One of the most popular activities at theme parks and festivals is face painting. So why not incorporate this beloved activity into you child's next birthday party!
History of Face Painting
The art of face painting has ruled the roost of children's entertainment for hundreds of years. Even before face painting became a form of entertainment, ancient tribes all over the world used to decorate their faces by way of tattoos and natural colour extracts – body art and decoration has been a part of our culture since the dawn of man.
Even the best face painters had to start somewhere though. From simple animal doodles to intrepid, detailed designs, an artist is only as good as his tools.
A 'How-To' Guide for Face Painting
Thinking of ways to keep kids entertained and engaged during your child's next birthday party requires planning ahead. Face painting it a wonderful birthday craft for children of all ages and you can add it as one of the many birthday party games on your list or you can throw an entirely themed face painting party. You're probably better off keeping face painting plans to the warmer months when you can plan to have this activity center in your backyard or outside to minimize the birthday cleanup after.
The Paint
You can’t just use any paint when decorating a child’s face, unless you want to leave them scratching for the rest of the day. Make sure the paint that you’re going to buy has been tested for skin use and complies with European and American regulations.
Next time you go on a safari park adventure, find the face-painting area and see what paint they’re using. Try picking up some tips too!
Face paints come in a huge variety of colours, and can be bought individually or in packs. Face paints can be plain-coloured, glitter-based, ultra violet and even have a pearlescent effect.
Make sure you start out with only a few colours for test purposes, and get used to their texture and how they feel on your child’s skin.
If you’re feeling confident, you can mix them and see how many different combinations you come up with. Better yet, mix them on your child’s face! You never know what crazy pictures you’ll be able to paint.
Face Painting Equipment
Brushes come in all shapes and sizes. However when it comes to face painting, it's all about quality, not quantity.
It's best to buy brushes made of synthetic bristles. These types of brushes are soft enough to paint on faces, and also easy to clean once you're all finished.
Bigger brushes are used for paining large portions of the face. These brushes are think and able to hold quite a lot of paint.
For finer detail, you'll need a medium bristle brush. These brushes won't hold as much paint, but they are small enough to provide detail while still being able to cover large areas of skin.
In order to produce the most intricate detail, such as blending and shading, you'll need a very small and fine brush. Face paints are water based, so they'll be easy to wipe off if you make a mistake. The more you mix paint with water, the thinner it becomes.
Before you start painting, decide what sections of the design need thicker paint, and which sections need thinner paint for blending. Finally, don't forget to stick by a design - If you start painting blindly, you'll kid will look more like the elephant man than an actual elephant!
Popular Face Painting Designs
What you or your child paint on their face is limited only by your imagination. But if you want to be inspired by popular face painting designs consider clown faces, butterflies, tigers, dogs, camouflage, cats, Spiderman and peace signs.
