How can I get started in a career as a makeup artist for the dead?

Start with phoning your nearest funeral home, tell them what you would like to do and ask some questions. Maybe they can refer you to a course for this type of make up work.

Hi raquelm...
Most of the time funeral homes use the training of the funeral director/embalmer. We don't hire from the outside simply because eits not cost effective... When I went through my schooling for Mortuary Science, in order to get my degree and license, part of my studies were the study of restorative art and color, and facial structure and measurements... You may luck out and find a mortuary who would hire you to assist in the prepping room but I guarantee they will have ypou doing other things, like mopping, janitorial, transporting bodies, running documents when there are no bodies to makeup... Not everyone who goes through a mortuary is viewed publicly or embalmed so you may not be able to do hair and makeup for many days at a time...