Painting a butterfly on a regular canvas may be a bit basic for the practiced artist. But painting a butterfly on the ever-moving canvas of a child's face? This is basically impossible. Yet, we face painters of the world still put on our happy smiles and do the good work of the world. We pack up our fresh paints, all the while knowing at least one of the colors will end up with more cupcake frosting in it than paint, an unsupervised two-year-old will probably try to drink our paintbrush water, and at some point, the paint will end up on our faces.
Previously, on Face Painter: SVU...
Cut to: Small Child holding paint brush dangerously close to Face Painter’s nose.
“Can I?”
“No, you may not paint my nose blue.”
“But I want to.”
“How about when I’m done with James here, you paint a blue heart on my hand--or, okay, right now. Just do it right now. Cool. Looks great.”
Okay, okay. Face painting is not entirely a nightmare. But life would be a whole lot easier with a little more parent supervision. Face painters working at carnivals and festivals don’t really have this problem. They may even argue the opposite, complaining that Parents with a capital P are too particular, always hovering, always making comments.
When is it gonna look like my baby is a unicorn and not just a ghost? Are you gonna use any other colors than white? How much does this gig pay anyway? Did you do that on purpose?
But birthday parties. Birthday parties. When parents bring their little terrors to birthday parties, they don’t often stick around to, you know, parent. Even when they do, they only want to "do the parent thing" from a distance: sipping on some lemonade, occasionally barking orders, but mostly just small-talking with other lemonade-sipping parents and savoring a few child-free moments. (Understandable.)
Whether a face painter wants a parent around really depends on the situation. It can be equally terrifying and helpful to have a domineering mother hovering over your shoulder as you paint her son's face like Captain America. Terrifying in that the mom is watching your every move, every mistake. Helpful in that the kid is probably pretty terrified, too.
Then, why face paint if it's so stressful?
Well, hypothetical reader, no matter how squirmy the child is, or handsy he or she may be with your paint brushes, or convinced that he or she MUST HAVE ALL THE COLORS, the final prize is definitely worth every ruined sponge.
"Must be the moneyyyy!"
Well, money is always nice, but it really boils down to (pause for eyerolls) the kids' smiles when they see their reflections. If she can keep still for long enough, I can transform a little girl into Spiderman. Albeit, a pink, sparkly Spiderman, but Spiderman/woman/boy/girl/person/gender/something nonetheless.
I can also make a little boy believe with all his heart that he is Bowser, and his friend is indeed Mario, and that now they must duel to the death.
And at the end of the day, watching a tiny Bowser chase a tiny Mario around is a little too precious to pass up.
So, for those moments, paint on Face Painters. Paint on.
