Knowing when you are ready.

How do you know when you are ready to paint real kids in a public setting?

practice.

many people start out practicing on family members and friends, especially at gatherings with a number of people, that would be similar to a small public venue.

others get their start volunteering at small local charity or community events.

both give you leeway to learn what it's like to paint real, sometimes wiggly, kids one after another, at a decent speed, with good results.

You jump in and sink until you can swim

I've recently started and had the same feelings - thinking 'will I be good enough, fast enough' etc. I'm still only a beginner but think if you've practiced on friends and family, the next step is to paint for free at eg. a fundraiser just for practice and experience. I bet you'll find the kids love it even if you're not sure how good you are. The thing is, if it's free, it doesn't matter if you mess up a bit. I went on Facebook and started a discussion offering a free hour of painting and had so much response it was ridiculous. I did a couple of freebies then the whole thing just took off and I really had to start charging to cover cost of travel and materials etc. Just go for it and good luck x

when starting out, i'd recommend doing easy designs you can do well, kids know the difference between good work and bad work.

they look forward to what they think will be a good experience, you don't want to dash their hopes and embarrass them.

As someone who started WAAAY before they were ready lol, 2 hours of training... andddd off I go paint paint paint! I would be appalled if I saw the designs I did now... but there is no practice that prepares you for that constant stream of kids and massive queue!

People still paid me, people were still happy (or polite) and you will get practice like you've never imagined .

However I wouldn't dream of booking a private party/event until you know what you can do. Fetes and pay per face events are where it's at, people can see what they will get and can decide if they will queue or not.