60 kids... 4 hours!?!?

Hi all, not sure if this is the correct section for this question but here goes!

I have a gig at the local childcare centre. They have about 60 kids to paint and want me for max 4 hours.

Keep in mind I am not BRAND new at painting but I do consider myself still getting the hang of it. I am not lightening fast (yet) so I am a little worried about how I will get all the kids done on time.

What would you do?
I thought about just doing cheek art but to be honest I don't know many designs that are jsut for the cheek.
I thought I would def put up a display and put up 3 boys designs and 3 girls designs for them to choose from.

I was thinking...Boy: Pirate, Spider, ?
Girl; Shooting star (rainbow) ; fairy (flowers, dots, glitter); ?

Any suggestions?

Wish i had some base blenders... would save me heaps of time. Have split cakes but no blenders...On that topic... does anyone know where I can find rectangular containers so i can make my own blender cakes?

Would love some advice! Thanksssssssssss!

Somebody post here how she did 40 kids in an hour, she had 6 designs for girls and 6 for boys, then she made a line for each design and paint by design so its save time. I personally believe you can handle this with just your split cakes and don't forget to include a fast rainbow butterfly in your designs for the girls.

There is a thread here about fast designs also.

Paint something pretty, cute, and fast on your face. Then you can suggest it to the girls, who will mostly say yes (if they are undecided, that is)!

Don't worry about having a gallery to choose from. Kids take AGES picking out something, and some just can't make up their mind with all the options (plus parents will butt in and suggest a change even after you've loaded your sponge). And when you're done they have something to compare their face to, which, when you are going faster than usual isn't usually better than what is in your gallery IYKWIM. Besides that, the freedom to paint without a restriction is actually pretty good and you'll have a chance to explore more variety.

And the other thing is to keep designs simple, often less is more.

I painted my first big gig today. Regional shopping centre, Saturday, raining, a big sale on in all the shops, AND Mack from Cars2 (life size) was on show for a national tour. I have never seen so many kids! It's hard to estimate but I feel like I painted around 15-20 kids an hour - I never would have imagined that was possible - and my line was HUGE. Around an hour wait was the answer when I asked some long-suffering parents. It didn't take me long to realise that I had to put my book/gallery away because it wasn't helping at all. Happily I found that the kids were mostly happy to come up with a request and I could keep it simple or a quick version of a standard. Eg, for spiderman I just painted white points above the eyes with the red background and black web inbetween. I picked it up from one of this forum's many talented painters, and the boys were happy enough while the line kept moving.

I think all the time I have spent putting together and admiring my inspiration files has paid off.

Speed (without compromising quality) only comes with time and experience so whatever your most time consuming design is, try timing it on yourself or someone else and multiply by 60. If it goes over, don't include that design. The last thing you want to do is work your hiney off for 4 hours and end up with a line of kids left at the end who still need to be painted! I'd overestimate your time needed a little to give yourself a little room for wiggly kids and other things that hold you up. Having a menu enables you to have more control in that you can choose the designs that you know you are comfortable with and take less time. And if you have less designs to choose from, it doesn't take as long for kids to pick. I've always had probably 30 designs on my simplest and quickest design board and 90% of the kids have no problem choosing by the time it's their turn. If they don't know what they want, you can paint the next kid who knows and is ready and they can wait it out another turn while they decide. Nothing like the threat of another kid going ahead of them to speed up the decision! ;-) For really simple designs,I'd definitely do a rainbow, butterfly, hearts, star, snake, spider, etc.

When working at schools or other small events with limited time and lots of kids, I select 5 faces for boys/girls.

I then make a pallet for each face and had my white/black/glitter handy.

Here are a few samples... mine are not the best (these are what I started out with.. last spring), but, you get the idea.. *s*

Boy ideas

Not my artwork

One color, using a sponge, and detailing with black/white

Not my artwork

The spider can be used for each.
Make a split, use a pouncer or round sponge, and then use black for legs and head.

Not my artwork

Snake - you could use the same color/split that you use for the monster face for this.
A quick swipe, make the head/eyes/tongue and you have it!


Barbed wire - make a squiggly line, then another in opposite direction. White highlights.. quick!


You might make something tribal (simple) for boys and/or girls. Either for faces or arms.
Boys in black, girls in black, or one of the splits that you're using with a black or white highlight.

What about camo for boys? Make a little pallet with four/five colors of browns/greens/etc... sponge erratically, and you have a camo face! (you could use the snake/monster colors for this as well)

One thing that I try to do: Use as much of the same color combo's as possible so that I'm not having to hunt for this or that color all the time.


Girls:


quick rainbow - add a few stars and teardrops and you have it!

Not my artwork

Use a fat round for wings, a few swirls and you've got a lovely butterfly face!

Not my artwork

I like this.. and it doesn't look difficult.. and fast!


This can be used for boys and girls... using the same colors that you already have out. I just squiggle as I'm making the lines, and add a darker shadow. Easy.




My first butterfly (heh).. I'm sure that you can improve.. but, you can do something similar ... very easy!


This can be for girls or boys..
Use it as it is.. with/without outline.
Use a small pouncer in rainbow/whatever split you have, and make a bracelet, or a crown, or a necklace.. quick!



****** Many of these images are NOT mine***********
They came from my inspiration folders... I started saving from the first, and didn't get the names of many of the artists... (for which I regret now).

I hope they help...
As I said above, I use many of the same colors for different designs, saving time searching for colors.

