Advice for a new starter?

I'm a Party Entertainer, and want to add to my list of skills Facepainting. Normally when I need a Facepainter I pay one to come and work along side me, but feel its time I pull my finger out and actually do it my self.

I can Facepaint, but want to do it properly and not unprofessionally. what would you suggest? Are there courses, and is there any official accreditation? What about insurance? What should I charge per hour, and how much is it for a fee paying gig?

I'm writing into my business plan, so hope you can help me out. Thank you for your replies in advance.

ClairePB xx

Use the handy search box located in the upper right hand corner to look up past threads on all the subjects you mentioned and more...

There are a couple of organizations that "certify" people under their banner, but there is not any required accreditation to be a face painter. As a party entertainer, you probably already have entertainer's insurance and face painting is covered under that. If you don't already have that insurance, you can get it through World Clown Association in the US, Clowns Canada in Canada and probably through other entertainer organizations in other countries.

Charging per hour is likely similar to your rates for other entertainment services, but ask the painters in your area that you usually work with and see what the going rate is. Every area is different, but I've never seen ANY area where you should be charging less than $50/hr, even as a beginner... most are close to double that.

Some good beginner resources are the Usborne Face Painting book, Marcela Murad's books of Fairy Princesses and Eye Designs, the Snazaroo website picture pages, and of course here on this forum. Before you do any gigs, make sure that you can AT LEAST paint Spiderman, Butterfly, Tiger, Puppy and a few smaller designs for the kids that don't want their whole face done.