A New Hobby... Daily Doodles

It's Christmas Eve, and I'm home this evening not doing a whole heck of a lot. (We do our big family gatherings on Christmas Day.) So I decided to start something new... Being that I am a recent return to the face painting arena, I have been practicing, watching videos, and trying different supplies.

So, as somewhat of a "newbie" to the grander scale of the professional face and body painting world, I am still testing out different paint brands, brushes, techniques, etc. etc. etc... I thought this may be a good opportunity to share in my journey over the next year or so by providing some fun, entertaining, and delightful "daily doodles". That is, practice designs, doodles, techniques, new tools, etc. or in todays case, it was more me testing out different brushes and finding our which ones I likes best for doing line work, as well as line work practice.
 
Additionally, knowing there are other face painters who are still quite "green" like I am, perhaps providing my daily doodle along with details of the supplies I used and where I got them, may be of inspiration, guidance, and/or even reassurance as you continue down the path of learning and exploring the world of face painting.

So here's what I accomplished today:

Nothing fancy, just playing around. Originally I figured I would just do a line design completely in the green, but I got so excited after I started, I had to keep going and start coloring it all in. Of course, by going and coloring everything in, I sacrificed a bit of the quality of the original green line work.

Here are the brushes and paints I used:

I absolutely LOVE Wolfe paints. They are so rich in color, the black and white are exceptional for doing line work, they are very opaque, and layer well over other colors. It also dries really quick and, once it's dry, it takes a little work to get them to rub off - a great thing for working with kids. I haven't graduated to getting the huge round cakes of this palette yet, I love this small size and the cakes pop out of the palette so you can hold on to the cake to easily reload your brush when working. (I purchased this palette on Amazon.)

The downside of these paints, as far as I have read in other reviews, is that they don't blend as easily because they do dry quickly. This hasn't been much a problem for me and I have found just spraying a light mist on area where you want to blend easily does the trick.  

There are other brands that I will use in future doodles and share my thoughts with you on those. To be honest, I haven't tried anything that I don't like using thus far.

I love, love, love, both the Loew-Cornell and Royal Majestic brushes. They keep their shape very well and are easy to control. They also come to very nice points for doing those extra fine lines or coloring in small spaces. I got the 2 yellow Loew-Cornell brushes and the 2 Majestic brushes from Silly Farm.

The "Soft Comfort" Loew-Cornell brush was purchased at Joann Fabric & Craft. It is a really nice brush though note the size numbering is different than that of their yellow colored cousins. As you can see it reads "Size 2" but it is definitely larger than the yellow 4 and about the same size as the yellow 5. It is a nice brush for doing larger areas or larger teardrops and swirls. I also like using it to make flower petals. The larger handle provides a nice grip and I find it very easy to control.

The Wolfe FX brush was purchased at Norcostco. They are a great store in the Twin Cities area (St. Louis Park) that carries all kinds of makeup from Ben Nye, Wolfe, Mehron, and others. I try to stay away as much as I can because... when I go in to pick up just one thing, I end up leaving with a bag full of stuff! (The sales staff there is awesome too!) Anyway, back to the brush... It's okay. It doesn't like to keep a point very well, so it is better used for filling in spaces or perhaps I'll turn it into a glue brush for doing glitter tattoos. I was kind of surprised about this brush, because the quality of the Wolfe paints are so good. Definitely not my favorite brush of the lot, but it is still nice to have around for doing cheek art. Believe it or not, the round brush I got with the palette I showed you above is wonderful and works great for extra fine line work. Perhaps I simply purchased a dud? Hmmmmm....

Anyway... with that, I will quit for the night. Tomorrow is Christmas after all, and if I am not in bed when Santa arrives tonight, I may find a stocking full of coal. 

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!

Keep creating, keep smiling, and keep dreaming~

-tif-

p.s. Please post comments on your thoughts if you have used any of these products, or if I can provide you any additional insight based on my experience with using them.