If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

The following is an entry sent in for our monthly Silly Farm Supplies Competition!

“Find Your Brush!”
By Cheryl Henderson aka Mrs. Bunny, The Clown
I recently had the opportunity to do face painting for a one year old’s party. The birthday girl didn’t have a clue to what was going on, but the older kids and adults were scrambling to get into my chair. This is a far cry from my early days when the kids would take one look at my feeble designs and head for the high ground! Back then, I only did cheek art because I thought it was easier and safer for a non-artist like myself. Boy, was I wrong! A wonderful person named BeBe, The Clown opened my eyes to the world of the sponge and full face painting. I am forever grateful!

I always carry pictures of face painting designs to help me remember them. At the one year old’s party, the kids would look at the designs and want me to do their faces exactly like the picture. But since I had grown (a little!) as a face painter I was able to do the design, but in my own style. After they saw the finished product they forgot all about the picture! That taught me a valuable lesson: do it your own way! I can’t capture the style of someone else because, frankly, I’m not them! I can look at the design and make it my own by changing the stroke or color, by adding a line or tear drop or some glitter. The key thing is to face paint according to the picture you have found in your heart; your own heart! The more I tried to do a design exactly like Heather or Philly, the more frustrated I became. What made it worse was that I couldn’t remember everything they did so I would go back to the video and watch it over and over and I still couldn’t get it!

Then I remembered Heather said that we didn’t have to do it exactly like her, but to find a way that worked for us. That finally began to sink in. As I relaxed I began to “find my brush”. After this, ideas started forming and I was able to work more smoothly. Even my repeat customers could tell the difference! (I’ve attached some of my designs and a pix of me with my “Baby Bunny”. She loves to tickle!)

I did an outdoor festival recently. Although I was nervous, I saw it as a learning experience and an adventure because that’s what life is! I was concerned that I wouldn’t get many customers, but when the children (and some adults!) saw the designs the line formed and I worked about 3 hrs. straight! As I was leaving, a lady in the booth next to me jokingly said, “Maybe now the rest of us can make some money!” I guess I have arrived as a face painter. Yippeee!!!

Cheryl Henderson aka Mrs. Bunny, The Clown
http://www.mrsbunnytheclown.com

_______________________________

Thank you for sending this in Mrs. Bunny The Clown, such an awesome lesson learnt here, I’m so glad you’ve ‘found your brush’ ! I’ll be posting the rest of the entries until the end of November when I announce the winner. To find out more and enter the face painting Silly Farm contest click here.

Please leave a comment if you want to ask questions, or just want to offer encouragement!

Happy Face Painting,

Philadelphia Tivoli
P.S Click here for face painting designs  with step-by-step with photos and instructions!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 at 8:00 am and is filed under Face Painting Competitions, Face Painting Ideas, Face Painting Designs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.