Not fast enough

Hi all:
I did a festival on Saturday and I estimate I painted 80 kids in 7 hours. Not good....my line was 2 hours long all day. I've been doing this a while, so I don't know why my speed is not better. I hate feeling rushed, and since I'm no Brian Wolfe, my painting can get quite sloppy if I try faster.
Any suggestions? I know my main problem is I never can get my brush loaded correctly! when using white and black I have to constanting re-wet my brush. I think the paint should get to a creamy consistency, but mine never does. Any help is greatly appreciated. Don't know what I'm doing wrong with loading my brush. My white is always too wet and you can see right thru it.

Have you tried poking a hole in the center of your white and black and making a little well?

One positive thing is that your work must be worth waiting for!!!

How often do you get to paint?

See this thread. http://www.facepaintforum.com/t1516-metina-s-dippy-pot?highlight=dippy+pot

I tried a dippy pot recently and it really did speed things up for me!

I also have this stupid habit of rinsing my brush too often... I do some black linework, wash my brush, then realize there's still some black linework to do... d'oh!

So I'm trying to get into the habit of having a black-only brush, and a white-only brush, to keep my water cleaner and stop reloading so much.

I don't get faster neither, when I rush I don't have problems with my lines but I forget important parts in the design, I don't what to do.

PerfectlyPaintedFaces wrote:I tried a dippy pot recently and it really did speed things up for me!

I also have this stupid habit of rinsing my brush too often... I do some black linework, wash my brush, then realize there's still some black linework to do... d'oh!

So I'm trying to get into the habit of having a black-only brush, and a white-only brush, to keep my water cleaner and stop reloading so much.

Don't feel bad, I do the same thing constantly! It is a hard habit to break, especially when you are in a rush.

Isn't 80 kids in 7 hours good? How many would you like to paint per hour?

a professional painter should be able to paint at least 15 faces per hour, which would mean that over a 7 hour period, they should be able to paint at least 105 faces.

I forgot the tiger stripes on the bottom half of one face and the mom had to remind me. Embarrassing!!

Perry, I wish I could be speedier and it still look halfway decent. But it's not happening for me. I see all these great videos on you tube, but the designs take forever! Can you suggest a good video of designs I could buy, ones that aren't for beginners, but sort of middle of the road?

Another thought... examine your designs. If there are places you are spending a lot of time blending, consider a split cake, or double loading the sponge and doing it with one pass instead of two.

I also find wetting the paint, drop by drop from a bottle, works better for me that dipping a brush-

You might also look at the ergonomics of your set-up. If you have to reach over something over and over to get to something else, move the something else closer.

Pinky1249 wrote:Perry, I wish I could be speedier and it still look halfway decent. But it's not happening for me. I see all these great videos on you tube, but the designs take forever! Can you suggest a good video of designs I could buy, ones that aren't for beginners, but sort of middle of the road?

A lot of the YT stuff is great BUT is a bit too detailed for speed work, no matter how "fast" you actually paint.

Try to work on simplified designs... just because some books and videos may be called beginner does not mean that the designs are necessarily too basic.

Work on designs, time them and see where you are taking the most time...

For me it was always the blending that took up the time...

I agree, it's the sponging, which I stink at. I can never get it even looking so I keep going over and over it. Also, I keep re-wetting my brush. I must wet it with every line I draw. I know that's not right!

Pinky1249 wrote:I agree, it's the sponging, which I stink at. I can never get it even looking so I keep going over and over it. Also, I keep re-wetting my brush. I must wet it with every line I draw. I know that's not right!

Just a suggestion but it sounds like you don't have enough paint on your sponge. The small amount of extra time you take to get a good load makes a world of difference. The more often you have to go over something the more likely you are to start picking up the paint instead of depositing it.

Good advice.....I always forget these wonderful tips when I'm in a hurry. You're absolutely right.

It is a lot of trouble...but if you will do your setup and practice the way you will work there will be a speed increase. Keeping white/black and a brush for each right by your right hand (if you're right handed!) Keep certain brushes for certain colors saves paint and time...often you may want to mist your brush rather than the paint if it is the same color.
Redo your board...the pic I just posted of Easter is a half tiger face...this was a very high end club and they were over joyed with the faces. Don't get , hung up on what you see in print, often this work was done in studio, not line work. Often places where kids are eating and drinking you are doing the mother's and yourself a favor by not doing full faces, the kids will be a mess in very short time. Also remember no matter how long your line WAS there were others that didn't even stop because of the line. If you are looking to make $$$ redo your faces, focus on your client not an artist ego, and work efficiently this is assembly line production work..just do it with a giggle and and make your space is a fun place to be. This year I cut all full faces for line work the tiger in my photo of Easter is Starblend white and orange and the only paint is black...the kid is thrilled and so were the people writing the check. IT also helps to have a mirror A NON BREAKABLE MIRROR situated away from you so the child gets out of the chair as soon as you give them a glance in your Mirror and run to the other mirror to really see...this also provides entertainment for the line since they will all be watching the kid looking in the mirror. It's a learning journey each and every gig, so lots of luck!

work on loading your sponge... if you can get 90% of the design done with some good sponging, the line work takes nothing at all. The best fast designs (in my opinion) are the ones that are almost all sponging... like puppies and butterflies. You don't need more designs, you need to get faster at the ones that you already know... a new book or video is just going to slow you down more by giving you more and more "new" things to worry about... back to basics.

you all are great. Thanks so much for the "tips"! I do find the star blends are much faster (and when it comes to skulls, more subtle.