Hello Face Painting Friends,

This month I would like to talk about my experiences with managing lines while Face Painting. Most of the events I paint at I am paid to paint the children  for free, so I often end up with a huge line! Sometimes it works out perfectly and my line ends at the same time I am finishing, other times I need to end the line so I can finish on time.

When I first started Painting Faces I would often finish half an hour to an hour over the due time as I couldn’t bear to turn away any children.  Now I always finish within 5 minutes of my set finishing time!

To end my line I keep an eye on how long it is, particualarly as it gets closer to my set finish time. I have an idea of how many I will be able to paint in a set time frame, and base ending my line on this. I have had to end my line 2 hours before my finish time before, as it was so long!! Usually I end it at 10-30 minutes before my finish time.

To do this I go straight to the end of the line and ask who is at the end of the line. I tell them that they will be last to be painted today and would they mind holding a sign for me. I have a sign that says: I am last in line for Face Painting today, Please do not join the line. I then quickly mark each person in the line with a line of paint on their hand, to keep track of people who were in the line. This system works fairly well, I still keep an eye on things and occasionally have to tell people that I really won’t be face painting any more faces today. The people with the sign are usually helpful in explaining to those waniting to join the line, and the paint mark on the hand stops people from sneaking in! I always paint an extra special design on the last person for being my sign holder.

Sometimes I have my painting times on display, this also helps people to see that I will be finishing at a particular time.

Other tips to help manage your line:

- Have an “I’m Next” sign for the front person to hold. Good if there are multiple painters and you want to keep it to one line so it moves faster.

-Draw a line for those waiting to stand behind. I keep chalk in my kit to do this

-For Birthday Parties I number each child so they can go off to play and know that they will still have their turn.

-Have a line manager particularly for busy events, including pay per face, a line manager can help the child choose their design before they get into the chair, and keep the line organised and entertained with bubbles or similar.

-Streamline your designs, stick to the designs you are fast at for busy events to keep the line moving. I use lists of ideas for the children to choose from and I can paint a fast or detailed version of the design depending on how busy my line is.

I love your feedback , feel free to suggest your own tips for managing a line in the comments below.

I am running Face Painting Workshops throughout Australia in 2010, see my website for details:

Melbourne workshops include Beginners: tips, tricks and techniques and Jewelery, lace, masks and more – The next Jewlery/lace workshop in Melbourne is March 17 and Split Cakes – see my website for more details about these.

Gold Coast, Queensland Workshops will be July 13– 16th 2010

Tasmania workshops: Launcestern April 21st, 22nd and 23rd, April, 2010

Adelaide, Perth and Sydney Dates are still to be announced.

For more information about these workshops please visit my website : www.ambah.com.au or contact me ambah@ambah.com.au

Happy Painting!

Ambah    xx

P.S. Click here to tell me what you think about this post by leaving a comment!

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My friend Rick from Gigmasters (online booking service for face painters and other entertainment) just let me know about a 30% OFF SALE they’re having for face painters so I had to let you know about it too! If you’re looking for more gigs, I’d highly recommend them!

Membership Special!

Hello,This is Rick Buckholz contacting you on behalf of GigMasters.com. We are an online booking service that connects performers with clients for various events across the country. In 2009 we logged over 25,000 bookings through our site, and 2010 is shaping up to be even busier! Face painters are one of our most popular and requested performers.

We help obtain bookings for face painters at private parties, festivals, corporate events, bar/bat mitzvahs, and more! Whether you’re looking to add a couple bookings a week or just fill in a few dates throughout the year- GigMasters will get you more bookings in your local area. January was the busiest month we’ve had in over 10 years- its the perfect time to get on board!

I’m contacting you today to offer you a
30% discount to become a GigMasters Member. GigMasters always offers a 30 day, money-back guarantee on all memberships. If you haven’t logged any bookings, haven’t gotten many requests, or simply don’t like our service- you can contact me personally for a full refund right away.

We’re busier than ever and I’m extremely confident we can increase bookings for you in your area, at various events. If you have any questions or concerns at all, please don’t hesitate to contact me- I’d love to speak with you.

For more information, and to sign-up, please visit: Our Sign-Up Page

Coupon Code: SAVE30
Expires 2/28/2010

Thank you,

Rick Buckholz
Account Executive
GigMasters.com, Inc.
(866) 342-9794 Ext. 229
(203) 587-1134 Ext. 229
rbuckholz@gigmasters.com
* Offer only valid to new cusomters.

****************************************************************
If you’re interested in starting a face painting business the right way check out our How to Start a Face Painting Business Course!

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Here’s a fantastic video tutorial made by Leah from from AmerikanBodyArt.com painting a Mardi Gra Mask!
Click Here to Leave a Comment And Tell Us What You Think!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click Here to Leave a Comment And Tell Us What You Think!

