Going to do my first event! AHHH!!!

Help! I don't know what to do! Please help me.
What are the basic things that I need AND
please tell me the basic designs I need to know!

I have chair and table.
No kit yet just a sample Wolfe kit. Going to get real thing next week. Any advice?
I don't have enough brushes yet... But Im still testing out which ones i like best.
I have wipes, paper towel, cups for water.
.......
The event is on the 18th

....wait....



If it's a birthday party, you might live, if it's large event, you better hope your larger paints arrive in time.

For more information on the BARE BASICS and other extras see this write up.
Face Painting Kit Essentials
It will tell you everything you need to know about what to have in your kit.

lailatov wrote:please tell me the basic designs I need to know!

*sigh* This is a huge question... ok... What designs you do are entirely up to you. You can choose to do only cheek art, or full face and cheek art if you want. You can choose to have only a few designs to choose from, many designs, or open the floor to any and all requests. Generally, it's a good rule of thumb to have at least 5 or so that each gender would 'classically' enjoy. But the old standby's are Butterfly, Tiger, and Spider-man; i always find those are the top 3 most popular over the years. If you don't have photos of your work yet, you can make a word selection board.

But again, which designs you offer is entirely up to you.

Now just a word because you are new....

While we do our best to answer everyone's questions, we are not here to hold your hand. Yes, feel free to ask questions and join in discussions, but asking us to basically tell you how to be a face painter is sorta lazy. Please realize the questions you just asked were HUGE. It's up to YOU to also do your own research about products, designs and so forth. You can learn a lot from this forum, and don't be shy to ask specific questions, but don't expect the talented seasoned pro's to let you suckle from their teat so to speak.

Having brushes and paints in your kit is base basics here. Practicing at least SOME designs before charging for your work is expected. 


If you are are serious about being a part of the industry, then be serious, get your kit together. Practice practice practice, then when you are feel ready and not to overwhelmed perhaps then you can start doing gigs, and charging for them. Don't throw yourself off the boat to learn how to swim. That's just my opinion.

Finally if you want to do the best thing ever for yourself as a face painter then go to FABAIC. Its like RIGHT there where you live in Ft Lauderdale (lucky schmuck  ).

Sign up for an Intensive Workshop
Recommend:
Fun Faces for Kids with Nick Wolfe
and
Jay Bautista - Best of Both Worlds
But there are LOADS more then this.
This will be one of the best investments you can make, trust me.

They will also be selling paints, brushes and other products there. So don't miss it. Good luck.

Okay.... I appreciate the help. I HAVE done my research but I wanted this forums opinion. A face painter booked me, its her company and I live down the street from silly farm.
I thought this was a friendly forum where I can ask questions however stupid they were and not get treated like a "sigh, here we go, waste of time".
I wanted to actually talk to real live face painters that have experience and not just watching videos and reading. Maybe they have a different take on things. I'm just gathering information from all sources. I  specifically posted that I am a newbie so I wouldn't annoy more seasoned artists with my questions. Working face painters would know what's popular out there, what to bring to an event/gig and maybe even what brushes they have found to be best. Even though I know it differs from what you feel comfortable. NOT asking anyone to hold my hand, the only reason I don't have all my equipment is merely financial.
Maybe I should find a better place to ask my questions. So sorry to annoy you, experienced face painters.
It's not easy entering into something that you know nothing about. As a community we rely on the experienced to LEND a hand and show the ropes.
As my knowledge grows the less stupid my questions become.
Funny thing, I was speaking to one of the directors of Silly Farm the other day and she told me that before she even painted one face, she already had business cards and a company set up.
Maybe I should have specified in my post that its a birthday party for kids and that it's for another company.  
I appreciate any advice and help but please don't assume I'm lazy because I am asking for help.

Here's another question!
how do I delete myself from this forum?
or
maybe you can just delete me, thank you.

omg really?

Look at it from our perspective, we get tons of newbs in here all the time asking us the bare bones of bare basics all the time because they don't have to time to search through the forums and find the answers themselves. So many that a even WROTE a huge article on the topic just to link them too, it's that many.

