Successful Fall Festival- thankful to so many (pic heavy- sorry long)

SO SORRY PICS ARE SO BIG!

Just a quick note of thanks to so many of you here who are so generous with your thoughts, ideas and tips. I started my face painting business 1 year ago and only really paint birthday parties (I like the pace of bday parties with limited number of kids, etc.) but had opportunities this month to do some Fall Festivals so wanted to give it a try.

I read and studied and practiced lots of tips from here in order to crank out faster faces for festival atmosphere. First one was last weekend and I was SHOCKED when it was over that somehow I was able to paint 65 faces in about 2 hrs 15 min. My kit was a disaster but I was HAPPY!!!! It was so fun.

The tips that you have shared that were most helpful:
1) Line manager that had children select designs and clean face with wipe before they got in my chair - because I can't stand a sticky face .

2) faster/simpler designs (will share a few below inspired by many of you). You will see below mine don't have lots of extra details or accents.

3)Standing to paint with child in directors chair (I have always painted sitting down but found I moved much faster standing up)

4) Large mirror off to the side for child to see themselves. (Thought I would totally miss the "smile" that I enjoy so much when they see themselves, but was pleasantly surprised to hear the parents encouraging and happy reactions as they saw their child being painted and it gave me the same intrinsic reward.)

5) Limited number of choices and used Havana Sunset for lots of the designs (1/2 butterfly- not pictured, "spooky night"- below, background for spiderweb- not pictured) because the bright colors that give it a halloween-like look.


Here are a few of the designs I offered:

This one I called SPOOKY NIGHT is a very simplified version inspired by Lisa Joy Young's halloween design from last year. I bet 1/2 of the 65 I painted were this design - needless to say I can do it fast now! Havana Sunset sponged on in rainbow shape, diamond fx black - tree, owl then bat - poof of glitter, done.
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Spider necklace was a quick, simple thing I came up with because I am finding so many want something painted but not on their face. This pic is not that great, but you get the idea.
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This is really a hulk (common version of others I have seen here) but I called it monster mash for halloween and did it any color- red, blue, etc., simple and fast.
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This ghost is NOT MY DESIGN and I have gone back and searched and cannot for the life of me find the original version online now to give credit - claim if it is yours - kids loved it this weekend (but I did paint this one).
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And a fast spiderman inspired by all the spidey threads here.
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Sorry for the long post, just feeling very grateful and responsible to share my success (knowing I would never have had it without everyone's generosity) and hoping some of this in some way may help someone else.
Thank you!!
Kathy

These pics are AWESOME!!! I love the *spooky night...so pretty!!

I have the havana sunset one stroke and am now kicking myself for not getting the bigger one...I did get the halloween cake though so might have to try a similar design (if you don't mind?) with those colors.

I love the one eyed spidey too! Boys are so squirmy

It's all yours!! Have at it!

Thanks!

I love your pics! I may have to try doing a 'spooky night' kinda thing myself, I have a fall fest this weekend and need to update my designs a bit to include my havana sunset since my ever popular carnival cake ran out and I forgot to re-order it

I love the spider necklace and the spooky night...very cute.

I'm smiling all over my face, reading your post! So glad you had a great festival experience, and proved to yourself quite HOW capable you are. Way to go!

I love your "Spooky Night" and your spider necklace designs, and have saved them to my inspiration folder! Isn't it great when all your practice, design pondering and other preparations pay off?

Hope it's all up-and-up for you from now on.

Tina, You could do a really cool Spooky Night eye design with your Havana cake. Just make the tree and bats instead of palm trees or just sponge yellow in the middle and outline with the one-stroke....

Darling designs. Glad to hear it went well.

I decided to paint it the eye design.

Love love love the spooky night!!!!!

Great job! Your designs are delightful and your linework is impressive!

I LOVE the ghost and the spider necklace!!

i prefer birthday parties myself too.. but my husband likes big events. we have a clown family, i use the large events to practice and it helps make the birthday party paintings look better. were getting ready for fall festival too. and that spooky scene looks awesome!!! and i love the half spidy face!! what a wonderful idea for the holiday!! I will be sure to make my own and use your ideas if that's ok?
and Denise all i can say is wow... its so wonderful to have other painters to help with new ideas and tips!! it has helped me grow and become a better painter!!

All I have to say is wow! Thanks for the tips on what worked well

Denise!!!!! THAT is OUTSTANDING! I love it. I have got to practice my tree! Yours looks so delicate! LOVE it. The eyes make the owl.

And yes of course, anyone feel free to use these (I would feel honored!!).

great designs!

Denise Cold wrote:Tina, You could do a really cool Spooky Night eye design with your Havana cake. Just make the tree and bats instead of palm trees or just sponge yellow in the middle and outline with the one-stroke....

Darling designs. Glad to hear it went well.

I decided to paint it the eye design.

LOVE THAT!!!!!!!! I was itching to do it so badly last night, but didn't bother to look at a pic while painting lol...figured it would be better to not "directly copy" the design...but I'm a huge fan of the sillhoette designs anyhow....never saw one I didn't love!

Thanks for the idea on the one eye design...I needed a way to incorporate a few halloween one eye/smaller designs for this weekend! You rock Denise (like you didn't know?)
Here is what I did!

This makes me so happy!! Love how one idea can spur on lots of other fun ones!! Love the moon and also the spiderwebs at the corners of the eyes!!

Thanks!! I"m still such a newbie, my daughter also actually said "the spider webs are cool on the sides of my eyes" (she usually picks apart my designs lol...she's quite an artist herself, much better at drawing/painting/etc than I have ever dreamed of being...so she has opinions on artsy stuff)

I'm a cake decorator and she submits me a sketch of her bday cake every year....a few years back she submitted a sketch of a 4 tiered cake that was rainbow tie dyed looking with feathers around the base! I said "how on earth am I supposed to make that?" She sighed and told me to cover it in fondant and airbrush the rainbow colors and then buy a feather scarf (boa) at the craft store and hot glue it to the cake board!! DUH!!!! lol She was 5 at the time! She was right though, the cake worked!

Wow. She's got a great eye. She'll be a fabulous face painter in no time.

Tina, that cake is awesome! You're so talented.

Thanks for sharing your photos ladies such beautiful inspirations. I shall love to try them thank you.

Denise- until then I have a very opininated face painting model lol...she never lets me do a design I want to do.


Kammy-thanks so much...I hope my face painting skills polish up the way my caking skills have! lol I have been decorating cakes for about 5 years now and was completely self taught. I stumbled on a cake decorating forum much like this one, and figured it all out from there. That is why I was so EXCITED when I found this forum! Ticket to success!