Male Face Painters???

Hi All,
I was wondering if there were any male face painters?
I am a man and was interested in getting into this art but it seems to be dominated by females.
Nothing is wrong with that but I was wondering if it's like a feminine art, hobby?
Just by the pink, flowery look of this forum itself, tells me I should try and pick up maybe airbrushing motorcycles or cars or something...lol
I just don't want to get a gig and then the parents are all freaked out that I'm big, bald, (black) man coming in to paint butterflies on kids faces..etc. like: "who is this freak???" call the cops!
(there is a humorous side to me though).

Anyway, just wanted to see if there are, in face male artists?
Thanks,
Ken

Any? yes - quite a few - many well known artists are male. Majority are female, maybe 90-95%.

http://www.snazaroo.us/faqmale.htm - this was written by Gary Cole (Snazaroo USA).

Yes there are a few of us males out there

The "birthday party" business seems to be largely dominated by the girls, whether it be clowns, facepainters or what have you.

I've never had any experience of people "not wanting" a guy, but I do think that when it comes down to it, most moms just tend to relate to the girls more, and will likely call them first. I mean, most people the kids come into contact with, be it daycare workers, early grade-school teachers, even babysitters, are usually female. Its just the way it is. (I used to rail against the unfairness of it all...then one day I realized I was really really busy with gigs.)

There's lots of opportunities for the male painter. You just have to get yourself out there and let people see what you can do. (And make sure you're really, really good with kids....that's actually more important than painting talent.)

And also remember that birthday parties are not your only option.

If it makes you feel better, in my neck of the woods, the most recent big face painting lectures/events have been the Wolf Brothers, Mark Reid and Sean Avram. That says something there too.

I don't really know the statistics, but I did want to welcome you to the forum!
so Welcome!
I know there are a few extremely talented male face/body artists. (Wolfe Bros. Pashuer and Mark Reid). I believe there are also a few here at the forum.

Thanks for the fast replies!
It makes sense. and yes I am pretty good with kids I have a 2 year old and 7 year old. But I should really let them be the judge of that.

me personally would get a kick out a big bald black guy painting flowers and butterflies... who says its got to be only women that do it???....grab some paints ...make a board...get out there and paint!!!....if youve got the talent or the heart GO FOR IT....and welcome to our world its a very colorful place

Check out marvelousmasks on youtube. Clayton does quite well as a male face painter & does a lot of the party style painting.

I've seen most the others mentioned, but I think the difference between the men & women is us gals are a little more chatty & so you see more of us out there

I am a guy and there are several others on here. I come from the background of having been a magician and makeup artist. Lots of male makeup artists, and magicians are probably 80% guys... I also have done readings- tarot and Palm- for decades and that is a VERY female dominated field.. so I am familiar with the gender bias thing from both sides. Honestly, if ANYTHING I think it helps more than hursts as if anyone cares, it is probably makes you more novel.

Personally, who cares- Unless yer trying to be a nun... I think the gender thing is rather less relevant than personality, drive, skill and talent.

So I was at a carnival l a few years back and someone made it so that the two facepainting booths were side by side. We both had long lines. We both had happy kids. We both had nonstop work, but I'd never been side by side. After the afternoon ended, I asked the head honcho for the reasoning of sticking two pros who are in essence competing 'side-by-side'.

His answer? Because I am female and the other facepainter was a guy. The 'higher ups' at the carnival decided that the boys would go to the guy and the girls would line up by me.

Thankfully, the kids had more brain cells than they were giving credit for, and they looked at our boards and then planned their 'battle stations' based on which face they wanted (I have never have kids know EXACTLY what they wanted like that before that event, or in events since).

So, long story short, there is some gender bias, but it's primarily among the adults. The kids honestly couldn't care less.

I love it when males get out there and work with children.. It is really important and kids love males teachers and role models..So go for it Ken...Just have fun and all the rest will just fall into place..
Welcome to the forum and I cant wait to see your stuff!!