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Hello Face Painters,

With Valentines Day drawing close I have a  Step by Step design for you. I actually paint this design all year round, Heart Princesses are alway popular!

Click Here to Leave a Comment and Tell Me What You Think! Thanks

Step 1:  Paint the eyelids, from the inner corners of each eye to a point beyond the eyebrow. I have used a mixture of Paradise “Beach Berry” and Kryolan UV red. Any pink, red or other color will be fine. Add a love heart to the centre of the brows and on one side under the outer side of the eye.

Step 2: Using white, outline the hearts and eyes.

Step 3: add swirls and teardrops to join the components of the design and create a crown.

Step 4: add some dots in white. Then add black lowlight lines under the white line to bring the design out more.

Step 5: add some white highlights to the pink to give if more dimension. Also note this slight variation on the design…they usually turn out a little different to each other! Glitter can be added too.

Click Here to Leave a Comment and Tell Me What You Think! Thanks

I hope you all have a very romantic, and creative Valentine’s day.

xxx

I am running regular workshops in Melbourne and have a comprehensive Split Cake workshop coming up on Febuary 11 in Footscray.

learn foundation techniques and many fast, impressive designs to speed up your Face Painting readers will recieve free one stroke brushes at the workshop.

Other Melbourne workshops include Beginners: tips, tricks and techniques and Jewelery, lace, masks and more – see my website for more details about these.

South-Eastern Queensland Workshops will be July 12 – 17th 2010

Tasmania workshops: Launcestern April 21st, 22nd and 23rd, Hobart 20th, 24th and 25th April.

Adelaide, Perth and Sydney Dates are still to be announced.

For more information about these workshops please visit my website : www.ambah.com.au or contact me ambah@ambah.com.au

Happy Painting!

Ambah

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Hey guys, here’s a beautiful henna inspired face painting mask by Heather that I just know you’ll enjoy…

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you want step-by-step photos & instruction of face paint designs click here!

Happy Face Painting!

Philadelphia Tivoli
FacePaintingTips.com

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Our Face Painting Tips Forum (Face Painting Chat) is a great place to ask questions about face painting, and the ideas and techniques that you’ll learn in there are amazing!

Here’s a topic that I swiped about “Using Flat Brushes for Face Painting & ArtyBrush Cakes”, a problem you may have had… so I thought you’d find this very helpful…

SealMom (Lori): I have been trying to learn how to use my flat brushes, especially with the Arty Brush Cakes. My problem is keeping the bristles of the brush together as I paint things like flowers and leaves (as shown in the Arty Brush DVD). Is my brush too dry… or too wet? I have experimented time and again… or is it the way I’m holding the brush? I sure would appreciate some tips from those who are doing this successfully! )
Thanks!

Binkyfp (Brenda aka Binky the Face Painter ): Hi Sealmom… My experience with that is there wasnt enoigh paint loaded onto the brush. I used to spray my ABC’s [ArtyBrush Cakes] with a spritz of water, now I just dip my brush in water and remove the excess then run my brush back and forrth across the ABC several times and then paint…I’ve noticed, for me, that you can paint quite a bit doing that. let me know if that worked for you.

SealMom (Lori): Thanks Brenda… I’ll give that a try.

If you have any other face painting related questions check out our
Face Painting Tips Forum (Face Painting Chat) right here:
http://www.facepaintingtips.com/forum

Happy Face Painting!

Philadelphia Tivoli
FacePaintingTips.com

P.S Click Here to Leave Comments,
Tell Us What You Think!

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Welcome to the New Year Face Painting Friends.

I am enjoying a few contemplative moments after an extremely busy Christmas period.  I have been painting faces, arms and backs at all kinds of events over the last couple of months: weddings, christmas parties, shopping centres, adult events, even on a boat sailing to Tasmania .

As always, I enjoy painting adults as well as children, and with the warmer weather – it is Summer here in Australia – I have had plenty of extra skin to paint on. I have loved painting wings onto ladies back – butterfly wings and feathery “Angel” wings too – the Ladies love them as much as they do when I paint jewlery onto them!  I think no bare back will escape my paint brush for a while , its so much fun!!

These designs have been really popular at the Weddings,  see the image below where I have painted the Bride’s back with roses to match her lovely pink gown. I have put together images of some of the many adults I have painted over the last month – so much fun! All of the pictures have been painted in a few minutes or less, during busy jobs with big line – ups.

Check out the Christmas elf – he may be my oldest customer yet!

looking at these pretty pink & girly pictures I am feeling very romantic! I have a Valentine’s step by step planned for you for next month.

classes for 2010:

Melbourne Classes for early 2010 have been announced on my website – there is something for beginners to advanced painters. Have a look at www.ambah.com.au and contact me for more information on the class you are interested in.

I have also set dates for Tasmanian workshops for 31st March/1st & 2nd April 2010.

I am currently planning dates for Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Sydney & New Zealand Workshops in 2010.

