Face Fun - Blog

Painting a Hat

5/4/2015

I received a call Saturday morning, from a man named Dave. Dave was from Oklahoma and was in town attending a convention at the Salt Palace Convention Center. Saturday evening the convention was hosting a friendly competition to see who had the best hat.

He originally had the idea to make a hat out of the companies bottles that they manufacture, but while speaking with his wife she had the brilliant idea, "Why don't you just paint on a hat?"

So began Dave's search for a body painter. After trying a few different painters, I was fortunate enough to get the referral. (Thanks Kat!) Dave and I talked about different hat options, but without any prosthetics to mimic the dimension or bill of a hat, our options were limited. We needed something that sticks closely to the head, something that I could paint in an hour. I had the idea to do a beanie with a real pom pom on top to help achieve a realistic look. Luckily I only had 1 face painting event that day, so I had time to look up reference photos and create a little pom pom for the top.

Dave was so much fun to work with. We put the company logo on the hat, but it of course had to be pixelated, because a knit hat doesn't have smooth letters. My airbrush helped me add highlights and shadows to give it a 3D effect. Dave was a little apprehensive at first, not quite sure if we could achieve a realistic looking hat. Once it was all finished and we added the pom pom, I think he was pleasantly surprised. He said that so many people that saw his hat, wanted pictures with him. What a fun and random gig to have!

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The Strangest Face Painting Requests

3/29/2015

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One of the questions I get asked most frequently, besides how I got into face painting, is what are the strangest things I've ever painted. I may be so used to weird requests at this point that I've passed by a lot of others, but these were the ones that stuck out in my head.

I present the strangest face painting requests of Face Fun . . .

She lost a bet with a friend at the party. He got to choose what she got painted.

A monacle and mustache

A surfing dinosaur of course!

This is EXACTLY what he asked for and he was over the moon when he looked in the mirror.

He asked for "chicken" written across his forehead

One of the only KISS requests I've actually completed.

She gave me express instructions that his is what she wanted, she was all smiles the rest of the party.

These girls wanted T-bone steaks, cause their Dads love them.

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Things to Look for in a face painter

3/24/2015

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So we're going to try this whole Blog thing and see how it goes. I do have a lot of random face painting fact-oids floating around in my head, this might just be the perfect place to unload all of those.
I thought to start off with we would delve into what you want to look for in a face paint artist. You may think that finding a face painter is just as easy as Googling "face painter" and picking someone who looks promising, or maybe the cheapest option. If you want to make the most out of the face painting experience for you and your kids, here are some good things to look for.

Quality

One of the first things that will catch your eye as you're looking for face painters will be their photos. A lot of people don't realize how impressive face painting can be. I would suggest searching some face painting pictures and finding a high quality photo to reference. Something that looks professional, clean, and will blow your kids away!! While a kid might be okay with the butterfly on the left (which is my own abomination from when I started), think of their reaction to the butterfly on the right. Not only will the kids be over the moon, but their parents will be very impressed with the wonderful face painter you were able to find. As you search for artists, make sure you check our their portfolio or gallery and find someone with a similar quality to the photos you've seen. Don't be afraid to aim high, there are AMAZING face painters out there just waiting for your call.

Testimonials

I went through a cooking phase and turned to my oldest and dearest friend for recipes... Pinterest. I found so many beautifully tantalizing photos of food with recipes to try. And almost every recipe I tried was awful. Either the preparation took hours, there were dozens of ingredients that were random and pricey, or the end product was something my husband and I could barely eat, let alone the kids. I've found that to be successful at trying new recipes, I either need a recipe from a friend or family member, or I need one that has reviews. Something that will tell me how the recipe is to make and others impressions of it. It's the same way with face painters.
You're paying someone to come to your home or work. They're meeting and getting to know your family and friends and will be an integral part of memories of the event. Like those Pinterest recipes, you may find a face painter with impressive photos or a great price. But without a referral from a friend or seeing what others thought of the face painter you're pretty much shooting in the dark. Will they arrive on time, will they be friendly, are they professional? All these questions can be answered by looking over testimonials of their previous customers. It will save you a lot of stress and will completely change your face painting experience.

product

This one is probably something that you've never thought of. The face paint that your artist uses will be going onto your kids' faces. It's one of the most sensitive areas of the skin and so only professional face painting supplies should be used.
Acrylic paint probably won't do anything at all to your kids' faces, except crack and flake off. But do you want to take the chance? How awful would you feel if one of your neighbor's kids had an allergic reaction? Professional quality face paints are the same quality as store bought cosmetics, and will rarely cause any skin reactions. Make sure whether you're booking a face painter at a party, or getting painted at a market or fair, that the paints they're using are of the highest caliber. Your child's face deserves nothing less.

I hope that this has been helpful and that you now know what to look for when you go looking for a face painter or any other entertainer for that matter. Questions and comments are always welcome. Until next time.