Just wondering?

I was just wondering how many people here can honestly say that they make enough off face painting alone to support themselves (kids included).

In other words, without any assistance such as your husband or wifes salary in the mix, also, not if you live with a family member rent free, don't own your own house/rent your own home would you be able to make a living off of face painting alone?

If there was NO other income other than what you make solely off face painting would you be able to fully function independently?

Just a random question I had, if anyone finds it intrusive by all means don't answer...but if the answer is yes, by all means do....it's something to be proud of!

I recently read a posting where someone asked was it a job or a hobby and I was just wondering how many people can honestly live off of F.P. income alone assuming it was all they did? Should be interesting.

My answer would be that I have a full time career M-F and just do face and body art as a side thing more as a hobby for fun....I enjoy both very much.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and remember to check in the chat box, a couple members are trying very hard to get the ball rolling on making it a more popular thing.

Spectrum

My face painting and make-up is a part-time career and my passion; I have an unrelated full-time job.

I would love to be able to concentrate full-time on make-up but my market area will not support it and I have a liking for the benefits that come with being an employee.

My make-up income is currently a little over one-third of my total income and without it we would be in much tighter circumstances.

Shannon, when you say make-up, do you mean face paint or actual make-up?

No, I wouldn't be able to. However it does give me the freedom to stay home with my kids... Sucks during winter though

I would have to say No.
My full time job is accounting and I make $20 an hour. Usually 35-40 hours a week. I can pretty much choose my hours. I get alot of lee way at my job. So....no need to leave.

Face painting....I love doing it. But, could never live off just that income. I think this year I may make $5000. Before deducting expenses. So, The last 2 years, I will show a loss. Wish I could live off my face painting. Maybe one day when I retire from my full time job and my DH is retired living off his pension, I can just concentrate on face painting.

I do wonder also if someone can live solely on face painting money? That is a great question.

it's the only income that I can get right now, so I am pushing it as much as I can.... but no, it's certainly not enough to live on without my husband's income.

wmeventservices wrote:Shannon, when you say make-up, do you mean face paint or actual make-up?

I am a professional make-up artist and face painting is one of the services I offer. I do weddings, grads, editorial, theatre, films, etc.

(all on my website )

BTW... face paints ARE actual make-up.

I make enough between face painting and my 20 hr-per-week part-time job to equal the pay of a full time job. I do depend on the money I make to support our family, pay bills and buy food. My husband's paycheck goes almost entirely towards our mortgage.

I don't believe that we need to support our families solely with our own income in order to be considered professionals. Here's the definition of a "professional" per www.wordiq.com

Professional - Definition

A professional does something as a profession, or receives payment for some activity. The adjective "professional" can indicate that someone has great skill in a craft or activity, or that something demonstrates such skill. To conduct oneself as a professional (exhibiting "professional behavior") would indicate that the person's actions remain in accordance with specific rules, written or unwritten, pertaining to the standards of a profession.

The opposite of "professional" is "amateur" (disparagingly: "rank amateur"). In many cases someone can perform the exact same craft or task, and the only difference between a professional and an amateur consists in the payment of the one but not the other.

I started face painting when my full time job cut me down to 4 days a week and I needed a way to make extra money. Now that I'm back to working 5 days a week I make a fairly comfortable salary there, this money is mostly going to pay off debt and also my car payment. I keep saying that as long as I make my car payment each month I'll be happy, but so far I've made that plus some. I'm hoping to pull in enough face painting money over the next year or two to completely eliminate my credit card debt. That's my "goal" for this business right now. But yeah, there's no way I could live solely on this amount of money and not be seriously hurting. Especially with credit cards and student loans and rent and all the rest!

All great answers and everyone should be proud of what they do be it profession or hobby....equal credit for both and I admire each.

Thanks for the great answers!

Nope, although on a really good week I could possibly make more than DH.. and we used to be able to live on that just fine before I started painting.
I just don't like being that busy, and I couldn't ever fully rely on it to be a constant income.

Nope - I has a sugah daddy

~Heff

Hey Heff,
Does yer sugar daddy have a brother?
ROFL!~

I'm putting my twin daughters through college(their 2nd year) on what I make doing FP at private partys & festivals. I'm a sign designer during the week, and my hours got cut last year because of the "recession". I'm a single mom with no help from anyone, so FP has REALLY helped pay the bills.

The clown that sends me jobs occasionally, supports her family of 5, but she's a clown who does a magic show plus FP at her events, she also rents bounce houses & has a "junior" clown in training that works for her as well.
That's the secret...having people work for you, because you get a cut of what their booking fee is.

I started face painting 5 yrs ago for a clown. I did this on & off for about a year till I branched out on my own. I got out of it almost completely in 2007 while I cared for my father(he was in hospice care). About a year ago I really zoned back in on face painting as more than a hobby & tried to market it as a job. I focused on the body art since it was my strong point(face painting, glitter tattoos, henna). My goal was to make enough that my hubby could quit his part time job & dedicate everything he had into his education degree. We knew this semester & next semester were going to be the toughest w/ full time school & internships. He is retired Navy, so we get that income, plus his GI Bill & Pell Grants. He was able to quite the part time job(YEAH!!!). It can be tight, but all bills are paid, there's food on the table & life is good.
So, to answer your question, no, face painting is not a viable way to support a household w/o other income. This said, there are entertainers that do it, but usually have people working for them & also offer other services(bounce houses, tents, chairs & tables, balloon decor, etc). I looked into this at one time, but really knew I would stop enjoying what I do.

Yes, what Linda said. I know of several whose sole income is facepainting/entertainment but they all have multiple painters/entertainers working for them, and act as "agents". Most of them also offer other entertainments like balloon twisting, bounce houses, clowning and magic, plus many of them also sell face painting products.

It CAN be done, but at that point you really aren't "just" a face painter any longer.

While this is a great question, I think many of us would have to agree that in today's world, it is nearly impossible to live on a single source of income from any job. Maybe the Drs, Lawyers, and Indian Chiefs (aka politicians), but not your average "man-on-the-street". How many of us know any family (2+ persons of any age/relationship combination) that can live comfortably on a single source of income?

But... I do dream of some day making millions as a face painter for the rich & famous

Here's another thread you may also be interested in which is pondering having FP as a full time job, not even considering another income to boot.
http://www.facepaintforum.com/running-your-business-f35/face-painting-as-your-full-time-job-t2861.htm?highlight=full

Face painting is just a hobby for me as well. I'm a stay at home mom, and my face painting business offers me time to do what I love, be creative, get away from the kids, and buy the purse (Christmas presents, family vacation...) I've been wanting without the hubby getting on my back

That's awesome Lisa....and your kids are adorable, not to mention your youtube vids are some of the best I've seen...I've really enjoyed them all.