Face Painting on Paper?

Hello,

This may sound like an obvious question but I was wondering if there is something out there that I don't know about,

I want to make up a board for my halloween event but I don;t have access to any models and I am terrible at painting both sides of my own face, It's something I am working on!
So I was going to use my make-up face template and paint designs onto those and arrange on a board. Is there a specific type of paper I should use or does anyone have and cunning tricks for this? I think I read on here that tracing paper works quite well, but can't find where I read that now!

Thankyou for any help

Standard printing paper works just fine. Keep in mind that the paper will absorb a lot of the water on your brush so load it well and often. Painting on paper cuts deep in your supplies so don't take to many tries before getting it right. Better practice on your skin first so you don't use up too much paint.

I've tried painting with a sponge on paper - it does not look good so only use brushes

I use a lot of painted paper for my boards as I gather photos and it works really well. Sponges worked OK for me, but only where I used the pouncers or needed a rainbow cake, but they do take much more paint.

The other tip I have for you is to spray them with a few light coats of hair spray especially if you cover them in a plastic (like the clear protective sleves for notebooks at office supplies.) The paint dries out and begins to become powder. Another option I have used that seems to work better is the clear laminating sheets (big sticky sheets that do not need heat) I use the hair spray to get glitter to stick, and to set it, then cover the whole mounting with the sticky stuff. This is one of mine.

I just colour templates with pencil crayons. No need to waste face paint for display purposes.

I tried to use markers, and It just did not look right. Never thought of colored pencils, you could probably get a beter variety of colors with them. I thought of trying acrylics, but was too lazy to try and go match my colors.

I used colored pencils and standard paper for my first board (but I never charge for my painting so I really don't need a professional look). I think Rebecca uses WAX PAPER ( ) for her practice and it looks great.

You can also use watercolor pencils, they go on like colored pencils but you can activate them as paint with water when you're done and blend a little bit, gets rid of the pencil look and makes it look a little more like face paint. Be sure to use watercolor paper though as it handles the water better than other papers.

I just use my paints on skin toned paper. I dont think it uses enough to matter on the small displays I use. But do amake sure your paint is MORE wet than you would on a face! a little paints goes a long way on paper. i posted about the skin paper in another thread...forgot which. There is also a really neat GLOSSY type paper from Melissa and doug called CREATE A FACE. you get 40 sheets for $5. I use it to create new designs but not for display yet. They are rather large but work great when im playing around...

Hey, Tara, how funny those designs are? Was it a vegetables/sports themed party?

lol it was HEALTHY CHOICES day. I was dumbfounded when they called and requested I make a healthy face painting board. I figured it out and the kid liked it alot actually. i added glitter to the kids and painted girls lips (didnt do it on the board, was afraid to make it to girly looking) I actually painted everything except the raspberry...it was alot of fun.

Tara, That is such a good idea and your board is exactly what I was thinking of, I really like the skin tone paper,

You Guys are such a mine of great information! Thankyou!

Watercolor paper works good with facepaint cause it's made for water-based paint, but I agree with Shannon. Go for cost-effective.

If you use wax paper over the face template you are able to sponge and blend colours in a way you can't on paper. (use a clip board to hold everything together) Because wax paper 'beads' water, I run a damp sponge/wipe over the wax paper surface to 'prep' the wax to accept water based paints.

I have a roll of cheap wrapping paper I use for practice and temporary displays. It's slightly glossy on both sides. I paint the back (white) side. It goes on smooth, doesn't absorb too much either. Not the same as painting skin obviously but it suits the purpose!

I've used baking paper for practice it worked quite well but obviously is nowhere near the level of skin

I use regular paper and acrylics, and have had no issues with it! Hope that helps!

Wow even more ideas to try out, baking paper, wax paper and wrapping paper and if all else fails get the acrylics out!

Is this forum great or what!

I know! I am (hopefully!) going to try these out tonight and will report back on anything impressive

Ooh, I already have watercolor pencils (and paints for that matter) from scrapbooking. I can't wait to try that out! Thanks Shannon, everyone else!

Ester K-D wrote:If you use wax paper over the face template you are able to sponge and blend colours in a way you can't on paper. (use a clip board to hold everything together) Because wax paper 'beads' water, I run a damp sponge/wipe over the wax paper surface to 'prep' the wax to accept water based paints.

This is actually what i did just do before i read this.
It works pretty well for a quick n dirty, yet nice looking display

I am going to try spraying it with the protector spray that is used for graphite and charcoal drawings.

Here is a little sample

A lot of people swear by wax paper, I use recycled multipurpose paper for practice if I can't find a willing participant

For my very first board I used my acrylic artist's paints on a flesh colored wood board. Not EXACTLY like the face paint, but it at least still looked more like the final product being painted with a brush vs drawn with marker or pencils.

I've never tried using this, but being an industrial designer who's used a lot of this stuff, you might want to try some marker paper which you can find at art & graphic supply stores. It's slightly translucent, and it's designed to keep the ink on top of the paper rather than soak it up. So theoretically you'd use less paint. But then it costs more too so it may be a wash either way!

Taradoodles wrote:I just use my paints on skin toned paper. I dont think it uses enough to matter on the small displays I use. But do amake sure your paint is MORE wet than you would on a face! a little paints goes a long way on paper. i posted about the skin paper in another thread...forgot which. There is also a really neat GLOSSY type paper from Melissa and doug called CREATE A FACE. you get 40 sheets for $5. I use it to create new designs but not for display yet. They are rather large but work great when im playing around...

Tara,
I love your little faces. I am trying to find a good way to show designs at shows just so I do not have a book filled with faces painted of just my kids

Taradoodles wrote:I just use my paints on skin toned paper. I dont think it uses enough to matter on the small displays I use. But do amake sure your paint is MORE wet than you would on a face! a little paints goes a long way on paper. i posted about the skin paper in another thread...forgot which. There is also a really neat GLOSSY type paper from Melissa and doug called CREATE A FACE. you get 40 sheets for $5. I use it to create new designs but not for display yet. They are rather large but work great when im playing around...

Tara,
I love your little faces. I am trying to find a good way to show designs at shows just so I do not have a book filled with faces painted of just my kids