Kumadori

隈取 / 1673– / Style / Stage Design

Kabuki makeup that exaggerates muscle and vein in red and indigo lines, diagramming a role's character on the face. With Sharaku's actor prints, the origin of the strong graphic face in Japanese design.

Kumadori — Sharaku, Ōtani Oniji as the Servant Edobei 1794 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain
Sharaku, Ōtani Oniji as the Servant Edobei 1794 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain
Kumadori — Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as Kamakura Gongorō in Shibaraku 1895 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain
Ichikawa Danjūrō IX as Kamakura Gongorō in Shibaraku 1895 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

At a glance

Visual cues

  • Red and indigo kuma lines
  • Musculature drawn as pattern
  • White ground
  • A color code of character

Best used for

  • Stage makeup and character faces that state temperament through line and color
  • Posters and packaging where one strong face has to carry the whole design

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Dictionary entry

Type
Brushed letters that match the stroke energy of the makeup lines
Composition
Crop tight to the face and let brow and eye lines set the axis
Material
Red and indigo brushed over white, the bristle streaks left showing
Caution
Drawing the red and indigo as pure pattern breaks the code that marks good, evil and the superhuman, leaving a decorated face that states nothing.
Further study
Ichikawa Danjūrō I / the types and colors of kuma / Sharaku's ōkubi-e portraits

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