gz-Body Painting or Improvements

Tonight was another meeting of the northern NJ Face & Body Art Guild, and I was finally able to make it again. I've missed several meetings because of the show and rehearsals. Now that we're out of rehearsals, and in fact there's only one weekend left, I've got time.

And I am now, quite literally, a card-carrying member of the guild!

How cute is that?

This month's meeting was especially valuable, as we had a guest teacher to lead our workshop, Pashur. Yup, the same great guy whose class I took back in November. He's really a great person in addition to being a great artist, and it was fun to see him again.

In addition to a great new parrot design, he showed us ways to really improve our sharks. Plus, I learned this great tattoo-style rose that, when filled in and shaded, is similar to an Ed Hardy look.

Polished up, filled in, shaded, and surrounded by some tribals or thorny vines, this will be a phenomenal addition to my repertoire.

The best part of Pashur's workshops are the games that get you to push your boundaries. One game was to fingerpaint fifteen 3-color roses with a vine, leaves, and a bumblebee... first person to finish won, so we needed to move fast and throw skill and "pretty" out the window. The range of outcomes was hilarious.

Mine was second from the left.

I can't wait to put my new skills and ideas to good use!

gz-Body Painting or First Birthday... and Selflessness

I painted this afternoon at a first birthday. While the birthday boy didn't want to get painted, his friends and family were certainly willing... but then, I've painted several of them before! Remember these guys?

Well, you might recognize two of them from today's party.

The kids at this party were great. Even the ones who started out reluctant, like this girl who wanted a tiny butterfly on her cheek came back later for a flower on her arm, and wanted blue to match her dress, which you all know I love.

I tried a new puppy, and love the ears on this one.

And I got my first ever parrot request!

Maybe it's not entirely accurate, but it's not bad, if I do say so myself. Of course, there were still the requisite butterflies.

Spidermen too, but these boys wanted them all on their arms!

One young man who'd already been painted as a lion decided he also wanted a pirate. Since I couldn't put one over the other on his face, I suggested this skull pirate on his arm. He was very skeptical beforehand and as I painted him, but once the design started to take shape, he understood and then he loved it.

Meanwhile, I did get to do one tiger, on this terrific little boy. He's four years old.

And here's where the lesson in selflessness comes in. He loved his tiger. He and the lion were going around growling at all the butterflies and puppies running about. But when he approached another four-year-old attending the party to play, the other boy, who wasn't a fan of face painting and was quite shy, got scared of the poor tiger-faced kid. Apparently, my tiger kept trying, and the other boy kept getting scared.

So what did tiger-boy do? He went and washed his face so he could play with the other boy, who then happily followed him into the playroom. I've never before seen such a mature decision in a four-year-old. Heck, I've yet to see some adults behave so selflessly!

Kudos to you, kid.