The Facts About Face Painting
Face painting only became popular at children’s parties, theme parks and events in the 1980s, though for centuries, human beings have painted their faces and their bodies.
During tribal ceremonies, military actions, sports activities and religious rituals, putting paint or ink on our bodies has been a part of the human experience for as long as history has been recorded. Even permanent tattooing, while long stigmatized as rebellious or undesirable, is increasing in popularity.
Today, face painting is soaring in popularity. It’s a great way to raise the bar on the entertainment value of any party or corporate event. Kids and adults both love the long-lasting sense of fantasy it creates. They also love that it’s non-toxic and easy to remove. So what is there to know about face painting?
A lot! Here are some basics:
Who does face painting?
The face painters that you can hire through Goofy Faces are artists first, face painters second. Many make their living with their art and travel the country working at events. We recruit and vet each artist to make sure that they have both a strong talent and solid customer service skills because we want your guests to have the best possible experience.
How is a face painter trained?
Most face painters have attended multiple workshops and seminars to learn their craft. Face painters are required to create realistic-looking scales, horns, fur, feathers, butterfly wings and more textures and designs. These techniques take hours of practice to master. We also train our artists on popular designs and characters.
What kind of products do face painters use?
Goofy Faces artists use high-grade professional body paints and glitters, in vibrant colors that don’t fade. These cosmetic-grade, non-toxic products are not permanent or even semi-permanent, so they’re relatively early to remove. Our artists also follow standard sanitation practices, cleaning brushes, stencils and other materials with industrial-strength disinfectant products.
It’s a bad idea to cheap out on your face painting artist.
A true face painting artist can add something really special to a party. Whether they’re painting crowns on princes and princesses, turning little boys into lizards or livening up an adult party, most people love the experience. It’s Instagram-ready, too.
Unfortunately, if you’re not careful, you can end up with an inexperienced artist whose work may disappoint your guests. You can avoid that by reviewing the artist’s portfolio of images, to make sure their artwork meets your standards. (Or just hire one through Goofy Faces – our artists are all good!)
Considering a face painter for your next party or corporate event? Start your search here: https://cobs.goofyfaces.com/caricature_new/
Goofy Faces was recently hired by Lear Corporation to help them celebrate their 100th birthday at their headquarters in Southfield, MI. They requested 2 artists for 4 hours. But they didn’t request traditional caricatures or eSketches™. “We want you to draw on these 4X4 inch cardboard tiles. Our guests love them!” Ok, no problem. Neither of the 2 artists had drawn this way before but they were up to the challenge. The client was right, their guests loved them. They lined up for 4 straight hours. These tiles are basically restaurant coasters; the kind you see when a server places them on the table before setting down your drinks. They respond well to marker and allow you to print a logo or graphic on the opposite side. Not only were these popular but both artists were able to crank out more caricatures per hour than usual. “Because of the reduced size, I was finishing each caricature in about 90 seconds as opposed to 4-5 minutes for traditional caricatures” commented owner and artist, Robert Bauer. “I think we can offer these to all our clients. They are different and definitely fun!”
Last November I attended ISCACON24 which is the annual convention for the International Society of Caricature Artists. I have been going for over 10 years. One of the highlights is a VIP reception for members to mingle with the guest of honor. This time, the guest speaker was Jason Seiler who is a phenomenal painter and artist from Chicago. He decided to do a digital painting demonstration during the reception. Projected up large on a screen was the caricature he was painting while members socialized and drank over the 3 hour reception. Jason interacted with members as he painted. They asked questions and the artist would respond, all while painting a guest who was ecstatic about being painted by him. The atmosphere was very unique and enjoyable. It was from this experience that I came up with the idea to offer a similar service for cocktail receptions, corporate events, fundraisers and other related functions in which an award-winning artist could paint a guest or host while engaging with attendees during the event. Think of it; as an added feature to your hi-end event, an award-winning artist sets up and does a live painting of the host, guest-of-honor or a winner’s favorite celebrity which can then be used for a charity auction once it is finished! 7 months later, we have put the finishing touches on our brand new service with our new web page featuring 6 incredible artists who you can now book for your function anywhere in the U.S. or abroad. I am very excited about this new service and I am looking forward to seeing what these artists can do for our clients. Check out the page and Let me know your thoughts!
January and February are popular months for Bridal Shows. It’s a great opportunity for brides and grooms to see what’s available out there to enhance their wedding. They can see different venues and vendors while getting new ideas on how to make their special day more unique. Goofy Faces is a vendor at several bridal shows throughout January and February. Below are some photos from the show that took place at King’s Court Castle at Canterbury Village in Lake Orion presented by Here Comes the Bride Bridal Shows. Next Sunday, February 8th, come join us at The Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth, MI for another bridal show presented by Whimsical Occasions. We will be draw free caricatures from 1PM-4PM so stop on by!
Q: I am planning my wedding reception for the summer and love the idea of adding Goofy Faces to the reception for our guests to enjoy! We expect 300 guests. How many hours and/or caricature artists should we book?
A: Many of our clients and customers ask this question. Here is what we do to figure that out; First of all, unless it is a very intimate party with 30 guests or less, it is unlikely that everyone will have enough time to be dawn. But that’s ok. Not everyone wants a caricature. But everyone gets to enjoy watching our artists draw all your guests. Therefore aim to provide caricatures to about 60% of your guests. So, for instance, if you have 300 guests, plan for 180 of them to be dawn.
Next, how many hours do you have to work with? Most receptions tend to have 3 to 4 hours available for the artists to entertain guests. Most caricature artists average around 10 to 15 faces in B&W per hour (or half of that in color). It doesn’t matter whether your guests are drawn individually or as couples. The artist draws faces, so a couple counts as 2. Therefore, each artist is worth about 45 faces in 3 hours or 60 faces in 4 hours. To reach your goal of 180 caricatures for your guests, we suggest hiring 3 artists for 4 hours or 4 artists for 3 hours. The total price would be the same in either scenario since we book each artist by the hour. Rates vary per artist so make sure to research your choice of artists in our online directory. We also have an online artist calculator you can use to figure out how many artists you need as well.
# of artists X # of HRS = 60% of guest total
Here are some more examples from a recent bridal show we drew at over the weekend. This time it was held at the Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth, MI. It’s a beautiful venue for weddings. Dozens of guests waited to be drawn for FREE by Robert during the show.
Goofy Faces at the DNC for CNN!
Goofy Faces at the RNC for CNN!
Live Digital Caricatures
Speaking on Art of Caricature at TTI/Vanguard: NextGens Technology Conference
Hardcore Pawn Caricature
What Caricatures Can Teach Us About Facial Recognition
