Post your first picture

Well, my paints FINALLY arrived today! And so I had to try them out. Little designs are easier than big ones, and I need to practice A LOT! I have no control with a sponge, and my line work is horrible! Its easier with acrilics & paper! But I have hope, after seeing these posts, and how far you all have come! And some in such a very short time! I hope I can progress that fast! Will see if I can figure out how to post some pictures, promise not to laugh to hard!

Here is my 1st attempt at anything remotly recognizable. [img][/img]

Sorry it's so big. I dont know how to make it little-er.

It looks great! Congrats on getting your feet wet!

What brand did you get?

You might need to use a bit more water to get the paints creamy to load the brush - unlike acrylics which are already a wet paste or water colours that you want as a wash, you need to work the water into the face paint to get it to a proper consistency to load up the sponge/brush first.

Thanks, Shannon-I didi discover that! lol-Its so different, and the way the paint drags & absorbs is different, too. I have sooo much to learn! Reading & watching only go so far in the learning curve-You really don't know until you put it into practice, huh? I also did my Grandkids faces-I will post them, but I don't know how to get them smaller. There are soo many things I see that I need to work on- Sponge control, blending, line work- but I will keep at it & learn! Here goes! (Please be kind- And don't laugh too hard!)[img][/img] this is my 1st butterfly, and I sure hope I get better! I look at what others have done, and then at this, and I cringe! LOL

OOH! There I go! Thumbnail! Heres my other attempts from last night[img][/img]
I forgot how to do those little pocket thingys around the horns, and I really wanted to get som texture, and detail in, but went brain dead. Next time, I want some pictures to follow!

[img][/img] Here's another attempt at a butterfly

[img][/img] I had an idea in my head, and I sorta went by a picture, but my shaing I& stuff didn't go like I wanted.

Woohoo! Looks like your are having fun & are on your way!

Col, I found it useful to watch youtube videos!! ...and yes, face paints are very different from acrylics! Shading is much harder with face paints in my opinion. You don't mix them like you do acrylics and, as you know, you have to get them to the right consistency. Practice on your thigh or arm over and over, watch videos, and it will bet so much better so fast!

Today was my first face painting gig ever! It was at a grade school fundraiser. I thought I was ready, I had several face designs and some cheek art that I had practiced and prepared in my portfolio/menu. I did okay but I was not prepared for the constant onslaught of cute eager little faces, I didn't even have time to change my water! Thankfully it only lasted 2.5 hours. I found that under the pressure of parents watching, and the line growing, a bit of mayhem ensued. The quality of my work went down, things kept going wrong, I spilled my glitter, my tear drops looked like flat lines, my 3/4 inch flat brushes kept splitting, I forgot that I needed to look at my pictures too, to remember how to do some of them and my portfolio was being used by groups of giggling girls trying to decide what to have. My last little butterfly was a disaster and I didn't get a photo, I didn't want one, I was so embarrased and tired. When she looked in the mirror she seemed a little dissapointed. Fortunatley, her mother acted like it was just great, and so it was.
It buoyed my sagging spirits to see all of your "firsts" and to have hope that I will learn and grow too. (learned so much today about how disorganized and unprepared I really was) I look to you for inspiration and consolation, thanks guys!

the 1st one is always the hardest. its gets better and better each time. go to your local beauty school and see if they have any of there old practice heads they use to cut hair.. they gave me 3 and the next time they get more she said she would call me.. they are great if you don't have kids. but if you have kids practice practice practice...
keep up the good work i paint happy faces

Thanks for the encouraging words, I will practice practice practice on my kids, their friends, my arms, my legs my face and my practice head, lol! It was good to get a practice head right at the start, however it is so badly stained I cant use it for example photos. I tried Reduran and it helped some. I will check with the beauty schools for other heads. Thanks, ipaint...

Welcome to your 1st event! It goes all up hill from here! The kids were happy & it will get easier. I still have moments where I get stressed & have a very wiggly kid that helps me look like I have no reason face painting. Not every tear drop will be perfect & that's ok. Remember, we usually post only our best & favorite stuff on here & we probably all have a folder full of our, Uggs
Such a sweet kitty!!!
If you have a brush that keeps splitting, try dipping it in boiling water & then reshaping it. This might work(dip only).
Have fun, no one does a Rembrandt over night!

Thanks for the sweet, encouraging words. I didn't think I was stressed however the very fact that I kept telling myself to just relax and have fun tells me that I was coping internally with denied stress! Thanks for the dip trick I will try it. I have four 3/4 in. flats (all different brands) and the splitting kept happening even though I kept changing brushes so it may have been something I was doing??? The way to check is to try it again at home in an unstressed environment. That was a sweet little kitty, anything would look good on such a sweet face! I take it as a special privilege to paint on childrens faces even though I have three of my own. I just love the moment they look in the mirror and smile with delight.

I have also found that anything looks amazing with enought glitter!
Smiles, ipaint...

Never forget the fun. Your first gig is always a lil off. Nobody does anything perfect the first time, that's why we walk before we run. You are well on your way, be patient and diligent. Your pink kitty is super cute and what a great start on your blending.

Thank you. Yea, this fun is serious business! haha

Here a my 1st, I started on Halloween

n my very 1st my nephew for halloween

I have a 1st story, but it's not for face painting. I made an attempt to sell a certain scrapbooking companies supplies & I was at my 1st ever party. I got there & in the FL heat, they had no a/c & fans going everywhere(it was quite deafening). They also had an exorbitant amount of cats & cat hair flying around randomly in puffs. I opened my mouth to make my my sale & a big old wad of cat hair flew into my mouth. I choked, gagged & my eyes watered. I still sold several $100 in supplies. When I have a bad day, I remember that day & think, nothing could ever get worse

Good story thanks psalm

Wow, Rxtorre, your firsts are great! Thanks for showing them.

Ditto on Psalmbrook's story. Cat hair flying about in chunks, yikes!

Thanks I'm glad u think so...the skeleton mask is from a tutorial on youtube I believe from Beckstar she's amazing!!! youtube has sooo many amazing tutorials I've learned so much from this site and youtube

Ive learned from Beckstar also, I agree she is so amazing. For the past month before my first gig I pored over youtube vids and books and now I think I need to downsize it a bit and get really good at just a few designs. I can feel burnout coming on so right now I want to take a little break and absorb for awhile!