First attempt pics, and a thank you!

So, I'm pretty new to face painting, I never really had the materials to do anything fancy, so my sister asked me if I could face paint for my nephew's birthday party, and I agreed to it and the result was pretty good. People were giving me all kinds of compliments but I think because I really am my own worse critic I kept telling myself my work wasn't good enough to go any further, but then I found this forum and began to see all the great designs and talent on this board and it really inspired me to really get into face painting. I read on here for hours and looked up tons of videos and then the other day finally placed my first order. I only ordered a few splitcakes and some basic essentials to really get me started. But I'm really grateful to have found this place. This being my first post I'm kind of nervous!! But anyway, here are 2 faces that I did yesterday after getting my stuff.

After practicing all day trying to get the strokes down.

I wasn't too happy with the tiger but I was okay with it since it was my first time trying one.

I have already received bad remarks from some members of my family for being a male and being that I'm only 19 they've said things along the lines of "You shouldn't be wasting your time doing something so silly as face painting" and whatnot but I haven't let it get to me. My family just has different views of the way things should be. I enjoy it and it makes people happy getting their face painted and to me that's all that really matters.
I really hope with practice I'll be able to improve a lot more.

I think they look super! "if you love your job, you'll never work a day in your life."

Lynne

Great job on your first tiger! Here's my first one Maybe it will show you how good yours is

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and here's a more recent one. . .

The first one is from May when I started and the next is from July. If you love face painting, stick with it. It is my way to relax and have fun! If my family didn't like it, I don't think it would matter. I get to make people smile, and that makes me happy!

Nice job on the roses too

Hey I think they are great! keep it up! dont let people bring you down...not worth it.

Thank you all for the kind words of encouragement!
I really appreciate it.

Vickery that first mask is adorable regardless! I might have to try my hand at one of those , they're awesome.
I still have yet to find a good line brush that I'm comfortable with though! I gotta experiment with different kinds till' I find one I really like.

Louie you can always point out the great male face and body artists to them. Wolfe Bros, Mark Reid,Brady N. etc

Do try! I would love to see. I'm a little partial to the first picture too. . .my munchkin is always adorable

I started when I was 19.. they'll get over it! lol...

Try not to let the fam get you down. I always heard from mine "You should do something with your art." I'm not sure what they meant by that... there's not a lot of high power, prestige, money jobs out there requiring "art" and that is what they were going for. So, I find an art form that I absolutely love, has made me more money/joy than anything I did before, and they just don't get it. Oh well. You just have to worry about making yourself happy.

I'm trying to talk my son-in-law (soon to be BA in Fine Arts) to get into face painting. I tell him with his background he could be a rock star in body painting some day! You could be fabulous!

Best of Luck and I was just thinking the other day we need MORE male face painters so ROCK ON! (Many of us have trouble with family support too if that's any comfort.)

D.

Ah! I really appreciate everything you've all said. I've seen most of everyone who's posted on here's work when I had first joined and you're all magnificent painters. Truly inspirations!

I've gone through so many different art forms from drawing, make-up, and cake making and none of them were really appreciated. Also none of them really reeled me in like face painting has.
I still remember when I made a fondant cake for mother's day my uncle made a comment to my niece saying "He should be fixing cars instead of making cakes."
I was really annoyed by that. Usually I don't let comments like that from other people get to me but the fact that it was my family and they are the ones who you should be able to go to and have trust in and they end up being the ones to make foolish comments like that are kind of a hard hit to take. But I kept going anyway! Haha.

But again, thank you all for the encouragement! It's really helped

Your roses look sooooo soft ! Mine look like undefined SPLOTCHES.

Regarding family support: make them shut up with your talent!!.

My son, at 22, is a chef at Stein Eriksen Lodge in Park City, UT... started with making snickerdoodles in my kitchen. If I'd said something like that to him when he was just starting he would have never followed that path.

You sound like me a bit...I've done cake decorating, calligraphy, remodeling, pottery, and graphic arts. I'm able to use all of those in my business so your experiences can help you be better face painter.

D.