whats first

Hi ladies .
Im in a dilemma. Since i dont have a money tree in the backyard i have to choose what i should learn first. Is it facepainting first or is it maybe best to first learn to be a make up artist . I thought it would be good to know the basics about make up first. Anyways i have no clue how to look at it
hope u can help

thanks in advance

Dear curvy:
I have worked as a make up artist for my photographer husband's clients. Make up and face painting are two very different worlds. The idea of cleanliness that I retained from doing make up helped with face painting.

I think that different disciplines can enhance other disciplines. Do you want to be a make up artist? This is a huge investment in your makeup kit.
Do you want to be a face painter? This is a huge investment in your face painting kit.

If I had my face painting life to do all over again.... I would have invested less money in every brand new shiny colour, stuck to the basic colours, and practiced MORE. I overinvested in my kit. I spent everything I made in paint.
There are some lovely painters from the Netherlands who may be able to guide you to local places to purchase good quality supplies.

Different painters will give you different answers. I do not know the absolute right way to do this. Listen to everyone, and then follow your heart.

i agree with fesspenter about starting small. good paints are essential, but only practice can make you a good face painter. otherwise, you are just making a pretty, colorful sort of mess.

i expect the same rule would apply to makeup - buy a few good essentials, and practice your techniques.

many face paints are actually marketed as both makeup (for film, theater, and as bright eye shadows) and face paint. a couple brands are mehron and ben nye.

in addition to water based colors for face and eyes, they have skin tones, colored and neutral powders, oil based face paints, and lip color formulas. both mehron and ben nye, as well as most other brands of face paint, have starter palettes with smaller amounts of a variety of colors.

you could buy some and practice both makeup and face painting techniques, best of both worlds

Also...
It has taken a long time to make face painting a full time job. I work all the time to make more work. It is a full time job to get more work.
There is honour in making a living... whether that means digging ditches or working in a store, or an office to pay the bills. Feed yourself, first. That is more important than starving as an artist.

As fesspenter said (among other things), do you want to be a make up artist or a face painter?  You can be a face painter without knowledge of make up (I've never used it before... not a female, lo!)

I'm not a pro or knowledgeable like the rest of the crew here, but I'd suggest buying a small face paint pallet such as this one: TAG Regular 12-Color Palette.  Doesn't have to be this brand, just the first one I found on the forum's shop. This will allow you to experiment with some colors and some good face paint to see what it's like and to see if this is really what you want to pursue (if you haven't gotten this far yet... if you have just ignore me!)

Happy painting!

thanks to all for the replies , altho littlemonster says hes not a pro i did find ur post very helpfull, i just like al beautyaspects ,im starting with facepainting , also , who on here is from the netherlands so i can contact them

Dear curvy:
l!zzie (look her up on the member list) is from the Netherlands. There are more... just ask our l!zzie! She is a font of knowledge and love and passion!

Happy Painting!

Well, i went to college to learn to be a makeup artist lol, but i was a face painter for many years first. I found that my skills in face painting translated more to makeup rather then the other way around. The only real skills that i learned in makeup school that translated to face painting, had to do with organization, and amp'ed up sanitation standards.

I still do work as a makeup artist for photography and movies

Face painting is a type of makeup true, but you don't need to really know anything about makeup to be a face painter.

Face Paint makeup, and beauty make-up are two totally different mediums. Like Watercolor VS Oil painting.

If I had to say though, makeup for being a makeup artist is WAY more expensive, and you need more of it, and it expires sooner, and you go through it faster. Quality brushes can also be more expensive. And the more serious you are, the more brush sets you need for doing multiple people. Then there are the countless tools you need, spatulas, tweezers, pallets, eyelash curler, lash wands, eye pencil sharpeners, the list is endless just for the basics.

Face paint on the other hand, you don't have to have as much, and can get away with having a 12 color kit, and a hand full of brushes and sponges. Grab a mirror, a jar for water, and some hand sanitizer and you are off the the races.

With makeup you have to know about skin tones, color theory, how to tell if some one is warm or cool toned in their skin, different face shapes, eye shapes, lip shapes, and hundreds of different 'looks' and 'styles' that have only minor differences.

Face painting you gotta keep your finger on the pulse of what is popular with kids. Or at least know how to paint a butterfly, tiger and spider man (also snowflakes... lots, and lots of snowflakes.... damn you Frozen). Also artistic skill is WAY more of an asset in face painting then in makeup, trust me.

Makeup there can be NO cross contamination if you want to be a professional. Zero, none.

Face Painting - dude no one really notices or cares to tell the truth other then other face painters lol. (no this is not an excuse to slack off). Face painting we can get away with a little more cross contamination due to the nature of the work.

Any way, besides the cheaper start up, having to know less, and softer industry sanitation standards - face painting pays better.

Yup. I'm a professional makeup artist, but i pay my bills with face painting. I still do movies and stuff, and the gigs can last for longer, but they are hard, some times boring, crazy hours.

Face painting i get paid $100+ to paint butterflies and eat cake.

There's just no topping that at the end of the day.

So if you are asking me, I say go with face painting.

Also one of the perks about face painting over make up is that you can be color blind and still face paint without too many issues ^_^

face painting it is !!and luckily im not color blind yay yay
on to finding good workshops something difficult and daring

lol, littlemonsters. are you sure?