word menu vs painted faces/pictures of work

I've got a small town event this evening, and am trying figure out the fastest way to get ready.

I've only used a word menu once, and, it wasn't for a PPF event.

I have been considering making a word menu, then having a few pictures of my work displayed.

But, I wonder if I'd be able to sell various cost faces, or, would I need to stick to a flat rate for them all... how can they judge the value of an $8.00 face over a $5.00 face if they only have words to select from?

arh.. I hate last minute deadlines.


To clarify - I'd be painting the designs on cardstock with a blank face to use as my display, not photographs.

Hi Kathy,
I was using a word menu too, so I wouldn't have to stick excatly to particular lines or look. Kids were OK with it, but I just made a board with pics for a town festival, and it went better with the pic board. Also, I was at another festival and most of the other face painters had pic boards and I thought I better get with it! Now I think, no matter where I paint, I'm going to do boards

PS ....I don't think it matters what you paint the faces on, as long as there's a visual of the actual painting itself.

Hi Tina,

I was just on facebook discussing this... *s*
I think that you're right.. I'd better get to painting!

(dragging my feet and muttering as I go.. *LOL*)

I swear, I've not be procrastinating... I've just ran out of time... as most of my time seems to be controlled by others... whew, what a week!

Thanks again!

I know, they're time consuming, but they can be used at multiple events. When I was done with my board, I put it in a heavy duty big plastic clear bag, cut the edges that were too wide and package taped the back closed. Now it's waterproof and looks great from the front.

With PPF, you do better with the pictures. You need eye catching visuals to pull them in. I paint mine on printed faces, and it works great! I toss in a few pictures here and there, and all my signs have pictures, but the kids are really attracted to the painted faces.

Hi there, a face painting mom!

It seems that you're right on that score... I'm just soooooooooo terrible at taking pictures.. *LOL*

I have tunnel vision in the worst of ways once I start painting.. ugh!

Thanks for sharing the info with us!

Thanks for the tips, TinafromNY!

I've got to figure out a better way of doing this... due to health issues, I've been on the fence deciding how to proceed.... I'm going to have to take the bull and wrestle "him" to the ground and get of the fence of indecision! *LOL*

Again, my thanks,

The event went well... got another this weekend, going to work on paintings this week to prepare.

I feel as though if I were a customer I would like to see examples of what I'm paying $5/8 for if you know what I mean?

Therefore, if you can, pictures are the way to go!!

For ppf events, I use faces. I actually found precut craft foam heads/faces on sale at micheals that I painted my designs on, so people can see the difference between my two price levels. I mounted some clear photo pages to a foam board so I can switch out designs based on themes.

For corporate hourly events where I'm doing "free" face painting for the attendees, I do a menu board. This lets me adjust my design according to the length my line without getting the "it doesn't look like the picture" problem.

Well, we all know that I love painted boards for many reasons. So here's my little essay as to why:

One: I don't have to have a model or paint myself.
Two: the client (or more importantly their friends & family) get to see the variety of designs I can offer in one "dazzling" instant display.
Three: I like the glowing look of actual paint on the boards.
Four: at the last event where I painted about 50 kids I only had 2 repeats of any design. Giving them a choice makes for more variety in the painting. (I'm repeating myself here but...) When I attended an event with no boards just two weeks earlier I painted almost all butterflies & Spidermen. If they don't know you have a heart crown, Angry Birds or tropical eye how will they know to ask?
Five: It's so cheap! And sturdy. They can be propped up about anywhere. I used them for a barrier at the fair. I've taped them to the wall, I've leaned them against a fence, etc.
Six: I painted my boards very simply so they can be used at all but the quickest corporate event. I can either do 20 per hour with them or 10 by just adding details, muzzles, tear drops, the other eye, etc. I always ask because sometimes they don't want a muzzle or the other eye done but it gives me an opportunity to change my painting style to suit so when I arrive at the party and end up with 15 instead of 10, I can adjust. In fact, I'm not going to take my full $10 faces anymore to parties (except maybe a painters copy) because I've had so many clients under-estimate the size of the party.
Seven: I get to over deliver at every event because the design ALWAYS looks better on a child! Butterfly is cute on the board but stick it on a 5 year old girl and listen to the gasps. As cute as the boards look, my painting looks 100x's better on the child. It isn't the same with a photo. Sometimes the child in the photo has a higher forehead or prettier eyes or is wearing coordinated clothes...this way there is no comparison.
Eight: Clients expect a menu of some sort. EVERYTIME I've tried to work without a board I've had at least two parents ask "where are your designs?" I think that it is more professional and you get better results because these are tried and true designs from all over the world. At least, for me, my "off-the-cuff" stuff is far inferior to my practiced designs.
Eight: I can whip up a quickie board for any occasion. Christmas, Halloween, New Years, Valentines, etc. I will say when I'm just doing a one-nighter, I just draw designs on the faces printout and it worked really well for a book signing the other night. Because the kids were familiar with the book, they knew exactly what the designs were.