I don't like having to tell every new person about how they need a mirror in their kit, or hand sanitizer. 

Like I said in my original post, you CAN ask questions, i highly encourage it (I said it twice in fact), but seriously asking people to walk you through it step by step from the very beginning is really asking a LOT. If you ask specific questions that generally doesn't annoy as many people. If you post "OMG derp! I know nothing, quick teach me everything, like right now. Derp."  you can see how that's not exactly the best. If you lurked the forum more, you wouldn't even need to ask these questions.

Remind me of the redddit forums people post things like "Teach me HTML! Go!"

*face palm*

Do you understand?

lailatov wrote:As a community we rely on the experienced to LEND a hand and show the ropes. 

And many of us do that. Ask, around, if if you lurked more you'd see I'm actually one of the top posters when it comes to helping out newbies. In intro threads I encourage people to post new threads and ask questions (aka: beyond the basics of basics). It takes the rare question to make me eye twitch.

But also, did I not answer ALL of your questions??? Was not the information I provided helpful to you? I could have just chosen to point out how silly it is to accept gigs before having a working kit, but instead I actually took the time to help you out (that's gratitude for ya). The price I changed was a small note about, how we do not exist for you, or for newbies to pick our brains. This forum is by face painters, for face painters, it's not a school. Most of us have spend hundreds of dollars on books, class's, traveling to jams, FABA subscriptions, and countless hours watching videos and reading forums and blogs. We earned our knowledge.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO like I said in my last comment. Ask questions all you like, but know that simply being on the forum and joining means that many are going to expect you to at least know SOME of the absolute basics.

P.S. I am sorry if I come off a bit harsh. I tend to speak my mind and tell it how it is. Not everyone is as hard a$$ed as me on the forum . You don't have to leave just because ONE person was mildly annoyed by the 100th person to say what you said. Again sorry, but also try to look at it from my point of view.

Now go sign up for FABAIC. lol

Dear lailatov:
I read your original question.
And, for once in a very long long time...
I skipped trying to answer it.
I try to make people feel as welcome as I was welcomed in the beginning.
The answer to your question was too big for me.
Nobody could type in the correct answer for you.
There are all different paints, all different artists, and SO many different techniques and artistic styles. You are better off learning one thing at a time.
This Forum is a fantastic resource for face paint artists who are striving to get better. There are brand new painters, all the way up to seasoned pros here, asking and answering questions.
This is an amazing place to meet other face painters.
This is the place to ask questions.
This is a great place to get your work critiqued... NOT criticized... There IS a difference between the two. If you post and share your work to be critiqued in the thread "Show and Tell" you must ASK to be critiqued. This is to prevent troll-like behaviour. That thread is for brand new people to learn how to post their work. This Forum is a place to help people improve. You have to tell us what you need to work on in order to get better. I would never show up on a Forum and announce "Teach me everything, all at once!".... because I could not process the answers.
Forest-Fairy is wise and funny and tender with new people just starting out. There is no font to indicate warmth, sincerity, or tone of voice. Forest-Fairy wrote out, in a much funnier way than I would have written, that we cannot do it all for you. You have to start from somewhere. There are collective years worth of wisdom in some of the older threads. You will find a lot of valuable information and only you will know which is the best advice for you, because we are all different painters.
Read the back posts on specific areas...
best brush
sponges
best brand(s) of paint
best glitter
kit set up
sanitizing
insurance
etc.
You can read for years, and you will never get any better unless you practice, practice, practice. After 17 years, I STILL practice my tear drops. You can read all the books, and look at all the step-by-step pictures. You can watch face painters actually painting. You can attend jams and try new types of paints, and see other painters' set up and kit.
And...
you will never get better unless you actually paint.

I lurked on this Forum for months before I ever joined... and then it was forever before I posted.

