One of the main reasons we like to take pictures of our work is so that we can study them in order to (hopefully) make them better. Here is an example:

This first picture shows a butterfly the way we have been doing it for a while. My wife didn't like this design. According to her, the wings were too far apart -- like someone ripped the wings off and slapped them onto a kids face. She suggested altering it as shown in the dotted black line. Instead of coming off the corner of the eye, she suggested we begin at the curve of the nose, essentially sliding everything in while keeping the same basic proportions.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a41/Chris_texas/Face%20Paint%20new/flymod.jpg

So at the next event that's exactly what we did. Below are a couple examples (I tried to follow the same basic butterfly layout to make the comparissons fair):

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a41/Chris_texas/Face%20Paint%20new/DSCN0081.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a41/Chris_texas/Face%20Paint%20new/DSCN0091.jpg

After comparing the two styles I think she is correct. The look of the 'improved' butterfly is more pleasing. Nor is it more difficult.

One more reason to take lots of pictures. Not only can you use them on your signage, but you can use them to improve your work.

Do you take a picture of all of the kids you paint? Do you use a model release so you can use the pictures for advertising purposes?

I need to start taking more pictures of my face painting work. The problem is, when I am painting, I usually don't have the time to stop and take pictures. I get plenty of pictures at balloon jams, but very few at face painting jams.

Do you take a picture of all of the kids you paint?

No. We seem to go in spurts, and when we are busy we rarely photograph anything.


Do you use a model release so you can use the pictures for advertising purposes?

Nope. What we have found is that when a parent returns to find their kid in the sign they are thrilled. We've never had even a single complaint, but we have had many kids return the next day bringing friends to see. Basically it's as close to scoring a lifelong customer as you can get.

Note: I always ask the kid if I can take their picture. If I remember correctly we have never once had a parent say no, and only once or twice had a kid decline -- and those were teens. That's out of thousands of kids.

We are about to begin work on a book and some ad posters, for those we will have every model's parent sign a release.

I need to start taking more pictures of my face painting work. The problem is, when I am painting, I usually don't have the time to stop and take pictures. I get plenty of pictures at balloon jams, but very few at face painting jams.

I hear you my friend. We have the same problem. It's one reason I am sooo thrilled with this new camera. It turns on damn near instantly, and it focusses so fast I no longer even bother to check. It has NEVER yet taken a picture that was poorly exposed or out of focus. I pick it up, turn it on, point it in their general direction, and snap the shot. Three seconds maybe. The resolution is so huge that you can crop the kid back into the center no problem.

I so wish I had just a little ickle piece of your talent..

My problem is that i seem to get so excited when im facepainting that i just simply forget to take pictures... thats why most of my pictures are me or my little neices. im going to try to take lots of pics this weekend.

The faces are looking great Smacky! Hope to meet you one of these days considering we're so near to each other.

The faces are looking great Smacky! Hope to meet you one of these days considering we're so near to each other.

We should definately do that!

Had to jump on the bandwagon and say your work is awesome, Smacky. Like Tickles, I wish I had just a small percentage of your talent!

Thanks!

Really though, the point of posting was to inspire discussion.

How do you work to improve your designs? How have your designs evolved over time? Things like that. Hell, anything! :)

How do you work to improve your designs? How have your designs evolved over time? Things like that. Hell, anything!

I take pics. when I can and practice as much as my kids, neice and borrowed children will let me.

I've been considering getting a plastic head, but don't really want to get the melron one as it already looks like it has make up and the others that I've found were a little more pricey.
Any one try the heads used for make up in the cosmetology [sp] area to practice with and how are they for clean up? Any one have any recommendations on them for improving skills?

I take pics. when I can and practice as much as my kids, neice and borrowed children will let me.

I've been considering getting a plastic head, but don't really want to get the melron one as it already looks like it has make up and the others that I've found were a little more pricey.
Any one try the heads used for make up in the cosmetology [sp] area to practice with and how are they for clean up? Any one have any recommendations on them for improving skills?

I am not a fan of them for several reasons:

* They do not take the makeup the way skin does. I can easily imagine learning bad habits this way.

* They lack the wrinkles and lines of real skin. In many ways this actually makes them harder to work on.

* Real people's facial proportions, and young kids in particular, are often a bit tweeked when compared to some mythical ideal. On one kid their forehead is the size of an aircraft carrier, the next has a nose is a meter wide, the next has three eyes. Once they hit their preteens everything catches back up, but until then it's a crap shoot. Our job is to discover how to make them beautiful. The plastic head doesn't prepare you for the kid with bangs like a sheepdog and yet wants to be a butterfly, or the pink kitty with a forehead the size of a basketball.

* They don't move the way a kid does.

I think the BEST practice is to work on your arm or leg or both, and really get your sponge blending and brushwork down. Use something cheap, like paradise black, run it a bit thin if you really want to stretch your money, and spend time doing lines, teardrops, curves. Invent games. For example: lay down ten or twenty S curves, then go back over the same strokes again and again, trying to always hit the same edges.

To refine designs, look at what other artists are doing. Look at everyone's work. If you like it, try to discover WHY. If you don't like it, even better, but again try to figure out exactly what it is about the design that you dislike. If someone is doing something that you like, use it! If you want to copy it, go for it, but you might have more success discovering what it is that you like about it first, then adopting that to your own style. Remember, it is more often this core "truth" in a design that makes it attractive, so discover and copy that.

I look at everyone's work that I can. For example, Axe's website (posted above) has a nice facepaint gallery. His practice brushwork picture is damn good, and I love his mummy design. Take a look.

Finally, practice in your HEAD. Picture yourself painting the kind of designs you want to produce. See yourself painting these perfect lines. Work on your designs there.

