July 4 Face Painting !

Oh, I wish I had saved a whole Party full of July 4th Face-Paintings ~ We had so much fun at those events in the past.

I felt overwhelmed tonight ~ because my Agent asked me to send over Samples from my July 4th Parties.   I looked all through this blog and only came up with 3 that I had photographed and uploaded here.  Then I looked through a big pile of my Samples that I have printed out in my Studio.  Came up with 6 more.  It took as long to find all these and scan them in
as to paint a small Party.  So much work just to answer his reasonable request.

So even though they might be posted elsewhere on this blog, I'm going to post these all together here tonight.  Hoping I can find July 4th Samples easier the next time I'm asked:

It's coming up soon ~  I'm glad I'm a face-painter ~ sure to be included in the Celebrations.

to hire this artist:
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

Fantasies

I like to watch kids' Fantasies. Their choices are so honest.
No editing. My opinion, in general, is that the 'good' kids choose designs that their caretakers want them to choose.

 That's frequently pretty designs for the girls and boy-images (many of the very little ones don't even know who 'Spiderman' is) for the boys. And it gets more and more intense for them as the kids get a bit older and Really want to embrace those images.

Then there's the 'bad' kids who want to shock somebody with their images ~ maybe some Gothic or Tribal designs here.

And the kids who seem to be led by forces unknown.  These are the ones that seem to have real play ~ like the type of play that children had in a time when parents weren't so involved ~ from a time when play was considered meaningless ~ from a time when parents weren't trying to mold their children's personalities, not trying to instill confidence (sometimes it looks to me as though parents are trying to teach their kids how to be girlie or how to be masculine).

I wonder about this stuff.  Is it good to control and teach the children ~ even when they're supposed to be Playing?  It does seem to work in our society.  Or is it bad to control and teach the children All the time?  It looks like Some children don't even know How to Play these days.













I like to make Face-Paintings for children anywhere.  But I'm particularly pleased when a school hires me. Individual Teachers, the PTA, or event the whole School Administration.   For things like Back To School Events, Graduation Events, and everything in between......  Because I feel like it helps the children relax and be their wonderful selves when it's really needed - School can feel so frightening, and it doesn't have to be that way.   Having received my BA degree in Teaching from SUNY Stony Brook, I feel a real camaraderie with good teachers who are really interested in helping the children navigate their lives.

to hire this artist:
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

Simple or Complicated? It doesn't matter.

Sometimes my face-paintings are complicated. Big hoo-hahs that use my painting skills. Other times they're simple to paint. The complicated part is about relating to all sorts of people ~ including children who don't Know what's expected of them ~ and making it feel quick and easy. Like these. The woman wanted to feel like a vixen. Cool. and Hot :-) She knew about make-up applications and how to sit calmly while it was being done. The boy wanted to strut his stuff too ~ wanted to be cool. But just in case he didn't have patience, I was able to simplify his face-painting. Just some fancy linework. And does it matter whether I made a big Painting or not? Not really. What matters is that I was able to entertain each guest according to what worked in the moment. What matters is that they both had a chance to have fun embodying their images. And here were also some simple paintings that keep people comfortable and happy. Even if they're not ready to transform their faces, they can feel real special every time they look at their arms: And back to a complicated one again. I like to paint, to make the strokes with feelings like graceful (this one) or solid (the boy I painted above). And look at how pretty it can make a girl feel (and how tuff it made the boy feel): Art is for Fun for sure. I have fun painting and being with people during happy times. And the people have fun living out their fantasies. to hire this artist: optidust@gmail.com (516)579-4706

Still studying that T-Rex. It's a big transformation, so I like to see what I can do with it. Ummm, I do not like the pattern that I put on top of the forehead this time.

This is for You

Hi ~ I'm posting tonight for a client who asked to see Balloon Samples. Here are some from a recent Party. And you can find others if you want to scroll through the rest of the blog. Mostly Face-Paintings here. Because the excitement of Balloon Fun doesn't lend itself to taking photos as easily as when I'm doing individual Face-Paintings. It's all good: to hire this artist: optidust@gmail.com (516)579-4706

So much to show you

Oh ~ I finally got around to looking over a collection of my face-paintings. Started uploading them to post here. But I suddenly feel so focused on some Caricature pictures that I want to post at my other blog: caricatureexpress.com So I'm just going to post the 2 face-paintings I got prepared for now. Cute kids. We had fun: See you later ~ to hire this artist: optidust@gmail.com (516)579-4706