Can I use your kit to paint my kid?????

This was my most recent crazy facepainting experience.

I had an event last weekend where one of the last ladies on line started to ask me: How long have you being painting?, where do you buy your stuff?, do you know if I can buy it around here? how long it last the paint and how many faces you can do with the kit that you have?

Anyway to almost any of her questions I told her she can go Google and find information about that and I try to avoid her questions, as much as I was able except for the Snazaroo tip that she can buy in Michaels in a very small selection of colors.

Sundely she start to tell her 12 years old in front of me, you know what sweet heart I am thinking that I am going to buy you a kit and you can do facepainting in that moment I feel like choking her ha ha ha, I know my facepainting is not the most awesome job but I receive a lot of compliments about it and even good comparison with the last face painter that they had, so I feel pretty confident about saying that I am not that bad.

Anyway the woman keep talking and talking about her new business (facepainting) and she direct her attention to her little soon asking him what do you want a shark face? a horse a Rhino all sort of animals that I don't know how to paint YET, so I turn around and I say I recommend you wait your turn and let him choose from the designs that I can do I would not like that he get disappointed expecting to have something that I am not able to paint, thank you! and she answer back well if you don't mind, Can I use your paints and tools to paint my kid?

I just smiley almost laughing! and I say, I am sorry but I don't allow anybody, but me to use my work tools sorry about it, do you think that she stop there? NOOO she insist that she will be very careful and I say sorry but is not an option I am sure that when you have your own set of paint you will do amazing job and you going to understand me, the end.

I could not believed what she ask me... anyway another of those crazy stories just for laugh.

There's 1 of those parents at every event.

Yep, there is! I had a lady who wanted me to paint her "blue cheshire" cat on her cheek at the cat show this weekend. She explained him in detail (about 3 solid minutes) but still decided she needed to show me how to make his ears pointy enough and his eyes round enough by taking my brush out of my hand and painting on her arm. Oh yah, and he needed to be completely outlined to stand out.....lol....then she asked me to hurry hurry because she was up next...lol..It was early in the day so I was pretty patient with her but usually I just refuse those special requests and don't let anyone touch my stuff.
She came back at the end of the day to tell me her Blue kitty had won "Best in Show" and she loved her cheek art.

FUNtasy, your reaction is just soooo good!
Great job!

It sounds like NutBar Lady visited you.

xoxo

Thank you Lizzie sometimes is hard to react nice but I prefer people know that she is the crazy and not me ha ha ha.

and yeap that was the NutBar lady that is walking all around different countries and face painters stands just to prove our patient... I guess LOL  

I've had people walk up, wait and then try to pick up my paints to turn them over to poke at them or see the brand!  Were you born in a barn?  Didn't mom tell you not to touch other people's things without permission?  LOL    I feel you...they see you 'make it look easy' and figure "Hey!  I could do that" Of course it looks easy..it's my JOB!  Looks easy to be a mechanic too until you pick up a wrench!   

I also hate the 'helpful' parents who, after looking at what you offer, talk at the kid with "OOooo tell the lady you want to be the Great Manganiko gaffa goo goo man!  She can do that for you!" Place any unusual character you have NEVER heard of here!  I can do just about anything I KNOW what it is, but what makes these idiots think after seeing NOTHING like that anywhere that I would be able to know some obscure cartoon character that no one else knows what it is either?  No picture?  Then look at the board and quit 'helping' your kid by mentioning ONLY stuff YOU DON'T SEE!  
Yesterday:
Dad: He wants a skull, with a blue hat that says KC in white capital letters
Kid: burble, goo...bakataa!  Whee!  Ha ha (the kid is between 1 -3)
(So dad keeps insisting this is what the kid wants...the kid does not care AT ALL and I can tell...just say "I want my kid to have this" and if the kid is too young to have an opinion and just wants to get painted, great! But no need to convince the painter that it's the darling's idea! LOL)
Dad: Oh is that they eyes, great, where is the hat?  Oh that is the jaw, make sure the hat is blue, oh the nose, is that the hat, don't forget the blue, oh good , and kc, oh outline, but capital letters right, oh good there!  
he 'directed' the painting the whole time not having a clue what I was doing next....I had barely done the eye sockets "Where is the hat?"  OMG.  

But considering the horror stories I hear, this is pretty easy to handle...it just induces 'internal' eyeball rolling and 'inner voice' commentary.  

Mehndi! Are you telling me you can't paint the great Manganiko gaffa goo goo man?!
What kind of facepainter are you?!
 

I haz a 'FACE PAINTER FAIL' ... I will have to work on my non-existent obscure anime characters!!  