These last boards have lasted since June and everyone has been thrilled with them. They need to be retired. I've also tested them enough to know which designs to pull off and I'm excited to look through my inspiration folder for more ideas. I will label them though so I probably won't be able to include as many designs. That's been about the only downfall is the communication...ie: some people see the starblend skull and think it's a gorilla face. I had one girl call the heart crown design a "bow."

So the negatives:
The kids want to manhandle the boards so I've had one stepped on and cracked in the corner (still usuable but looked hammered).
The black fades because it's not archive safe paper so 4 months is about the max before they start looking old.
Kids think the eyes are part of the design.
They don't fit in the Fat Max (but they are light...but another thing to carry)
They will blow down outside if you don't secure them.

Have I beat anyone into submission yet? LOL!

D.

I have been sold for a while! Here is my latest girl board, I like the faces myself. They work for all the reasons Denise said. As for portable, for parties, I take a picture of my board (I have one that I use for quick parties) and then I put that picture into a word document, crop it so that it fills the page, print it out in color, laminate it, and hang it at eye level so that the child in the chair can see it and point to the face they want. Fits right in my kit. It is great too, I work festivals with another painter, and we each have a cheat sheet for the other. Here is my latest girl board. I tried to get photos, but finally just gave up on it, these work just fine!

OMGoodness!

face painting mom - where did you get those template faces?? I love that idea!

I think I got the file from someone here, I doubled it, the original one had two faces per page, I use one that has four faces per page, then I paint them (they are little smaller than a face and I like that I get a more compact board) It is a word file, and I can't post that, so PM me your email, and I will send you the file Kammy!

Kammy, join this group, the file is here, you can download both the two face and the four face file.

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/groups/429163267115081/files/

a face painting mom wrote:I have been sold for a while! Here is my latest girl board, I like the faces myself. They work for all the reasons Denise said. As for portable, for parties, I take a picture of my board (I have one that I use for quick parties) and then I put that picture into a word document, crop it so that it fills the page, print it out in color, laminate it, and hang it at eye level so that the child in the chair can see it and point to the face they want. Fits right in my kit. It is great too, I work festivals with another painter, and we each have a cheat sheet for the other. Here is my latest girl board. I tried to get photos, but finally just gave up on it, these work just fine!

This looks great!!

another note on portablity, you can take a picture of your board, even if they are pictures, put it inot a word document, print that out and laminate it, or put it into a plastic sleeve, and you have a small portable board. the details are surprising, give it a try, it is all I travel with to most parties, just a couple of regular paper sized boards with all these choices on them. They work great!

a face painting mom wrote:Kammy, join this group, the file is here, you can download both the two face and the four face file.

https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/groups/429163267115081/files/

Thank you! I've requested to join, as it looks like exactly the sort of inspiration I need - quick faces!

The group was stared by the wonderful Face Paint Lady! It is a place for working facepainters to share quick designs!

Hope my request's accepted, then! I'm not exactly a working face painter, and don't deserve the title of "face painter" at all, yet! I'm trying hard, though!

Lovely board Face Painting Mom! I also love seeing Denise's all the time

I do pretty much the same thing as FP Mom - but I've been using the little foamie blanks from Michaels. I just leave the face features out for the most part which could be a little creepy (I'll outline where they go if I need to) but I think they look cute, too. Here's a pic of my last board. It was for a Star Wars event.



I am loving this method too as I can easily swap out designs. I have a Toy Story theme party this Saturday and I'll use the same background board but put in the designs I want - I'll keep my standars and maaaybe a star wars one too - that Darth Vader was pretty popular. (In fact that's all I painted... ) But I just use the repositionable mounting squares on the back of these and I can take them off easily.

I'm slowly getting photos of my designs on actual faces too but heck, I might keep this method for smaller parties and such. I think the little faces are adorable.

Bee....I think that is much cooler than a photo board, it's so artistic! So these are faces you can buy? Like a big multipack?

Yes they are foam and in the kids craft section at Michaels. You could also just use sheets of foam or cardstock and cut out your own face shapes but this is so much easier for me. They are like $8 full price for a pack of 32 but of course Michaels always has a coupon. Being thick you could also paint on both sides I suppose as it doesn't bleed through. You can also wash them off and restart if you mess up - provided you do it right away. I started off using my face paint on them but am now using acrylic and craft paint - soooo much cheaper! You can get mostly similar colors anyway. Those paints also don't rub away once dry like face paint so I feel better shuffling them around. Just have to remember not to leave them behind the glass for too long.

ok, Im definetely getting a board, is it just a black presentation board?

I use black foam core, cheep, holds up well, and you can toss it if you need to start over!

I love the foamies Bee! That is really cool, never seen them before. I may just have to look for them!

Kammy, you will be accepted, no problem! And...you ARE a face painter! Once you get your feet under you, I bet you will be working all the time!