The East Coast Face Painting Convention-Must experience instructors

Since I've been asked privately a couple of times, I thought it would be better to answer the question about my instructor preferences on the forum instead of repeatedly in private messages.

Actually, I'm not going to give my preferences...per say... I'm just going to spout my personal experience and opinion. I'm not, in any way shape or form, intimating a personal relationship with any of these people or implying that my skillset in painting is anywhere near theirs...anyone who feels that that is what I'm doing, feel free to contact me OFF privately instead of bringing drama to the forum. Sorry, I had to make the disclaimer since I've been accused of doing such before and don't care to be accused again.

2012's Connecticut convention is quickly approaching and founder/organizer Kim Hatch has publicly announced that, for the first time, the Baymont Hotel/Suites is almost fully booked. The registration is full or almost there (thought I believe she did say it was full). So people are flocking to the convention (yippea! more people to jam with!). Now that the registration process is done, many are asking about the classes that are being offered. Let me first say that the CT convention is unique in that there is, in addition to the free day workshops, a nightly roster of reasonably priced pay classes. What that means is that you can get in on the smaller, personalized instruction without having to extend your stay for pre and post classes (or in addition to it).

The pay classes typically start after the day classes break for dinner and continue on until about 10pm when the face and body painting jam rooms are opened up. Since the owner of the hotel is a painter, there isn't a cut off time for using the jam rooms...well they have to be returned to working order for the next day's classes, but that's about it.

So...if you're going to the convention for the first time, you may be wondering about which classes to take. The question is a good one because there's nothing worse than taking a class with an instructor with a teaching style that you can't click with...been there done that...won't do it again! Because everyone is different, my opinions of classes are based on my personal learning style and what I've seen of the instructor's teaching style(s).

Gary Cole (Snazaroo): Gary is an excellent source of learning for the new painter and the more experienced painter looking for techniques that can speed up the painting process. The faces and techniques that Gary offers are those that he has used in the trenches himself, so they are pretty much tried and true. You won't find any "yeah, that was an awesome face, but I can't paint it fast/well enough to add it to my board" faces and you'll get a ton of useable, no nonsense information. Warning: Gary is the quite, unassumingly friendly face of Snazaroo USA and he stands by his product. However, Gary can sometime have strong opinions about other brands of paints. He has a very no-nonsense business mind and can be instrumental in helping you with your business if you need the straight forward approach in instruction.

Kristi Darby: Kristi is the sweetheart of the CT convention...or at least she sounds like she should be. Soft spoke and gently natured, she's a bag and a half of laughs and a truck load of talent all rolled into one. While she isn't the originator of the techniques used with one-stroke or design specific make up cakes, Kristi Darby has a very unique approach to how she uses them and her Intro to One-Stroking class is HUGE plus for anyone who has struggled with using their cakes. I took her class last year and walked out a different painter. In addition to her one-stroke designs (which are menu board friendly) Kristi is also quickly becoming very popular in the Kansas City body painting arena. While she's not offering any body painting classes in CT next year, she is offering other cool classes on painting reptiles, boy eye designs and club/bar designs. Kristi's style is pretty high impact, but not labor intensive and it comes across in her designs. What I liked most about her classes was the fact that she was clear and concise about her instruction, didn't hesitate to jump in and give you a pointer or two if I seemed to be struggling and ALWAYS infused humor in her classes. If you like the no-nonsense, but gently spirited instructor with a unique funny bone, Kristi Darby is a really good one.

Mark Reid: Mark Reid is serious about his art and is often called a little grumpy. I've seen the grumpy side of Mark but that's usually when something is distracting him from his mission to pound his knowledge into your head. Mark is another no-nonsense instructor...with a twist. The twist is that he expects you to leave your emotions in your hand bag and get serious about your growth. Not a bad thing, but it can be a hard pill to swallow if you like to be coddled. You'd probably be better off snuggling a cactus. Mark provides a little comic relief during his classes, but he keeps a great control of his class ("okay people, settle down"). Mark is brilliant and his advice is invaluable, but he's very direct and much focused and expect the same of his students, some may not feel they are ready for the type of instructor who is committed to making sure you can grasp concepts, but trust me, you won't be sorry. I consider a paint-along class with Mark to be a mini trial-by-fire type of class because he WILL walk around and check your progress AND point out why you’re struggling AND demand that you push yourself. At the end of class, you'll most likely have many of the tools you need to be a better painter...and as soon as the creative bruising heals, you'll be ready to use them.

