Improve you face painting by with advice from face painting professionals.
Face painting is a rewarding way to express your creativity. Seeing the happy and surprised looks on children's faces when you show them their painted faces in the mirror is extremely satisfying. Enjoy your face painting experiences even more by following a few helpful face painting guidelines.
Have Proper Equipment
Having the correct equipment and supplies when face painting is essential. Use water-based face paints and soft bristled brushes, including a small round detail brush, medium round brushes, large round brushes, and a fan brush. Use latex-free sponges to cover larger areas on the face and to do base coats quickly. Keep wipes at your station to correct mistakes. Also, bobby pins, hair clips, head bands or hair gel can be used to hold hair away from the face. Sparkles are always a big hit with children, but make sure you get non-toxic sparkles that can be used on the skin and face. Have a mirror on hand to show children the finished product and a camera to take pictures of your work. Make sure you get permission from parents before you take pictures.
Care for Equipment
Keep a clean inviting work station so that people are drawn in to get their faces painted. Empty dirty water on a regular basis as you are face painting. Clean your brushes, sponges and paint with hot water after every event. Use a different sponge for every color. Discard face paints older than 18 months. Do not leave your brushes face down in the water because it will warp the brushes. Use only a very little bit of water to moisten and load the sponge and do not let the sponges soak in water.
Learn the Basics
Learn and practice a few basic face painting designs. Expand your repertoire of faces as you become more comfortable with face painting techniques. Learn basic brush strokes such as the comma stroke and the teardrop stroke. The comma stroke is done by pressing the brush fully down then lifting the brush as you curve and end the stoke with a point. The teardrop stroke is accomplished by dragging only the tip of the brush a short way on the face and then ending the stroke by pressing the whole brush down. Learning these strokes will refine the look of your face painting designs and will save time when you are face painting.
Working with Children
Face painting a child is more difficult than painting on a canvas. A child's face is not flat like a canvas and painting a child can sometimes be like hitting a moving target. Hold the child's head with your hand to steady the child. Use your pinkie finger pressed against their face to steady your hand. Make sure the child's face is clean and that the hair is out of their face. Speak to the child with a kind, friendly voice and always smile. Ask children to close their eyes when you are painting around their eyes and ask them to turn their head or put their head up as you need them to to facilitate painting.
Have Insurance
If you are face painting as a business or on a regular basis, you need to get insurance for your face painting industry to protect yourself and the people you are face painting. Responsible employers will not hire a face painter without insurance. Professional face painters know that having insurance is essential in the unfortunate event that there is a liability issue.
