August 2016 – Paintertainment

I see a lot of YouTube videos of thorough, step by step tutorials. These are GREAT for learning and perfecting new designs!! But they are slowed down a lot for explanations and don’t give you an idea of how long the design will take at an actual job.

I also see a lot of SPED UP, time lapse videos. These are really fun to show how a design comes together from start to finish, especially intricate designs that take a long time to paint. But these often are not the kind of designs you can do on the job when you have a long line.

I have published videos of both these types on my channel. However, there seems to be a lack of videos out there of face painting being done in REAL TIME, and at REAL GIGS. That is where the idea for this next video was born from!

In this video you can see me painting some of my cheek art designs, on the job, during my busiest day of the county fair. Yes, I do a lot of awesome full face designs too! But I’ve decided to record myself doing cheek art to help dispel some myths out there that cheek art is way more time consuming than full faces, because it doesn’t have to be. In these videos I am not going all out and embellishing on the designs (which I sometimes do if there is no line), but at the same time, I am not rushing myself at all. This is my normal pace, and most of my cheek art designs take less than 2 minutes. Many are around 1 minute.

Cheek art really CAN be cute, quality, and FAST when you get the technique down!! This is what I have been attempting to teach in my “Achieving Detail with Speed” workshops, and in my next book! Check out the video below, or watch it here on YouTube. Don’t forget to subscribe to my channel while you’re there!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy painting!

This year was my 19th year painting at county fairs…my 4th year at Carver County Fair in Waconia! I really love this fair. It’s the only fair I do all year, and is my “home” fair, just 20-25 minutes from home. My boys enter their artwork in the fair every year, and I spend my one afternoon off taking them to visit the fair while Grandma paints at my booth! I’ve been working at this fair long enough now to recognize many faces who come back every year to get painted, and enjoy seeing so many of my friends who visit the fair every year!

This year was another good year at the fair. I had some fun with my GoPro camera, filming myself painting and the crowds flowing through on my busiest day: Saturday! Check it out below or here on YouTube!

Here are a few photos!

The Booth all set up and ready to go!

new cabinet for 2016!

I found this great cabinet on Craigslist just days before the fair for $100. It is a food serving station, but worked perfect for my booth! The larger surface was great for my growing paint kit, and built in light fixture was awesome. The casters were a huge help as well. I did have to put another $60 or so into it replacing the light bulbs, ballast, and lock, but am really happy with the end result!

My paints set up on the countertop

I also got a new banner this year…ordered at the last minute as I was waiting for Vistaprint’s 40% off sale! But, it did arrive in time for the 2nd day of the fair!

Invisible glove is my friend at the fair! Fair week has always left me with hands that are stained for a week after. This stuff works great…you just have to remember to put a little more on after you wash your hands, which I do constantly with wipes! Find it in the shop, here!

I always love painting my arms up big for the fair. It was busy enough I didn’t have a chance to do this every day, but here’s what I did on myself this year:

My photo prop boards are always a big hit with the kids at the fair! I keep them piled on the lower “shelf” of my painting chair. You can get your own via my site here. Here are a few pics…

I love seeing all of my friends who visit me at the fair! My favorite people of all are of course my husband and boys…

Love seeing this face peek over my shoulder during the fair!

cheese curd break with Toby!

Here are a few photos of paintings from the week…

My mom is always a big help at the fair!! When I started working full time as a designer, she helped me keep my booth by working weekdays while I came at night and on weekends. When I left my corporate gig and started having babies, she helped me with some of the days so my husband didn’t have to take off work. She worked Thursday until 7 pm, giving me a chance to catch up on other work and actually attend the fair with my boys! (yes, I spend my slice of time off visiting the fair, haha!) 12 hour days do a number on you after a while so it’s nice to get a little break in there!