Kerry Ann Smith Kerry Ann has a business sense that make many painters feel like slothful underachievers and a design delivery technique that would make you want to hang up your brushes. However, Kerry Ann also has the desire to share her wealth of knowledge with those willing to learn from her. She's a small package, but she carries a big stick and will push and prod your creativity well beyond the flimsy boundaries of your comfort zone ... if you let her. Kerry Ann's designs are very high impact and quite simply mind blowing, her teaching style is collegiate with a little infusion of humor and her approach to face painting is very no nonsense. Kerry Ann is offering not only face painting classes in Connecticut, but business classes as well...and who wouldn't want to take business advice from someone who consistently pulls six figures a year from her company? Kerry Ann's teaching method is serious and somewhat textbook, but it can be dry for those who are looking for entertainment in their instruction. Regardless, the wealth of information (wet or dry) is invaluable and I always leave her class feeling properly warmed up and ready to stretch.

Sean Avram: Mr. Entertainment (as some refer to him) is a relatively new instructor (when compared to the Mark Reids and Pashurs) and in my opinion is still working on perfecting his teaching style. Sean is known for painting some of pretty elaborate and mind blowing designs, but I was sometimes left wondering how to adapt what I'd learned to my design board. The one thing I really like about Sean's classes is the fact that even if the design he's working on doesn't make it to the trenches, the tidbits of information he imparts while he's painting it certainly can. If you like advanced classes chocked full of humor and advice, Sean's a good one to provide it, but be warned, sometimes, he gets into his design and takes to a point where few convention goers can follow.

Pashur: Pashur is pretty much a convention staple. His designs are so impactful and often relatively easy to execute and he seems to have a finger on the pulse of what's in and what's out. What I like about Pashur’ s classes is that he offers both simple and complex designs in his classes as well as offers suggestions for how to quickly take a simple design to another price point or strip down the more complicated designs for faster execution. Pashur’ s another instructor who will toss you little tidbits of useful info during class and will often poll the class to gain insight on what classes to formulate in the future. A clear planner, Pashur comes to class with a list of designs to offer and I'll be darned if he doesn't do his best to get through the whole thing. Another serious artist, Pashur is very focused on his art, but he has no problem take a bit of time for some silliness during class. I love the fact that Pashur keeps a good hold on his classes and doesn't easily hand the reins to boisterous students or attention getters...it's all about art and instruction and he actually wants everyone to take something from his classes. Labeled an instructor who truly cares, Pashur has proven again and again that he's a great instructor for any level of painter.

The Wolfe Brothers: There have been mixed reviews about the evil twin's classes, but the general consensus is that they are uber talented and can teach you A LOT if they are on their A-game. The primary complaints seem to come when the brothers split up and only one is teaching...maybe it's because they feed off of each other's energy or perhaps because they miss each other (lol). The Wolfe twins are a dynamic comedy duo during their classes but they are also serious about the artwork they are creating. Many have commented that when they work together it's like getting two instructors for the price of one...which would probably explain their typically steeper class registration cost, but can you put a price tag on awesome? The only thing I don't like about Wolfe brothers classes is the fact they can sometimes be awesome and sometimes not so good. You will get an education with them, that is a given because the Wolfe brothers actually study and research not only their designs, but the anatomy (human and other) and will shower you with their knowledge as they paint. Sometimes I wonder if they really are from this planet or if they're just visiting for an extended period of time...

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Well, there it is...in a very long nutshell, my take on SOME of the instructors who will be teaching at the 2012 East Coast Convention. I know that this isn't an all-inclusive list, but that's because either I've forgotten one or two or I've never taken a class and won't spout a bunch of heresy.

If you haven't signed up for any pay classes for January, I urge you to take at least one class while you're there. There's a big, HUGE difference between taking an in-convention demo class in a room of 20-50 people and taking a 3 hour hands on class with 7-14 other equally invested students. I wouldn't wait till the last minute either; in the past instructors have cancelled classes, changed flight plans to leave early or even dropped out of a convention due to perceived lack of interest...only to find out that there was a lot of interest, but also a lot of procrastination. Like my gran used to say, you gotta get it while the griddle's still hot...

Awesomesauce. I won't make it to the CT convention, but this is fantastic information for other conventions coming up. Thank you!

I won't make this one either(I'd need a new wardrobe just for the cold weather experience ). This info is great, well written & informative! Thank you!

Well said, I've taken classes from a couple of the instructors you mentioned and your description is right on the money, yet super tactful. Well done.

Barb