Summer is coming, which means carnivals and fairs and…face painting. I am reminded of my first and only face painting experience, which was not good.

About two years ago my husband and I volunteered to run a face painting booth at a church carnival. While I may have some artistic and crafty talent, drawing/painting is not among my strengths. In fact, of all the classes I took in college (accounting, calculus, statistics, economics to name a few) basic drawing was the most torturous. And the most difficult, in a non-academic way. I just lack the ability to draw with my hand what I see in my mind. I’m hopeless!

So I shouldn’t have signed up for this booth. But I did, and I was painting my awful pictures on these kids’ faces - we had a mirror for them to look at themselves when we were finished…another mistake. I can’t remember what I had drawn, except that it was exceptionally horrible in this case, and the little girl took one look at her face and started crying! She hated my picture! I didn’t blame her, but I did feel like a real jerk.

So if I ever do face painting again, there are a few things I’m going to do to prepare myself:

• bring several pages of pictures for the kids to choose from so I can just copy
• do a little research and practice beforehand to learn about some basic face painting techniques
• bring along some glitter - kids love glitter and it might spruce up some artist errors
• substitute makeup for paint whenever possible - I can do makeup!
• have baby wipes on hand so I can start over if I need to
• keep it simple!

I think doing these few things will keep the children from crying. I think face painting is a fun thing, so I do want to improve my skills.

Also, my husband bought this face painting e-book so I never have to make a child cry again. It really was humiliating. This e-book is very helpful, so if you’re nervous for your next face painting engagement I would recommend it. Click here to check it out. Happy face painting!

[image from jupiterimages.com]

Filed under: Crafts

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