How to train new painters

Im expanding and adding 3 balloon artist to my business and 2 face painters. Im going to train them this weekend. I know exactly what to do for the balloons, but with the face painting, I have no idea where to start. Any tips or advice.

First would be saftey and hygiene with a nice handout.
Professional acumen
Line work, blending and sponging
Practice.
A bit of color theory. What colors goes with what and doesn't, matching the kids clothes if possible.
Practice
Tiger, Butterfly, Spiderman

Make sure to have a few models on hand. I typically will paint the weeker side of the face and let them duplicate the work on the other. Make sure to get them painting and not just watching. They will need some confidence to go home and practice. I would not invest a huge amount of time as you want them to be hungry for it and show a bit of initiative. Gary Cole has a great write about about training on the Snaz site.

At beginner's workshops, I teach:

How to prepare paints, load brushes/sponges, etc
How to lay down a base and blend colors together - practice on arms
How to achieve quality linework (thin to thick to thin) - practice on arms
Then demo a few important designs and let them practice on each other while you walk around and give advice.

OC FUN wrote:Im expanding and adding 3 balloon artist to my business and 2 face painters. Im going to train them this weekend. I know exactly what to do for the balloons, but with the face painting, I have no idea where to start. Any tips or advice.

I want to come to your class too! Are these already twisters and painters, or are they brand new?
tips and advice will depend on who you're training (their experience) and what their goals, and yours are for the planned entertainment future.

Too bad you don't live close here to Md, There is a clown convention in town and classes are Fri and Sat that include balloon classes and face painting classes. And on the 17 there is a big FP Jam in Vienna Va, and on the 25th an all day FP class. Lots of training going on in this area it seems.

Jenny

One of the balloon twisters know's the basics. Then everyone else is completely new. I wish you could come to my class too, you could be my back upp teacher in case I my hand starts to shake too much LOL. I will be putting together a lesson plan and post it here just in case anybody wonders what I went with.

Hand shaking is a problem only when not used properly ; )
When it happens to you in class, its great to point out to students and create the lacy edged butterfly wings, fish fins, rose swirls, tree limbs, etc, with a shakey hand to illustrate. We all get shakey at one time or another, so use it to your advantage!
I would love to see your lesson plan.

For your critique and suggestions.

Welcome to the wonderful world of face painting and body art. In this class we will go over the basic skills that you will need to make any face painting design. By mastering these skills you will be able to paint beautiful designs in your future, but remember practice makes perfect.

Safety and Hygiene
1. All sponges and brush need to be washed in warm soapy water after every event.
2. At the event make sure you only use one sponge per person and that you are rinsing brushes after each person.
3. Brushes should not be used around the eye area, use a sponge.
4. Red paint should not be used to close to eyes.
5. Always use paints provided by you by OC Fun, if you chose to use other items please check in with us first. All our materials are FDA approved and we want to make sure everything being used is safe.

Blending and Sponging
(demonstration and practices)
Notes: __________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Color Theory
1. Matching clothes
2. Color wheel
3. Don’t be afraid to make suggestions to the kids when their colors don’t seem all together. But if they insist go right ahead.
Loading Brushes
1. Demo round
2. Demo flat
Notes:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Line Work
1. Thick to thin to thick
2. Tear drops
3. swirls
4. dots

Design time
1. Practicing some designs (butterfly, monster, snake, eye design)
2. Time to paint some kids ( I will either call a local restaurant I’ve networked with to let us jam, or setup in my driveway and post free face painting sign in the mobile home park I live in.

You may want to consider posting an announcement on the mailbox area or park bulliten board of the day & time free face painting starts to assure kids will plan to be there with parents for your students convience.