Thanks!

Really though, the point of posting was to inspire discussion.

How do you work to improve your designs? How have your designs evolved over time? Things like that. Hell, anything! :)

OK, since you want general discussion, here goes....

When I get a request that I wasn't expecting, I try to search the internet for design ideas when I get home. I like to sketch things on paper to get a sense of how it should look and compare my sketch to the picture to figure out what I might have missed.

I highly recommend finding face painting jams. I started going to them two years ago, I even started to host my own last fall. You can practice alone, but seeing other people work helps a lot. It also gives you the chance to get feedback on your designs.

One of the interesting thing about working with others is that they will often have pictures/designs that aren't in my portfolio. Kids will request a face that looks like one that one of my friends painted and I get to attempt my own version. This has gotten me to try out other versions of butterfly, dog or cat designs.

Smacky, do you do your butterfly with a brush or sponge? My basic butterfly uses a rainbow palette and I use a sponge. I often get a little on the nose. Your design looks like it has such a clean edge. I know one friend uses a baby wipe to clean the base color before adding the black/highlights.

To add to the discussion on tweeking or adding to designs, I like to check out tatoo sites , esp. tribal, I get request for those on the arms [or atleast it's one thing I requested for from older teens and adults] I get ideas from them for arm band designs

Smacky, do you do your butterfly with a brush or sponge? My basic butterfly uses a rainbow palette and I use a sponge. I often get a little on the nose. Your design looks like it has such a clean edge. I know one friend uses a baby wipe to clean the base color before adding the black/highlights.

Sponge for the base. If we screw up a quick swipe with a wet wipe cleans the edge.

Basically we grab a clean wet wipe for every kid regardless. I generally grab one as they are hitting my chair, and then I leave it folded on top of my wet wipe container. That way it's there in case I need to wipe their mouth or whatever. We blow through a LOT of them at any event, but they are cheap if you buy them in bulk.

Because of the way we work and the kind of designs we advertise, we generally are not in too great a rush on any one kid. They are paying us for our best (rather than fast) and we are trying to deliver just that, so we have greater luxury of time to get things right. In this it helps that there are almost always at least two of us working -- my daughter and I -- and my wife will also jump in if she is available to assist keeping things moving. She will fetch things as needed, pin hair, and do glitter tats if we are busy.

OK, since you want general discussion, here goes....

When I get a request that I wasn't expecting, I try to search the internet for design ideas when I get home. I like to sketch things on paper to get a sense of how it should look and compare my sketch to the picture to figure out what I might have missed.

I highly recommend finding face painting jams. I started going to them two years ago, I even started to host my own last fall. You can practice alone, but seeing other people work helps a lot. It also gives you the chance to get feedback on your designs.

One of the interesting thing about working with others is that they will often have pictures/designs that aren't in my portfolio. Kids will request a face that looks like one that one of my friends painted and I get to attempt my own version. This has gotten me to try out other versions of butterfly, dog or cat designs.

We sketch designs as well. In fact, my daughter has been working all night on her computer doing just that. At events we use paper or ourselves.

Your point about working with other artists is spot on. We were just talking about this the other day. I think it's a huge advantage for us that we always do just that. Both my daughter and I have our own styles of course, but it's always cool to see the new things that someone else came up with (often because you were correcting something else that wasn't quite right, or just because it seemed right at the time). When we are not too busy we can watch the other work, and then talk about what we liked and what we did not. Also, we each are better at some things, and when we aren't busy we teach each other.

My daughter is fantastic at doing tribal designs and what not, and she has been trying to teach me for months now. I suspect I will never be as good as she is, but that's okay too.

To add to the discussion on tweeking or adding to designs, I like to check out tatoo sites , esp. tribal, I get request for those on the arms [or atleast it's one thing I requested for from older teens and adults] I get ideas from them for arm band designs

I have been doing that too, but I am not that great at them yet. Fortunately I can usually hand them off to my daughter and have her do them. I have gotten lucky so far -- every paid tribal I have done has looked at least okay, but I need to improve.

One of the things I did when first starting, and I still do actually, is to use the internet for researching my facepainting. Tigers for instance, I'll find lots of tiger pics; save to a facepainting file in my pictures folder etc. I've got loads of tribal pics the same way.

I've gotta agree with Smacky about the practicing tools. I don't have a head but I'd got a practice pad from a couple of years back. I'd just a soon use my forearm or thigh because the paint just doesn't take on the pad as well as the skin. That being said, nothing beats actually painting a kid's face. Wrinkles, eyebrows, noses, curves; you just can't simulate that kind of canvas.

Whoops! I almost forgot! I've found that facebook is a great resource for facepainters. Once you've friended one you'll surely find more. These artists typically have a photo gallery on their facebook page as well as links to their business pages with even more artwork. I used to be pretty reticent about friend adding on facebook, but when it comes to clowns and facepainters; I just see it as networking. You may not know them now but one of these days you might run into them. hahaha! Not to mention being about to look at some great artwork.

I haven't invested in a practice head or pad yet... Not having kids does make it harder to practice. My legs are definitely too hairy to make a good practice surface and there is just a 2 inch strip on my forearm that isn't too hairy... not exactly enough space to practice many designs beyond cheek art.

I have a cosmetology head with rubber skin that i found at a yard sale for 50 cents. Its ok for the most part but the paint just doesnt flow as smoothly like it does on real skin, plus some colors won't completly come off. i got a cheap plastic one before i got this one (i say cheap but it was about $15) dont waist your money on them cause the paint kind of pools up and when you paint another color over the top of it it just runs togather, i just use it for a wig head now. id much rather practiace on a real face but sometimes you run out willing faces so its better than nothing.