Black line work

[Party Picassos Facepainting]

I started with Snazaroo and then found Wolfe and DX.
The black for the latter two work great, but it always seems
that the black smears into the other colors after a bit of time.
Sometimes I prefer outlining in other colors, so I don't have the smear factor.

Am I alone or does someone else have this issue too?

[Sherry]

I haven't noticed.  It's the white I have trouble with, so I mostly use black for this reason.  The white seems to lose it's crispness and pick up the colors under it after a while.

Do you mean when they get sweaty and the black runs into the other colors?

[Party Picassos Facepainting]

More like it smudges. Even on my own forehead, for example,
it may be dry but when I wipe my (dry) hand to my (dry) forehead,
the black lines smudge. They lose their crispness. The other colors
don't seem as affected.

[Maria]

My problem is with the white as well.  I use the wolfe paints and my problem with the black is that it clogs on the brush no matter how wet the brush is which and it impacts on the line work.

[Party Picassos Facepainting]

With the white, I find myself going over the linework twice.
Otherwise, it comes out a bit transparent. I would say I have that problem
with wolfe and dx.

[Wildcatfin]

Hmm, DFX is usually fine with me, its the only white that stays true. You will get slight bleeding whatever you use as its on skin which is porous etc, not smooth like a dummy/ fine paper, but it shouldn't be enough to notice.

Have you tried changing how you apply it?

Cat x

[Psalmbook]

I only have the problems you've mentioned when my paint is too watery(I sometimes let it be a bit watery on purpose if I'm going for a certain effect). You really need to get your paint creamier before applying it. Create a hole in your paint & drip 1-2 drops of water into it. Then work your brush in a circle in the hole till the paint is the right consistency & thickness. Keep adding water drops as needed & as you use up paint. It takes practice, but if you learn this you can even get good linework from Snaz & Paradise.

Also, if you leave the paint on the brush & never rinse it off, it will thicken up the Ferrell & effect your linework. You need a balance. I'll keep a black & white brush, but once it thickens up too much I rinse it & start over.

[Wildcatfin]

TBH I prefer Paradise black for linework - its as good as DFX/ Wolfe and easier to get off.

For white, yup, it has to be DFX really although Paradise/ Grimas are a close 2nd...

One thing is if you are going to make a dippy pot/ hole, be warned about the dangers of breeding bacteria over long periods.

I have 2 empty pots in my kit and the start of each gig plop a chunk of black or white in each, add water and mix to the liquid I want. That way I tend to have used up all the diluted paint by the end of the gig. Its safer, we had a nasty reaction in the UK (not me!) traced to prolonged re-use of diluted paint.

Cat x

[Sherry]

Hey Cat... I didn't know that could happen and I'm curious about it.  What was the nasty reaction?

Thanks.

[Psalmbook]

If I remember correctly the same thing happened here w/ Wolfe. It's a rash where the paint sits. Black & white were the main culprits. It needs to dry fully between uses.