I'm curious about this. When I am doing my art work, I find myself extremely focused...sort of "in the zone". It seems like it would be challenging to stay in clown character while being absorbing in such a creative process as face painting. I'd love to hear your suggestions and experiences around how you combine the two when you do kids parties.

Thanks!

Sir Dooley

Who says a clown cant be focused? I think a lot of people have this notion that clowns have to be wild and wacky like a 5 year old hopped up on cotton candy and caffeine all the time. Clowns are like anyone else they have levels and need to be able to adapt to the current situation and its demands. Be goofy and fun with the kid before you start painting and then if you need to tone it down and focus on the task at hand... go for it. Being high strung every second is not only exhausting for the performer but also for the audience. They need a chance to relax every so often or they can quickly become worn out and disinterested. You should move your audience through a wide range of different emotions and energy levels.

Thanks for this StuartPid! That's really helpful. What do you think about face painting stamps? I've heard of them but imagine they take some of the creativity out of the whole thing. Any thoughts? Anyone?

Parents are paying you for your skills. If they feel like they are paying the entertainer good money for something they can do themselves...

Face painting well does take practice and investment in the proper materials just like most other skills. In the long run it is worth it.

sometimes i use a stamp here or there (probably about 3 times in the past 3 months, so very very rarely) BUT im a firm believer that if you are a solid performer, then you clown doing whatever you are doing. ive been told that facepainting isnt clowning. you can clown while you do anything! tell jokes, make up stories about the animals you are painting, talk to the back of the line, tease with the kids all you want. just like i am not a balloon factory- i am not a paint factory. parents are paying for the experience. the paint washes off but the memories stay!
(if your paint doesnt wash off before the memories fade, you need to stop buying craft paint!! )

but stamps are only cool if you use other freehand too. example- you can make a small flower, and use a bee stamp. just get a small foam stamp from the craft store- paint it with face paint and then pop it on their cheek.

I often work just as a face painter, but I also clown and face paint as part of my clown service. I agree with Stuartpid, but I wanted to add if your clown would not face paint then don't. ex. if you promote your clown as being 5 yrs old, how believeable would good face painting be for your clown to do. Consider another character or face paint when not in clown, Now if your clown is older perhaps she likes to draw and facepainting's right up her/his alley. just my 2 3/4 cents

Whip out one of these babies!

http://www.log-cabin-connection.com/images/stain_brush.jpg

Or better yet...

http://assets1.thirddrawerdown.com/static/files/assets/f09a3796/ArtistBrush_medium.jpg

Actually all kinds of great stuff on that site.

Giant Paint Brush - Shop - Third Drawer Down (http://thirddrawerdown.com/shop/product/R-GBBRUSH/)

No semi intelligent person really believes you are 5 yrs old. I think of clowns as being ageless and find it demeaning when people walk around dressed as clowns talking like babies and little kids (Gah gah goo goo). I think most people look at you and wonder how you got out of the nut house for the day. I believe your clown is an uninhibited ageless version of yourself. If you can face paint your clown can too. If your clown is really five you shouldn't be talking to strangers and you should always have an adult with you at every gig to watch over you. I can just see some 5 year old kid wandering off and getting in trouble and claiming they were old enough to be on their own because the clown was or some CRAZY thing like that (hey it could happen) Personally I think a five yr old clown would be pretty boring, can't really juggle or do much more than simple magic tricks... why limit yourself?

No semi intelligent person really believes you are 5 yrs old. I think of clowns as being ageless and find it demeaning when people walk around dressed as clowns talking like babies and little kids (Gah gah goo goo). I think most people look at you and wonder how you got out of the nut house for the day. I believe your clown is an uninhibited ageless version of yourself. If you can face paint your clown can too. If your clown is really five you shouldn't be talking to strangers and you should always have an adult with you at every gig to watch over you. I can just see some 5 year old kid wandering off and getting in trouble and claiming they were old enough to be on their own because the clown was or some CRAZY thing like that (hey it could happen) Personally I think a five yr old clown would be pretty boring, can't really juggle or do much more than simple magic tricks... why limit yourself?

I think the idea is not that the clown is five, but rather that they see the world with childlike innocence. Clowns are often seen as living cartoon characters.

In any case, a clown's job is to entertain. There are many similarities between a clown and the conventional comedian; the critical and noteable difference is that the clown never shines the spotlight of ridicule onto his audience -- if it is targetted then it is directed at him. We laugh AT the clown, and perhaps in so doing we laugh at ourselves.

As for staying in character, I see no problem. While in general a clown is funny primarily because he fails spectacularly, there is no rule that says that a clown cannot be expert at anything. The "clowing" part would be in the clowns reaction to that success. Or if desired, the 'failure' could be success, with the clown attempting to paint one thing, failing, but succeeeding in painting something else. This could easily be worked into quite a routine.

Clown: Now I am going to paint a butterfly! Here's it's pretty nose, here's it's whiskers...

Kids: THAT'S not a butterfly!! That's a kitty!

etc... In this scenario the clown could paint every kid with the wrong thing, getting increasingly confused or flustered, and yet always delivering a makeup job that was fantastic. His 'failure' was with the names, not the work.

well this is touching off subject slightly, my clown is ageless as stated in another threat on age, she's old eough to play by herself, but young enough not to like it. I brought this up as I've ran into several that decided their clown was 5-6 and if thats what they want then they need to be as true to that age as possible. Personally and clowningly who wants to tell their ages.

btw Smacky that oversized brush would work great on the barn

well this is touching off subject slightly, my clown is ageless as stated in another threat on age, she's old eough to play by herself, but young enough not to like it. I brought this up as I've ran into several that decided their clown was 5-6 and if thats what they want then they need to be as true to that age as possible. Personally and clowningly who wants to tell their ages.

btw Smacky that oversized brush would work great on the barn

That oversized art brush would be a fantastic prop!