liquid paints, glitter spitter, hygiene, long post, sorry!

Hi Everyone I just wrote a very long post introducing myself with lots of information which I then somehow deleted (I think) as I tried to put a link to my gallery in the post. So maybe my post got sent somewhere on the site but if so I have no idea where! LOL!!

So my questions are . . . I'm new at this. With liquid paints like Fardel, Fantasy WW, Mehron, what kind of palette do you use to squeeze the paints onto. They come in a pump or tube.

Also with liquid paints-- I read on this site that for hygiene some people use a clean brush for each child, but with liquid paints, they do not seem to work with wet brushes so I was keeping a separate brush in each color today when I was practicing and just using the same brushes on each child (my own children). With the paint cakes I guess you would just rinse the brush between each color and use one brush per child, and then wash the brush between children, but I don't think that will work with liquid. I was hoping liquid paint would cut down on the time it takes to paint each child since I won't need to worry about whether my brush is too wet or too dry with paint/ water, and I won't have to rinse the brush out and keep changing water.

Another question- with the glitter spitter- when I got it, it looked like it had one of those plastic tips that needs to be cut off in order to use the product but I think maybe I was wrong. Now that I have cut off the tip, the glitter pours out, it doesn't puff by any stretch of the imagination, I think I might have ruined it.

Thank you for any help you can give. I have been doing face painting at my own children's birthday parties a couple of years now and recently volunteered at an event at my synagogue and one at my children's school. I want to get better even if it is for just volunteer work.

Welcome.

I use lids from cream cheese, yoghurt, etc. as palettes... we go through yoghurt around here like water so I have tons. Just squeeze out what I need.

However I don't work with creams on FP gigs, use them more for body painting and one-of jobs.

I put liquid Fardel in small squeeze bottle and squeeze out what I need for each person. I only use the black on gigs. The others I use for one-of work.

With the glitter poofer, i have done that too and it works if i hold it at just the right angle depending on how much glitter is in there! Right now it works at 10:00. Meaning if i point the tip toward 10:00 on a make believe clock, it poofs lol

What is a one-of job?

One person, one time. A custom design for a photo. A competition piece. etc.

Or it could be... "one of" those jobs you wished you never did? If you're me that is... Long story.

I use a stainless steel palette personally for liquids (I used to use plastic ones but they kept holding the stain of the paint).

I use a clean/new brush for a child (for each colour) and I don't go back into the paint cake or dippy pot with a brush that has been on a child, however if I'm using liquid I can go back to the palette (then just clean the palette off for the next child and put out new drops of paint). After I'm done with a child I clean the brushes and set them aside to dry - and don't go back to them till they are dry.

If you are practicing on your own children with liquids, you could practice putting out a few drops at a time of a colour (to get a sense of how far a bit will take you), and keep using the brush in the colour till you are finished practice for the day - as long as you aren't going back into the bottle (just using what you put out), you won't have any sanitation/hygiene issue.

If you are looking at cleaning out a brush between colours/children and it isn't a hygiene reason, if you wash it out, then dry it by dabbing it on a towel or tissue you should be able to go back to the liquids without introducing extra water.....

Thank you so much for explaining that Noella. If you use one brush per color and per child, that means multiple brushes per child. How many brushes do you use per event? You must need a lot. Also, what liquid paints do you use. I think I made a mistake by buying the Fantasy WW creams because they can't be used for line work, they just are goopy. Also, do you use the liquid paints with sponges to do backgrounds?

In a 4 hour event (typical I'm contracted for), I can paint upwards of 120 kids (if I'm doing brush/sponge work not airbrush or glitter tat), so 500 or so brushes (if I wasn't reusing any). Since I can reuse a brush every 20-30 mins or so after I'm sure it is dry, in reality I use less than a hundred at an event - but I carry more so that I have what I want re size and shape when I want it....

I have sponged on liquids - I also use them with airbrush - I use Kryolan airstream and the Mehron liquids personally - I have them in 1/5 oz bottles (with a dropper top) that I can easily squeeze out just what I need as I need it. I also use cakes (especially split cakes) when I'm doing brush/sponge work.

can you suggest where to get a stainless steel palette like you suggested? Also, do you use the liquid paints for your line work? I am very impressed you have so many brushes! I just started so I guess it takes time to build up to them.

For liquid paints use photo paper or such glossy paper cut into small pieces. Toss when finished.

Stainless steel palettes I've gotten from makeup trade shows/suppliers. I have used liquids for line work before, but do not typically like it - I have Wolfe cakes (and have made dippy pots of black and white) that I use. Shannon uses the black Fardel liquid....

If your painting large volumes of kids it would probably be more cost effective to buy some face paint like TAG, DFX, Paradise, etc form the www.facepaintforumshop.com (the shop that runs this forum). It's much easier to learn w/ than the liquid paints & will last longer.

Since you cut the tip off your glitter, when you use it, remove the lid, dip the non-bursh end of your paint brush in water, then dip it in your glitter. Roll the glittered brush over your design. I do this if I forget to poof glitter on before the design dries.

BTW, welcome to the forum! It's a fun, friendly & informative place!

Thank you for the tip about the glitter. What is the proper way to use the glitter spitter if I ever get another one? Does it come with a small hole in the tip?

About the paints- I had been using snazaroo paints and have one cake of all the main colors but it was taking me forever to get the right consistency of water to paint. Each time I dipped the brush in the paint I would need to test it on my hand to make sure it was not too watery or too dry. I also have trouble layering colors, especially black and white, but there are SO many designs (expecially cheek art) that require layering black and white- soccer ball, panda, whale. I thought maybe the liquid paints would be easier to layer because they are less watery but that doesn't seem to be the case. I can't sit and wait for a design to dry before layering another color on top so I am not sure what to do. Is there a good way to learn how much water to put in the paint? I just got my first TAG rainbow cake and I am having the same problem with that and the sponge. I got too much water in the sponge and when I pat it on the face the paint is sort of dotty with little watery spaces in there. I just find it so hard when i get too much water on a design. It basically ruins it. Any help is welcome!

maybe you need to try some of the other brands of paint...wolfe black and white are in my opionion the best for line work..I use mostly dfx and tag..and some paridise..i love the split cakes when it come to using multiple colors...
ck out the paint on the forum shop here..great prices great shipping.