My daughter was asked to help out at a party, painting designs on faces of the attendees. It’s not hard, but defining what you’re offering and practicing before doing it “live” can make a difference between success and failure.
Steps
1. Sheet.
To limit unrealistic expectations of your audience, prepare a sheet with the patterns you can do. This allows them to choose from designs you are good at creating. You may choose to start with only 4-6 and then build as you practice and get better. As you work through this badge program, determine your patterns and make your sheet.
2. Cards.
While you might have a sheet showing the designs you can do for people to choose from, cards for yourself as a reference item can give you something to reference, show steps, be laminated, etc. You might even choose to put these into trading card protectors so others can look at up to 9 designs and you have your notes on the back. As we look through the possibility of designs you might choose to include, keep a list of those you want to provide.
NOTE: For the sheets and cards, you may want to paint your design directly on them or take a photo of a design you have made on someone’s face and use that.
3. Basics.
Start by practicing the basics. You want to make shapes, lines and other items you can combine into face designs. By mastering the simple stuff, you can start combining these into even more designs.
4. Practice.
Before provide face painting at an official event, practice creating your chosen designs. If your family members are “so done” with sitting for you, go out into your front yard on a sunny day and offer to do them for free for neighborhood kids. Believe me, they’ll spread the word and you’ll have more faces than you want!
5. Clean.
You also need to practice cleaning. This is not just cleaning off the entire design. If you make a mistake, you may need to clean a little bit off if you can’t incorporate it into the design. Be sure your cleaning medium is natural and safe. Experiment with cotton swabs, small sponges and other items.
6. Materials.
Always tell people what you plan to use on their skin as they may have an allergic reaction. This includes the paints, cleaners and more. You also need to provide information on how to get the paint off a child’s face before bedtime. You may even want to have small sheets parents can take with them.
7. Body.
If your recipient wants a design, but seems leery about you putting it on their face, offer to put it on the back of their hand or just above their wrist. They can look at the design and enjoy it. Be sure to practice this as well.
Designs
8. Decorative.
Scrolls, hearts, dots, diamonds, paisleys, music notes and other artistic designs can be incorporated to make unique designs every time you do it. If you plan to do this, let them pick more than one decorative element to put on their face.
9. Flowers.
Flowers are very popular. Daises are easy to paint, so start with those. Look online for even more flowers you might want to try.
10. Butterflies.
Butterflies, as well as dragonflies, can be simple or more detailed. Start with simpler designs. As you get the hang of it, start building on your original designs by adding details on the wings and bodies.
11. Symbols.
You probably thought of the ying-yang symbol first. However, you can include runes, sigils, foreign languages (such as kanji) and even someone’s initials into a design. If you’re pulling known symbols, be sure to let your recipient know what it means.
12. Holidays.
If this is for a holiday or event, you may want to have some designs specific for it. Christmas might have stars, trees and holly. A birthday might have balloons, party hats or party poppers.
13. Masks.
Going around the eyes to make a partial face mask may be a cool take for Halloween. Check out designs on Mardi Gras masks for inspiration. What kinds of items might you be able to incorporate?
14. Full face.
I have seen full face masks as design of an animal’s face. It is really cool, but you would probably want to limit this to older kids who can sit still for a longer period of time. Look for full face designs for inspiration and ideas.
15. Originals.
If you are more artistic, you can offer to create your own designs based on the feelings you get from someone, the things they like or even specific designs for an event. You may do the same design in different colors. What kind of original designs can you create from the ideas above?
Badge and Supplement Files
Member Level
- 0EP_B_BPG_FaceP_2in_12up_MS1_larajla — generic badge printable
- 0EP_BLIST_FaceP_MS1_larajla — badge items per membership level
- 0EP_BSET0_FaceP_MS1_larajla —badge set and related badges
- 0EP_SUPP0_FaceP_Journal_MS1_larajla — badge journal
- 0EP_SUPP0_FaceP_Planner_MS1_larajla — badge planner
- 0EP_SUPPL_FaceP_MS1_larajla — supplements currently available per membership level
Supplement Fun
- N/A
Sites to Explore
- www.facepaintingassociation.com
- facebodyart.com/face-painting-for-beginners
- facebodyart.com/5-tips-for-crisp-lines-face-painting
- www.parenting.com/activities/easy-face-painting-ideas
- styletic.com/face-painting-ideas-kids
- hative.com/cool-face-painting-ideas-for-kids
- webneel.com/face-painting-ideas
- www.liveabout.com/best-tips-for-face-painting-2578206
- www.todaysparent.com/family/activities/face-painting-tips-and-tricks
- www.nelliebellie.com/facepainting
- loveartscrafts.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Face-Paint-Ebook.pdf
Get the infographic here > larajla blog post
Get the PDFs of the badge program / supplements here