Oh well... You could learn how to paint the great Manganiko gaffa goo goo man!
Next time a kid asks you to paint a hellawell flurabooboo, you can tell him jat's to easy, but you can do a great Manganiko gaffa goo goo!
He doesn't know that? Tssssssssss!

I now want to invent a Great Manganiko Gaffa Goo Goo Man and put it on my design board, and send all royalties to Mehndi! Your story made me LAUGH!

I concur, JJJJJ - (that's 5 Js; not 4, not 6)

SOMEONE now needs to invent the Mangniko Gaffa Goo Goo Man design and...

lizzie, please show us what a hellawell flurabooboo is.... only we shall have to call it a heckawell flurabooboo here in the US because we can't put hellawell on our boards!

Would love to say when they ask for those kind "Yes, I can paint that, but better ask mom first because it's my most expensive design at $$$ and takes one hour to paint." better yet, make a sign saying "SPECIAL REQUESTS ARE $20" .... they'll stick to your menu then, lol.

Miss Ronnie wrote:I concur, JJJJJ - (that's 5 Js; not 4, not 6)

SOMEONE now needs to invent the Mangniko Gaffa Goo Goo Man design and...

lizzie, please show us what a hellawell flurabooboo is.... only we shall have to call it a heckawell flurabooboo here in the US because we can't put hellawell on our boards!

Wups.... Is hellawell a nasty word?!  

I had a couple of women chatting at an event this weekend like I wasn't standing RIGHT THERE!

Woman 1: It doesn't look very hard.
Woman 2: I've seen the paint kits at Michaels. (Not MY paints, she hasn't. I WISH Silly Farm would offer 40% off coupons!)
W1: And I'm sure there are instructions on the Internet.
W2: (watching me paint) Ooh,that's cute! You know, it's probably one of those things you have to practice a lot before you could paint other people's kids.
W1: Yeah, probably just easier to hire 'em when you need 'em.

Sometimes, I wish we grown-ups (well....kinda grown-ups) were allowed to do the "selective deafness" thing that kids get away with all the time.

Also: L!zzie, get that hellawell flurabooboo designed!  

I've been chuckling whilst reading this whole conversation, partly in frustrated familiarity and then later at all the witty comebacks you guys come up with for ANYTHING that happens. I love this place.

My Dearest lizzie,

Hellawell isn't a nasty word, but it contains hell and children and parents alike here would make a fuss over it.

We're so refined here....NOT.

(And since I am a lazy butt, I'm counting on you to come up with these designs!)

Alright!  For his first appearance, I'm pleased to introduce you to the Great Manganiko gaffa goo goo man!  The man who started this ball rolling!  ANd a challenge to my super talented Lizzie!  You invented his partner/twin/nemesis (we never established which) -  Heckwell Flurabooboo - so perhaps you want to introduce us to him??   


Edit:  This is actually a made up character!  And the 'Japanese' writing is gibberish...just so ya know!  I've painted enough script to fake it ok!  LOL

* howonearthdidimanagedtogetmyselfintothis*

...............................................

Well...........

*cough*

............. The, ehhhmmmm................

Heckwell flurabooboo.....................

Yes.

I see.

Give me a moment.

Or three.

Please?

Take it away, Lizzie!! You can do it, girl!!    

OMGOSH!!! What a mess!!! I love the idea of $20 for special request!! I put enough on my board to.choose from.lol

Picking up the paints to see the brands is one that happens a lot over here too. I have a webshop here in belgium (europe), and my mom (also a facepainter) ordered me to have laittle labels printed with the shop logo, to put underneath the containers.... So when they start picking up the paints to see the brands, they see the brand name AND where to buy it

Sure, encourage that lady to get her own paints and try it. Everything ALWAYS looks a LOT easier when an expert effortlessly does it , lol! It reminds me of something I did one time. I've been an artist and a craftsperson my whole life. So one day I decided I'm not buying a cake...I'll decorate my OWN cake since I'm an artist and how hard could it be? Need I say more, lol? Never tried it again...I go buy the cakes now!

I will say it pays to be nice. I was a little irritated by a face painter I met at a fest a couple of weeks back. I stopped by when he had no customers. I introduced myself as a newby painter and asked if he minded if I asked some questions... He said he didn't mind. So I asked what paints he uses and what he prefers and he was purposfully vague. "Oh all different kinds, but it's all professional stuff". Yeah, I figured that. I could see his cakes and his laptop case right there. But it was like he was guarding trade secrets or something.

Rude much? I wouldn't have bugged him if he hadn't said yes to me asking questions.

I think other face painters don't want to give the trade secrets that allow someone else to become competition in their area. You can't blame them. But he shouldn't have said yes then!