I am thanking Forest-Fairy for saying what was in my head, in a much funnier way, than I would have said to you.
Go and practice.
And read.
And practice.
And come back and tell us how you are struggling, and what you specifically need help with, and you will find all different answers.
Nobody can tell you everything you need to know, all at once... unless you reread every single post in this Forum. I did not even try to answer your original post.

Happy Practicing!

I agree with the above comments... I am a brand newie... I started face painting back in September and still haven't done a party/event as I still don't think I have enough practice in the technique's... I watch YouTube videos, tutorials, I bought books and practice nearly daily (n my kids when they let me or my myself).... I used this forum for ideas, tips, tricks and I love the games...

for an 18th I personally would do simple eye designs for the girls and superheros for the boys..

lailatov I'm going to tell you from my own personal experience that what you're about to embark on is pretty brave. Pretty crazy, but brave none the less. I did a county fair for my first "real" gig. It is sink or swim.

My advice:
First and foremost... please go back and re-read Forest-Fairy's post until it no longer offends you and you can get the content from it. It'll be a good exercise in thickening your skin, which is very necessary in this business. You'll definitely need it with jumping in like you are because you are going to hear all kinds of opinions.

You need to continue at least lurking, but hopefully participating in this forum and use it as a training tool. It is the best!

Also, go watch those youtube videos again and again and again. Practice swirls and tear drops on your legs until you begin to question whether or not they are permanent.

Use that wolfe palette to learn how to load brushes and sponges before the event.

Find children and paint them before the event so you can at least start out being comfortable with your own setup and process. This will help speed things along as you are going to be slowww. You will be slow when first starting. Speed comes with lots of practice. It used to take me eight minutes to do two minute designs. Now it takes me eight minutes to create a whole new two minute design for upcoming events.

The designs you need to learn for your first event are the tiger, the butterfly mask, the fairy mask, quick flowers, a pirate and at least one superhero. Add a rainbow and another superhero and you should be able to keep your head above water. Don't paint anything you don't know, just say you haven't figured that one out yet. You can learn a Mermaid and a Graffiti Eye and keep them in your pocket if you need a "surprise" for the kid that can't decide what they want.

I hope this helps.

'Spose we'd have to know what designs you already know / are comfortable with. Being that it's only 16 days away I think you should definitely choose those.

That's not to say you don't have time to nail down a few more if you practice every day.

I recommend getting a month subscription to FABAtv at the very least. Do it, you won't regret it. And yes, go to FABAIC. My heart gets the flutters just thinking about the possibility of going some day.

I've only been painting since Feb of this year, so I'm brand new as well and before I even had ordered my kit essentials or had a brush in my hand I had been watching Youtube tutorials for a good month and a half and reading through this forum.

Definitely utilize the search bar in here it has helped me tremendously.

Good luck!

Thanks Ash_A!

lailatov - if you are doing your first public event in less than 3 weeks, i second the advice that practice will be the most important thing you can do to prepare.

wolfe face paint is a good brand to start out with.

pick a few designs and practice them until you are confident you can do them. do not attempt to do a design you have not practiced (been there, done that).

if you feel confident, you will have fun

if you live down the road from sillyfarm, that is a great resource for supplies and learning. if another face painter booked you, find out if you can hang out with her and learn from her.

Wow. It's been a minute since I've checked in. I can see why you got the "tough love" from Forest Fairy. And I can see why you were offended.
There's no easy answer, as Fessy said.
Your question wasn't specific enough. And when that happens, those of us who grew up with Moses get our panties in a bunch. (eye twitch, whatever you call it...)
Like Fess, when I came here, I read for hours... days... weeks! before I posted anything. I didn't want to be the one showing up, asking for a handout from the ones who have researched, studied, practiced, and DONE it, until I had a legitimate question that hadn't been asked and answered multiple times.
YouTube is a wealth of information, like it or not, from what tools and products to use, to how to use them.
There is a search bar at the top of this page, where you can find specifically what you want to know, if you type in a key word or two. I know there is an easier way to search the site, but I can't think of it, off the top of my head.
When you have a specific question, ask it! We do try to remember that we started somewhere, too. And we will try to lead you in the right direction.

