No Job Too Small – Face Painting Heart to Heart

This is an entry sent in for our monthly Competition!

“No Job Too Small – Face Painting Heart to Heart”
by Alana Dill

To me, face painting is much more than a way to make a quick buck.  Certainly it’s a challenge to paint on a canvas that wiggles or giggles or wants to chat because it slows us down a bit. This kind of low-volume, quiet face painting isn’t very profitable financially, but it’s got perks. I get great referrals. I feel closer to the human race.  I’ve had the pleasure of bringing out a sense of fun and adventure in the elderly and the jaded.  I’ve helped very small children overcome fears and set aside tantrums (because I can’t paint someone who’s screaming or crying, and when I tell them that firmly, they pull themselves together).

I’ve stood up for  boys who wanted to be painted like butterflies and girls who wanted mustaches or scary faces. What more wonderful thing can there be, than to help someone feel more like their heart’s desire?  I really do enjoy the transformation and sense of surprise; but what I really hope for is to enhance my clients’ sense of self. I get the most satisfaction when I’m painting with, not just my skills, but my heart.

I’ve been painting for several years now and occasionally the person in the chair really needs to talk.  It must be something that hairdressers and bartenders experience all the time (not to mention therapists). I wouldn’t want to be a therapist, but I treasure these small moments; usually they happen when there’s little or no line and we have an oasis of quiet. Although there are tricks to keeping a customer quiet, if I have time I will try to pick up on that cue and paint their hand, arm, or a mask instead of a full face.  Several children have had me paint portraits of a deceased pet on their hand or cheek, or the name of an absent or dead loved one.

I’ve had a tough teen boy declare his love for his girl right there on his arm for everyone to see (to her immense pride and delight as she watched her name materialize). When I’ve painted baby bumps, I’ve gotten to discuss the mom’s hopes and dreams (sometimes fears) for her expected child.  One little girl at a slumber party told me how she dreaded going home on Sunday morning because the day would be ruined by her grumpy mom’s hangover.

She got to be a princess – a strong and patient princess – for the evening. I’ve had a boisterous young man at a bar confess very quietly to me that he was afraid (at 28) that he’d never find love and was a failure in life. But he was a rock star for the night, and he got some attention from a pretty girl or two, and maybe it was nice for him to hear “I’m old enough to be your mom, and I can tell you that you haven’t even started yet. So have some faith in yourself -  if you don’t like what you’re doing, you have the power to change it”.

I’ve helped “ugly duckling” sisters transform into  beautiful swans. I always tell them – “This is just glamour – it washes off. You’re beautiful and that comes from the inside out”. I’ve worked gently and carefully with learning disabled kids – who are so excited to be painted but must marshal all their will to have their faces touched, to sit still or to point their nose in my general direction. And I have honored the children who say “NO!” – if they are at all curious but not sure,  I might offer to paint their caregiver instead, or let them slowly ease in with a tiny brushstroke on their hand. In the end they make the decision of whether and where they’ll be painted (with parent permission, of course!).

I’m happy to have a big line and do 3-minute designs; I’m happy to have an hour to do a customized full-head or body design for a special occasion.  I’m just happy to paint. Of course I would LOVE to get rich painting and I know volume is a big part of that. I plan to expand into airbrush tattoos and develop my skills with freehand glitter tattoos, but painting really is my first love.  I hope that other painters who are accustomed to high-volume rush will occasionally take on those small, intimate jobs that let us get to know our subjects a little better.

I know that, no matter how fast and loose I get, I’ll always treasure those times when I’m able to provide a little extra time and attention to someone who really needs it.

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Thank you for sending this in Alana! I’ll be posting the rest of the entries until the end of November when I announce the winner.

Happy Face Painting,

Philadelphia Tivoli

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