Yo! *Grunt*! I'm a man and proud of it! I think there is pleanty of room for male facepainters. Look at the wolfe bros. I think it's just that men seem to paint what they know just like women do. Someone has to take the interest in super heroes,zombies,dragons,monsters,medieval,war,cars,planes,bikes and any other boyish stuff you can think of. I think it's high time male face painters took the stand and defeminised face painting a little. For every little girl out there is probably a little boy who want's something bad @$$ painted on his face and doesn't want a girl to paint it.
I'm not saying that girls can't. Theres pleanty of evidence to suggest otherwise but people will naturally excell in areas where they feel experienced.
Totally know that awkward feeling though. Have been painting at netball games with my wife and girls are reluctant to let you paint pretty stuff until they see that you can actually do it well.
Stick with it I say. Paint butterflies and be a man doing it. Mums will be all the more impressed for it and Dads will take interest.
Nice to see another Dude on here.

hey grunt I think it doesn't matter if your male or female..if this is what you like to do then do it..the kids will enjoy it no matter what...I love doing the monsters dragons and zombies as oppose to doing all the girly stuff...the boy designs i find more challenging and i just love a good challenge.
I also raised 2 boys on my own and we always did halloween really big..that is what drew me to face painting a few years ago...

rock on

Ha! Mr Daizy, I love your edit comments!

I wonder if this occupation really is dominated by females, or if we just gab on-line a whole lot more. LOL.

Well okay, it truly is dominated by females, but there are LOTS of males doing it and doing it really WELL, as mentioned. I don't really think being male would harm your business at all, and actually may help you stand out in a crowd if you have a lot of other competition in your area. People will definitely remember you, and being memorable is KEY in this line of work.

Welcome to the forum!!

You know, I'd even bet that the average public would view a male face painter as more of a "professional", while they tend to see females as more "hobby painters"... a stigma that we constantly battle with. You've got some advantages here, just have to find them and use them!

Hello and welcome. Don't be concerned about gender issues.Just learn to paint both types of faces.

I am just starting out myself and am sure it will take a while regardless of gender.

I worked at Walt Disney world a few years ago,and worked side by side with males and to be honest, sometimes they just did better dinosaur-dragon-monster types of faces, but hey, learned to do them too!

Just take joy in it and it will come through your face to the kids.

Blessings to you

Evelyn

AngieAnders wrote:You know, I'd even bet that the average public would view a male face painter as more of a "professional", while they tend to see females as more "hobby painters"... a stigma that we constantly battle with. You've got some advantages here, just have to find them and use them!

It is sad but I was just thinking this and then I read your comments.... Yes - sad but true... Bet they can even charge more then us women.

My partner in crime is a man and it is sometimes frustrating because when someone wants to talk buisness they almost always gravitate to him. 9 out of ten times he will book the corprate client over me. In reality it's not even a huge deal because if it's a big job guess who will be working right along side him? But it does have me wondering how much of this trend stems from gender roles.

Yes, it's funny... I work a large festival with another female painter, and we have a male photographer who shares our booth and does post-painting portraits. People are constantly assuming that we work for him. They try to give him their money for face painting, talk to him about business opportunities and ask him questions. I find it humorous, but I don't mind too much since our tips are usually higher because people assume he's keeping most of what we make.

I see that this thread is at least six years old so there may not be much activity on it now. I'll throw my two cents worth out there anyway.

I am a man who has been painting for almost 20 years. My wife answers the calls that come in and one literally asked if I was a pedophile, which my wife assured the caller that I am not.

Every event I have worked alongside a lady, two lines form. One long line for her and one empty line for me. Once the kids try me out, the lines even out, but there is always trepidation at first. There are still some little girls who want the lady to paint them, not the big, goofy man.

do you paint something on yourself, so they can see a live example? that might get things going.

but as the others mentioned, there are many male face painters, both local and well known.

i, too, think it's good to have women and men represented in all occupations.

lazydave55 wrote:I see that this thread is at least six years old so there may not be much activity on it now. I'll throw my two cents worth out there anyway.

I am a man who has been painting for almost 20 years. My wife answers the calls that come in and one literally asked if I was a pedophile, which my wife assured the caller that I am not.

Wow. It would be nice to know how often this happens; I'd like to hope that's exceedingly rare, and I don't even get the point in asking the question (who is honestly going to answer "yes" to that?).

lazydave55 wrote:Every event I have worked alongside a lady, two lines form. One long line for her and one empty line for me. Once the kids try me out, the lines even out, but there is always trepidation at first. There are still some little girls who want the lady to paint them, not the big, goofy man.

Should I realistically expect the same if I ever work an event alongside a female artist?