I think we lost her...
I saw her post on Facebook about how mean we all were, and how nice the people were on Facebook.

I was very mean by totally skipping even trying to answer, or address her query, by guiding her into asking a specific question. I felt overwhelmed by even trying to start to answer her.

Some people can't take criticism of their actions even in the smallest about, or even own their actions. "Yeah guys, sorry, i'm just feeling overwhelmed and excited. I'm sorry if I asked a bit much, but I'm still excited to learn!"

See watch this even I can own stuff.
"I was too harsh. I've been frustrated with many things lately, and I should have been gentler. It was the straw that broke the camels back."

Did she seriously post about this on the FABAIC forum? She does realize a lot if not pretty much all of us are members for that forum too right?

To be fair, I also skipped the question (like fesspenter) because you didn't seem to put in enough effort in the post to warrant the amount of effort to answer everything.  Would have been nice if you had listed what you know already, etc.  There's tons of info on the forums that can answer a lot of what you're looking for already (posted by the exact group of people you're looking to get information from).

Also to be fair, I was ready to delete my account after my first run-in with Forest-Fairy (like you said in your 2nd post).  I hadn't come here for that kind of attitude or expect to receive that kind of reaction.   But I decided I wasn't going to let that experience ruin it for me.

I did find the post above to be a bit harsh when I was reading it, but your post was also a bit jaw dropping based on your circumstances and what you were expecting from the forums.  There is lots of information included in Forest-Fairy's post, the link to her blog and some humor within (that maybe you can't appreciate at this moment like the rest of us).

Explore the forums, read up and good luck on the 18th!  Happy painting!

lol littlemonsters totally!  what was it again? Px VS DPI or something stupid? lol It was silly, and I'm sure I was being stupid and pigheaded at the time.

Yeah I can be a bit intense with the info, sorry.  I'm Glad you stayed, and I'm sure you are glad you stayed too.

Yeah I was being a bit harsh, I let my 'always happy childrens entertainer' facade drop a little bit to say what I actually thought (and what i know others think). But I never swear at anyone or call names or anything, I'm just...... really blunt - when i want to be.

I agreed, her post was a bit jaw dropping indeed.

Cookies anyone?

I have cookies!
Oh!
Wait!
They are all gone!

xoxoxox

I'm too late for the cookies? This always happens... luckily I brought CAKE!!!

I read what she said in the facebook forum. Seemed pretty manipulative to me. Like FF said, she was playing the victim here with us, now she's trying it on the guys and gals over there. And over what? She made herself look silly by not doing her own research and her ego is bruised because of it.

I honestly wouldn't blame anyone from getting annoyed with lailatov's "questions". She didn't bother to read the FAQ or look up any of these topics on her own.

"Help! I don't know what to do! Please help me.
What are the basic things that I need AND
please tell me the basic designs I need to know!"

I don't even know where to begin with that. Are we supposed to just tell her everything all at once? AND she didn't have a kit ready and was booking gigs? Wow...  I don't know what to say...

"It's a lazy student that asks the teacher" it's the maxim that comes to mind..

I have to admit when I first joined the forum a few years ago everyone was roses and cookies so super nice and supportive and I loved it. I was a stupid newbie and asked what to buy in my first kit before reading the other posts.

I love Forest-Fairy's advice --when I first came back to the forum after a year and starting reading her comments I was taken back on how abrupt she was with her information, but now that I know her personality (on this forum) a little better I find a lot of what she says awesomely funny and true. She doesn't waste words.

I think we should have a standard pre-typed answer for any newbie that comes in and asks those basic questions. Maybe I will take some time and cut and paste the answers from this thread to make something to just cut and paste when the forum gets asked that the next time---we all know it is gonna keep happening.

Also I am surprised she asked us when she has a face-painter right near her and other awesome helps right in her area---I asked a TON of questions when I first started, but that was because the closest face painter to me was about 100 miles away.

I love this forum and all the help it has given me and hope that newbies keep coming cause this forum isn't just for seasoned painters, but everyone.

