coming back to face painting...

Been off for the winter... have a party this weekend... did a smaller party last weekend... but this next one is alot of kids... and I am trying to get my speed back up... any suggestions from you that have been doing this a while... do you practice your swirls and stuff and your basic shapes... or do you practice your board designs that you plan to offer... whats the best way to get your speed up quickly...when i dont have alot of kids around to practice on? ... already doing myself and my arms and legs.. hehe.... but just trying to figure a good routine to get into to work on speed.....
thanks for your suggestions!

Speed comes with practice.
My first face always sucks.
My suggestion is to do your second face first.
My own mother has the same kind of philosophy.
Mumsy wishes she had had her grandchildren FIRST, before she had children.

Happy Painting.
By the way, I am fully aware that my suggestions are never truly helpful.

xoxo

ah thats perfect advice... I am glad I had our daughters friends to practice on this last weekend.. but... I didn't practice my limited board... I am gonna keep it simple... 10 girl designs and 10 boy designs to choose from... big look... sponging a little line and glitter... done... and they told me I could bill them if I go over time to make sure everyone who wants painted... gets painted.. So I agreed to split the time up in 15 minute increments and just round to the nearest time... but now she said thier reservations are pretty acurate and they are expecting 60 kids. So... I am sure it will be a blur for me but when I am done... I will have those 20 designs or atleast the top ten in my head.... I know when I was on my last weekend last fall I was pretty decent speed wise and had most of them memorised good.... I hope I can just keep going all summer and fall now.. I really love painting kiddos... and nothing more addicting than a smiling kiddo!

I think having a set of designs that you can get good at is the best way to work on speed. Also, stop using more than 3 or 4 brush/sponge loads. That's why I hate cheek art so much because it usually takes 5 or 6 color loads.

Here's a great example of a great design that only has two loads (I got the design from Dawnie)...it's a perfect speed design because it's one sponge load for the rainbow and then white. For me, for each brush or sponge load is a good indication of the time it will take to do. This is literally a two minute design and a big WOW. I also love big one-stroke designs because they are a big pay-off because one load can go a long way.

Oh ya Denise that is exactly like I am planning for the girls.... I can do those pretty quick and they are big show. All the little girls loved those at the harvest last fall too. I think for the boys though spiderman and batman are pretty standard... I have a snake and frog and a couple other ones... working on a dragon head that is pretty quick too... so its coming together... thanks everyone for the advice! I am feeling less stressed out now. hehe!

Whew! well I think all this week of practicing helped .... DId the country club's easter event this morning and we had 30 kids in about 1 hour and 45 minutes... then everyone cleared out to go to the easter egg hunt.... as I packed up... had a few more come and decide to get their face done too... So got them done and was on my way..... what a great time. Most were masks and butterflies on the girls...and flaming soccer balls on the boys.....Even though they had reservations and counted 60 kids... some of them opted not to get their faces done.... so it worked out well. I took my husband along to help with line order and stuff but he got to sit and watch and enjoy the show... as the balloon lady entertained the kiddos in line... and the petting zoo got everyone when they were done...! Nice team!.. Cant wait for the next job now!!! thanks for the advice folks!

I get annoyed when my husband sits around and doesn’t take pics - I can’t take the pics myself because I’m busy and would love it if he would do it, but sure enough he’d rather play with the I-pad.

Did your husband take pictures?

eviedejesus wrote:I get annoyed when my husband sits around and doesn’t take pics - I can’t take the pics myself because I’m busy and would love it if he would do it, but sure enough he’d rather play with the I-pad.

Did your husband take pictures?

Haha! My hubby is great. He sells me better than I sell myself, and makes my best line manager.

I’m jealous!

I have to agree with Denise...practice makes perfect...I do a similar design but with a smaller brush but still one load of the sponge and a single color for the line work...

Barb, your line work is so nice. I can see how having regular gigs sure speeds up the learning process. That should be my goal this year.