Practicing and irritation

I am really really starting to think that I just suck at face painting. I cant get my line work to look good at all. I am taking forever to make mediocore faces. I want to practice more, but my kids are either WAY too fidgity or just dont want to do it, so I just feel frustrated at them when they are constantly moving or looking down. I tried to paint the super heros on my kids and a couple neighborhood kids faces today and one-it took forever when it should have been really quick and easy, two- they looked really blah, and three-one of the boys was already sweating his off by time I took the picture of them together because they were playing catch in the yard. Mind you it wasnt even hot out today. Uhggg....I'm just feeling very discouraged today. I'd like to practice a whole lot more but just dont have the faces to practice on and dont have too many extra supplies to be wasting if I am not making money.

I wear shorts and practice on my thighs and arms as much as possible. I try to do 100 teardrops and swirls a night to attain muscle memory (where your hands just do it without you even trying

I did that for a week and got almost perfect teardrops when I did this mask...



I don't have anyone to practice on except my 15 year old daughter, who ONLY lets me do a face when I need a picture taken for my board (which isn't very often these days... so I practice on myself. I'm beginning to paint on myself but with my nearly 50-year-old face and wrinkles, the designs don't come out so good

I'm sorry you're having such a frustrating time.
What about saving up for a practice head? Or see if a local beauty school will give them away when they are done chopping at the hair?

I agree about practicing on yourself - legs, arms, etc. for teardrops, swirls and line work.

My daughter got a lot more paintable once we figured out the soapy washcloth trick. Before that, we'd just use baby wipes to get most of it off and then a washcloth. It ended up re-depositing the paint and making it harder to remove, which made her skin hurt. Now removal is a snap and super fast. She doesn't mind being painted anymore.

But a practice head stays up way past her bedtime and never fidgets.

I am going to have to start doing that. Great tip! Thanks! I look at all of you lovely peoples designs and faces and feel so unworthy of facepainting. I really hope I can start getting better soon. I feel like my hand or their face is shaky all the time as well. So it is so hard for me to draw straight or nice looking lines. I'm going to practice and practice tonight.

All there is between you and us is lots of practice! You can do it The talent is there- you're doing great!

I have the same problems. Line work is real hard... Watch some silly heather videos and also line work can depend on your brushes and paints. I practice with less expensive paints snaz that I can buy locally and it's really difficult for me to do good line work, but tag yippee. Much better. Keep practicing. Try WiMAX for practice heads and fake skin. Good luck you can do it!

Dear Mita:
What brand(s) of paint do you use?

I actually have picked up a few different brands. I have the little pallette of Paradise, some Tags, and some Snaz. I would like to get Wolfe for my line work but the shop seems to always be sold out. Right now I am using Snaz for white and paradise for black.

Keep at it

And yeah, lots of great real esstate on legs, arms, hubbys arms... Actually hubbys BACK is a great canvas too, or a kids back, sometimes if you plunk em in front of a movie they'll let you paint their backs.

You'll be amazed how quickly you get better, I look at my pictures from a year ago and shudder

Also DFX is great for linework as well I haven't tried wolfe, but I looove my DFX black and white, goes great over paradise

Brushes and paint consistency make a huge difference. Although I wouldn't recommend it for business (because I found it flakes) you might go buy a bottle of Ben Nye liquid makeup from a costume/makeup store to practice with if you want to practice on skin (abt $8.00). That way you don't have to mess with the consistency and you won't have to waste your good Wolfe or TAG black.

The other option is to get some watercolor paper and use acrylic paint to get the swirls and groupings right. The acrylic paint is the right consistency for line work and it's a cheap alternative to your face paints for practice. You might even be able to use it on waxed paper but I'm not sure.

I really stunk at line work and still do if I try to hurry too much. It takes a bit of concentration to do the thin to thick to thin and get that nice point but it makes a huge difference in your designs. Make sure your brush is at close to a 90 degree angle and use your pinky...all the good artists do.

I would start with a #3 because #4's are a little big if you are just starting. I hope you aren't discouraged too much because your pictures look pretty good if you ask me. My first stuff was pretty much a mess, especially my full face stuff. We all start out badly except for a few people and it's usually because they've been painting for years before they even started face painting.

D.

Just something to add about the shakes... learn to use your pinky. Stabilize your hand against their face with your pinky while you do your lines. Just be careful if you get paint on your pinky, that you don't deposit different coloured finger prints on another part of their face.

I say; don't get discouraged! When all else fails... sit down and have a drink

One other alternative is a notebook paper protector sleeve and a picture of a face. You can wipe it off, and paint it again and again. Great for speed, muscle memory, and the price is right!

Paradise is not always the easiest for line work because it is so thick and creamy (in my experience). I'm sure when we have as many designs under our belt as Mark Reid, our line work with Paradise will be as perfect as his, but until then, I use Wolfe and Dfx interchangeably for line work since Wolfe isn't always available. They are almost identical in terms of consistency. Your superheroes looked good! I agree that all you'll need is practice. I had a discouraging day on Monday when I was trying to practice. Nothing was coming out the way I wanted it to! Don't give up!

Miss Ronnie wrote:I say; don't get discouraged! When all else fails... sit down and have a drink

My thoughts exactly!!!!!!!!
Also no caffeine before painting...

When i first started I thought, in 6 months I would have it all down, boy was I wrong. It has taken me two years to start liking my strokes and designs. Don't quit, hang on!

Omg yes it is frustrating. I really dont like practicing on my practice head anymore, the real thing is way more fun. I have great teardrops and swirls on my arm, but put them to a face with contours and wrinkles yikes!!! Hang in there and remember your your worst critic.

Just remember, your images (from what I can see) are still 100x better than a lot of face painters who make no effort to learn new designs and can only do their same things over and over. You'll improve a ton in a short time if you just put a little bit of effort in everyday.


D.