Just Paint a Little Thing on the Cheek

[Alison]

Ever hear that request?  To 'Just paint a little thing on the cheek?'

I'm sort of okay about it if I'm doing a flower or a butterfly or a spider or a heart (I quickly throw in a few embellishments), but I usually don't like to hear it.  I got me pride.  I guess I want to dazzle people - to hear them say 'Wow' - like I surprised them with something better than they expected.

But sometimes it's tuff.  Like recently a man, who had another face-painter do the Yankee emblem on his right cheek, came over with left cheek and said that he wanted the Merrill Lynch Bull.  How could I dazzle a whole bull on his cheek?  Or, or I might hear - Paint a Hockey stick on his cheek.  Or paint a cupcake on her cheek.  That sort of stuff.

Do you have any ways of approaching that sort of request?  To make it a bit more upscale than just a thing stuck on the face?

[Sherry]

Yeah, I try to.  I have this board of full face designs and customers will sit down and ask for a heart on the cheek or yesterday, it was famous people.  They wanted Alicia Keys, Lil Wayne and Barack O'bama.  I tried to jazz their names up a bit.

[Alison]

Huh?  Do you mean that you had to draw those famous people?
Or that you had to write their names with letters?

[Party Picassos Facepainting]

Yes, I too, don't want to do "just anything" on a cheek or hand. If I do a flower, I go crazy with stems/vines and add ladybugs. If it's a space ship, I add sky and planets/stars. I go beyond what they ask for and their responses are great. All my gigs have been with an hourly rate, so I don't think I would be AS generous if they were paying for a cheek or a hand design. Just an extra minute or two. How could I not do something a little special? They could be my next job. I love facepainting!

[MandiIlene]

I think the first time I learned about full face painting and all the professional jazz, I was amazed, then I made beautiful posters full of these great full faced designs only to my dismay alot of parents walked by with the usual excuses, Too expensive, you'll sweat it off, we are just going home, etc. etc.
That's when I felt like I understood cheek art, and the little ones who squinch alot and couldn't possible get a tiger face, butterfly face or otherwise, would be able to sit for a star, heart, flower, football, skull or spider. It also is a nice price point for the "we dont have that much money" excuse. Alot of times I have a poster of full face designs and a paper in plastic sleeve of cheek art and I just tell people about it when they bring a toddler up or have an excuse.

Sometimes a squirmy one can only manage to handle a little something on their cheek, I don't really mind calling it that, cause I still know that they parents are paying me to do something they can't!

~*~Mandi~*~

[Sherry]

I wrote their names. 

[GaFacepainter]

I usually ask them if there wasn't anything on the board the board they wanted. If not I'll put a little more in the details, shading, and shadowwork. The best I ever had was a mom who want something small and quick. The boy was really small and fidgety (sp?), I didn't really want to try anything, but got talked into it. She requested yellow!!!! Just yellow, no shape, no form, no design, "He just likes yellow". I ended up using a circle sponge and put a yellow dot on. Happy customers!