New from Chicago looking to go pro.

Hello all, Leaf here.  I gave face painting my first try when I was only 10 years old, and in the past few months I have done two charity/volunteer gigs for church/local elementary school in the Chicago suburbs.  In the meantime, I took a variety of art classes including painting with acrylic and oils.  

I have been doing my research on this forum, and blogs like those from Looking Glass Face Painting from Vancouver, and Okidoki Face Painting from Riverside, California.

A few words about my kit and process:

• Cut paper towel sheets for little cleanups
  
• Spray bottle water
  
• Spray bottle soap & water
  
• Spray bottle 91% alcohol
  
• Full apron over my clothes
  
• Nitrile gloves
  
• Gold Nylon round brushes
  
• Filbert brush
  
• Hair clips for truly unruly tresses
  
• Stickers for squirmers
  

Currently considering angle brushes for flexibility between coverage and detail work, as well as introducing sponges.  

I created split cakes from the basic colors in the Wolfe set - red, yellow, green, blue, black, and white.  Pink, orange, brown, and purple are colors I am sorely missing.  I am wanting to pick up a rainbow split cake in the near future, and perhaps make my own.  

What advice would you give to your past self when you were first starting out?

Hi and welcome!

Sounds like you are off to a great start! Perhaps add one or two one-stroke cakes and one or two rainbow cakes and see what works for you and your painting style. Do you prefer brushwork or sponging? Build a little at a time adding colors for specific designs.

Keep practicing and watching training videos. Get together with other painters in your area for networking and practice.

Kris5115 wrote:Hi and welcome!

Sounds like you are off to a great start! Perhaps add one or two one-stroke cakes and one or two rainbow cakes and see what works for you and your painting style. Do you prefer brushwork or sponging? Build a little at a time adding colors for specific designs.

Keep practicing and watching training videos. Get together with other painters in your area for networking and practice.

I prefer brushwork at this point for the familiarity, but I do want to practice with sponging to get a better feel for it. Building a strong base of paints a little at a time is great advice. Thanks!

hi and welcome, leaf.
like kris said, just buy colors and one stroke cakes you really like and will actually use, even if it's not a lot.

and buy metallic and pearl colors! especially pink and turquoise.

yeah, you need to get pink and purple, those are many girls' two favorite colors.

and buy glitter, a few shades to start (something white or silvery that will go with everything, something dark for boys, maybe a couple colors). glitter makes everything better

jlirie wrote:hi and welcome, leaf.
like kris said, just buy colors and one stroke cakes you really like and will actually use, even if it's not a lot.

and buy metallic and pearl colors! especially pink and turquoise.

yeah, you need to get pink and purple, those are many girls' two favorite colors.

and buy glitter, a few shades to start (something white or silvery that will go with everything, something dark for boys, maybe a couple colors). glitter makes everything better

Thanks so much for the tips! There are so many color options that I admit I was feeling a bit lost.