Best of luck![/u]

I don't know how to make these smaller, sorry.
Unless I used a program.. and, I don't have time just now.. my apologies for the size...
I copied them from my computer to here.. then uploaded, using the link thing above the chatbox.

As for the containers, I went to Party City.
They had little containers that had cards in them, I bought bunches.
Walmart used to have a little container that held watercolors, but, they no longer carry them (to my knowledge)

I usually make my own splits.
here are a few examples...
The splits are in front.. not all that I have, but, all that I needed for that event.

Yep, neon rainbow cake will be your best friend. Paint a rainbow butterfly on the first girl you paint and all the rest will want it. I did this at a party this weekend and my neon cake took a bashing. It's quick, it's effective and all the girls will like it. As for boys....Maybe a quick 1-stroke dragon on the face?

I think my post about this is under production line painting. Once a week I paint at a job that requires me to do 40 kids per hour. Its a pain in the behind and I only do it cause its with a company that book me a LOT year round and a few days a week during winter. And the kids I'm painting aren't local, they're tourists and the paint gets rubbed of as they go skiing all arvo afterwards. I don't think I'd do it if it was for my local kids. I do a rainbow with starbursts, a double dip flower crown, a snake or a spider. No faffing around, if they can't decide I tell them what their getting. 60 kids in an hour you're looking at 3-4 mins per kid no breaks for water changes etc. Honestly I would be telling them they may need you for longer...

Works out about 15 kids an hour with the 4 hours. So splits, pouncers, and sponges and minium linework and you will do it. Good Luck.

The most I've ever done in 4 hours was 78 and at the end of the gig I wondered off to the bathroom perfectly zombiefied. I offered 12 quick designs (the ones that would normally fall into my $3 range) and I had a line manager who kept the line going and told me what each child wanted. It was really an assembly line. I didn't enjoy it much at all.

That being said, 60 in 4 hours is a little more reasonable for me since my max falls into the 15-20/hr range. I agree with the above posts, if you're not at that max range yet, come up with some really simpliefied designs that still hold a little impact. Some examples:

*For the rainbow swirl that usually figure-8s around the eyes like a mask, I simplified down to a single swirl that frames one eye and embellish with some stars, swirls and teardrops.

*One sided butterfly: Make it smaller and more centered on the outer corner of the eye. You can lay down a colored base (I like Interferenze Silber) to make the design "bigger" but the butterfly can be smaller and the rest of the space filled with flowers or stars or whatnot.

* A few eyes swirls over a sheer base followed up with 3 or 4 double loaded teardrop pansies and some dots makes for a quick fancy eye design that never fails to be the most popular design of the day. I'm at the point were I can crank out one of those in 2 minutes and don't feel that I've sacrificed my artistic freedom.

It's doable and you have to first and foremost believe that you can do it...otherwise, no amount of practice or menu board tweaking will help you.
You can do it.... Much luck!

Hello All, I am new here and still an amatuer at face painting! I have been presented with a project on my job, which is to paint all of my leads faces as animals for the day! I am asked to do from dogs & cats to dragons & fish! I am having a difficult time finding designs for fish (looking for a bass!), Cougar, and a donkey!! Please let me know if you can help with photo examples, tips,etc! Here is my list: Bumble Bee, Butterfly, Cougar, Donkey, Mouse, Rabbit, Panda, Cat, Dog, Dragon, Fish?, Horse & Lion...Meaning a busy day!!!!!! Show date, May 2nd right now but may be moved up!!

To paint quickly while keeping your quality up, choose a few quick designs that you know you can do well. Keep them to one or two colours to keep your speed up. Do you have a butterfly brush? It would be handy in this situation.

Here are some of my fastest designs that might help you:

Have you tried Google...? Or the search function on the forum?

I typed in Face Painting Cougar on Google and there was actually a You Tube video...

Shannon Fennell wrote:Have you tried Google...? Or the search function on the forum?

I typed in Face Painting Cougar on Google and there was actually a You Tube video...

Long day at work makes my brain do weird things. When I read your post, the first thing I thought of was an over the hill female face painter on the prowl. LOL!

Seriously though, you CAN do it. I am not a professional (although I do have a love for this) and recently managed to get around 75 kids done in 5 hours with two setups and one pack up and location change. I was EXHAUSTED by the time I finished but the kids loved it. Boys wanted tigers, Spidey, and tribal designs. Girls wanted butterflies, princess crowns, Easter bunny, puppies, and one lone clown. I'm learning not to stress on the base so long as I do good linework.

I know I am, but what are you???

More like a plump house cat!

I've done half faces for a party with 45 kids in 2 hours. I was expecting 15 and 45 showed up. I did get paid very well and I did get all kids painted in that time it can be done and not just cheek art!

I've got a gig in the makings for 140 kids in 4 hours. I'm working on 30 second to 1 minute faces.

In Dec. I painted my 2nd graders class- 17 kids in 1 hour. I offered 6 designs, 2 of which were girl specific- only cheek art since it was at school (BOO!) Make sure you have a teacher to get the kids to be ready with their choices and to keep the line moving. My sons teacher could see when I was ready and would call the next 2 kids over for me. I actually had 2 chairs going at once so I could start the design and while that was drying I'd start the 2nd chairs design- it worked well for me. Good luck, I'm sure everything will go great!

I'm a total noob since I started painting in Oct. so feel free to ignore any of my advice! I will say that EVERY time I paint I learn something new.