Face painting for Non-Face painters

A buddy of mine called recently:

"Hey man, would you mind doing a little face painting at a charity event?"

I've drawn a lot of caricatures at charity events, but face painting...not so much.

So I said, "yes."

Well, I learned a few things about painting kids faces. I thought my fellow artists might like to know what to expect if they ever find themselves in the same situation.

FACE PAINTING IS VERY POPULAR
That is, free face painting is very popular. I showed up at 3:30 and left at 9:30. And I was painting faces the entire time. I was actually the last person at a booth to leave.

THE QUALITY OF FACEPAINTS VARY WILDLY
The event host supplied everything I used to paint faces. He left Tempera paint and some paint that was made specifically for face painting. The Tempera paint was super thin. The face paint was thicker, but it wasn't great. Both kinds had to be globbed on to be visible. The result was that making a clean cartoon on a kid became very difficult. Plus, the paint didn't dry especially quickly, so I was painting wet on wet, which, when you have to glob on the paint, is difficult.

PAINT SIMPLE DESIGNS
I quickly learned that you can't get too crazy with the designs. The paint just won't work for that unless you're willing to take a LOT of time...and the kids are waiting!

The most popular designs I was asked to paint were:
Butterflies (by far the most popular), flowers (also very popular), the University of Georgia "G,"  monkeys, cats, tigers, horses, hearts, peace signs, pirates, skulls, rainbows, and dogs.

Here are the templates I developed as I worked.

I developed designs that used big, simple shapes...preferably circular. If I sat down and worked on it I could develop more interesting patterns. The flowers were especially irksome because I don't really know the details of a flower's appearance. I would suggest developing a good butterfly and flower pattern before you go.

Face painting can be tedious and aggravating, but if you have some simple, fun designs you'll have a much better time.

There you go. I've given you a little information that will better prepare you for the onslaught of youth that awaits. Have fun!