If you would like to attend  in a workshop  please e-mail me at ambah@ambah.com.au to register your interest  and to go on my mailing list for workshops in your area.

Happy Painting in 2010!

Ambah

Related posts:

1. Managing Your Line at Face Painting Events Hello Face Painting Friends, This month I would like to talk about my experiences with managing lines while Face Painting. Most of the events I paint at I am...
2. A Heart Princess Face Paint Design for Valentine’s Day Hello Face Painters, With Valentines Day drawing close I have a  Step by Step design for you. I actually paint this design all year round, Heart Princesses are alway...
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Hey guys, our (free) Face Painting Tips Forum has been busy thanks to over 200 people who have joined so far. One of the users with the most posts is called Brenda aka Binky the Face Painter and she recently shared photos of her beautiful Christmas Face Painting Designs that I just had to share with all the blog readers!

Christmas Face Painting Designs By Brenda aka Binky the Face Painter
( Please Click Here to Leave comments and tell us what you think!)

To See More of Her Christmas Face Paint Designs Click Here!

Its Finally Here! You can instantly download our step-by-step Christmas designs in…The Christmas Face Painting Guide!

Discover 20 amazing Christmas Face Paint
Designs complete with step by step photos
and instructions including:

Angel, Bell, Candy Cane, Christmas Present, Christmas Pudding, Christmas Stocking, Christmas Tree, Elf Mask, Gingerbread Man, Holly, Ice Angel, Noel Mask, Ornament, Rudolph the Reindeer, Santa, Snowflake, Snowflake mask, Snowman, Star, Xmas Mask & much more!

.

Click Here To Download Our Christmas Guide!

Happy Face Painting!

Philadelphia Tivoli
FacePaintingTips.com

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Hello face painting friends,

I was most excited when Philadelphia invited me to be a regular contributer here. I will be posting monthly chit chat about my life & experiences as a Face & Body Painter. I am more adept with a paintbrush than a keyboard so please bear with me as I warm up to my regular posts….

Christmas has well and truly begun! I have painted at several christmas events in the last week, making great use of my split cakes – these really make face painting so much faster. I had been using split cakes here and there over the last couple of years but I have to say meeting and learning from Rebecca of Arty Brush Strokes in Febuary this year has revolutionalised split cakes for me.

Rebecca comes from a Folk Art background and applied the flat brush techniques to face painting with amazing results and since then split cakes have really taken off! Rebecca has collaborated with sillyfarm.com to produce arty brush cakes, a collection of split cakes in striking combinations to be used for all kinds of creations, they have also put out a DVD. Heather regularly posts fantastic split cake demonstrations in the video corner of the sillyfarm website, these are really worth checking out.

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of visiting Silly farm and made a video for Heather, featuring split cakes – I use a “filbert” shape brush in this to demonstrate one of my most popular eye designs. you can check this out here:

Click here to view the embedded video.

I have developed many of my own split cake designs and am always looking for inspiration for more, I have quite a repitoire of super-fast designs for christmas that I have been using for the busy christmas events. They are so fast, yet people just go “wow” over the designs – I almost feel as though I am cheating!

Working with the flat brush does take a little getting used to, so I have started to teach split cake workshops where I go over the fundmentals of using the flat brush and share some of my designs.

I have workshops coming up December 7th & 9th in Melbourne, Australia to find out more about these and my future workshops please visit www.ambah.com.au and contact  me to receive information on upcoming workshops in your part of the world!

I wish you all a Joyful Festive Season and look forward to writing again in the new year.

I have a picture here , my son as a christmas elf, painted for our Family Christmas card.

Happy Painting!

Ambah O’Brien
www.ambah.com.au

P.S Click Here to Leave a Comment for Ambah!

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1. Happy New Year! Welcome to the New Year Face Painting Friends. I am enjoying a few contemplative moments after an extremely busy Christmas period.  I have been painting faces, arms and backs at all...
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(It was sooo hard to pick this month, thank you so much for all the brilliant posts sent in this month!)
Here are the competition winners:

The $50 Gift Certificate from Silly Farm Supplies
For The Best Contributor goes to:
Marion Mitchell!

For “Do What You Love & You’ll Never Work a Day In Your Life” Congratulations Marion…great article, charity work is so beneficial in so many ways and for so many people! Keep an eye out in your inbox for your prize Marion

The $10 Certificate from Silly Farm Supplies for the Best Commenter goes to: Kathy Stanton!

Happy to know you’re enjoying the blog You will be receiving your gift certificate within the next week!

Thank you all again for participating, your stories have been helpful to more people than you think! You can start sending in your entries for the December Competition and, of course, add to our discussion by making comments one each blog post right away!

To get all the info on the competition click on this link: Silly Farm Competition.

Happy Face Painting

Philadelphia Tivoli
P.S. Learn face painting designs by clicking here with step by step photos and instructions!

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