I'm just wondering... If you're hired by another facepainter to work for her/him, why don't you ask that facepainter for advice/tips/design examples/.... so you can maintain the same style of work, as you'll be working under his/her company name (I guess?)

lol thanks amy. ^.^ I'm so glad everyone has gotten to know me and I understand that reading things in text form you don't get the 'tone' with it. So the tone is really what ever you see it to be, and humor online can easily get turned into something that others see as being rude or offensive. :/ 

I too was a little surprised she was asking us those types of questions (bare basics) when
1. she booked a gig (so shouldn't she know this already?)
2. She knows a face painter in person

She stated that "I wanted to actually talk to real live face painters that have experience and not just watching videos and reading."

Soooooo why not talk to the one who lives near her and booked her for the gig? I mean sure it doesn't mean her can't ask us, but it does beg the question. If she really wanted to talk to a live face painter, wouldn't it be best to ask the very face painter who booked her for the gig? Wouldn't this face painter know more about the gig and be better able to answer her questions? (logically speaking)

Call it a hunch... maybe even spidy senses but.... I get the feeling she might have misrepresented herself to this other face painter who hired her.
Think about it.
1. Would any of you hire someone who didn't know what basic designs to paint, and didn't have a basic kit together?
2. Or if you did know how green (new) this person was that you were hiring... wouldn't you straight up tell them what they need to know? (which makes it odd that her asked those questions of us if this was the case)

I get the impression she didn't want to ask the real live face painter who hired her because she didn't want to give any impression that she didn't know what she was doing.

But again, that's just a guess from my own observation. *shrug*

I agree Forest-Fairy.

I thought someone else a long time ago was a little rude and then I figured out that English is her 2nd language and she was doing the best she could!

Dang I hate when I am wrong.

Personally, I clicked into the thread because I find it helpful to read about the perils and pitfalls of first outings with face paint so when I read the actual post I admit to rolling my eyes a bit myself... Especially since I've pretty much been working my way through old posts for seven or eight months.

With the forum's help (and nearly zero posts on my part) I managed to decide on a face paint brand, brushes, sponges, glitter (cosmetic, not craft), bought and fully stocked a fat max kit, learned about insurance, subscribed to FABA, have a plan for displaying designs, have an idea of what I will charge when I'm ready to paint, have narrowed down a business name to two or three (which I will NOT bug you with right now), know how I can probably increase the tips I will be getting, learned what signage is a must (unattended children will be given a bag of skittles, a 32oz Mountain Dew, and a puppy...)' how to be ready to adjust PPF prices and/or designs depending your mood, the crowd, or when it's just so hot in FL that even good paint won't cooperate or when a line gets so long you just want to get it moving, gotten great tips for how to handle the shape shifting nut bar, know I can find examples of instructions to hand out to parents about safely removing face paint, and know what designs I want to have nailed down before I get a gig.

I'm sure there is more but off the top of my head that is a pretty good list of all the info I've gleaned as a lurker on the forum.

I actually came on tonight with the intent of rummaging for what works as a tent layout at festivals and fairs. My dad is an artist (now mostly oil on canvas-- lots of landscapes, beach scenes, waves and such who painted carnival equipment and ride fronts for years. He also paints murals and art for kid's rooms and nurseries) and I go with him to lots of little showS and craft festivals. My idea is to set up next him with face paint and his paintings for kids in my booth and his landscapes and such in his booth. I did cheek art years ago at some local craft shows and did quite well but then I got sidetracked with a whole "career" as a teacher. I still teach elementary school, but haven't done anything more as a face painter than the occasional school carnival in ages.

So, I'm in practice mode now (although not as often as I should be since my 4th graders are kicking my butt this year (whew, what a group I have!). I may give my local flea market a try as a way to practice and build a portfolio.

All this is a rather long way of saying you folks have taught me a lot even if you didn't know it. In the meantime, I've also been thoroughly entertained by the personalities and posts of many on the forum. Now I'm off to use the search tool again.