint.

Skills in Painting Chinese Opera Masks

• Clean face and base powder.

• Draw eyes

White chalk on face.

Black eyeholes, black lines.

Draw the red line.

Finish drawing face.

Assignment

• Create a mask of your own design on paper.

• Write a short story about your created character with name and description. Be sure to match the disposition of your character with the colors used.

• Paint a 3-D model of your design. (Use a pencil to draw the design first – you will only receive ONE blank mask.)

Schedule

• 1st day – Make a pencil design of created mask.

• 2nd day – Start to color masks• 3rd day – Continue to color• 4th day – Finish coloring & start story• 5th day – Continue story (A-grade stories must be typed.)

• 6th day – Pencil your design on your mask• 7th – 10th days – Paint your design (Back ground

colors must dry before you paint accent colors, some colors require more than one coat – BE PATIENT!)

• 6th day – Pencil your design on your mask• 7th – 10th days – Paint your design

– Back ground colors must dry before you paint accent colors– Some colors require more than one coat – BE PATIENT!– If you make major mistakes, wait for everything to dry and cover

entire mask with white or black paint. THEN let it dry over night. Avoid having to do this!

• Be ready to present your design and story to the class.

Schedule continued

Student Examples

Video of authentic Chinese Opera