How to beat the Queue

IThis week I want to tell you my top tips for speed painting and beating that long queue! As a face painter with over ten years of experience I can safely say that face painting is THE most popular attraction at any event or family festival.

1. Managing a long line

Line management can be an enormous help in finishing your queue. If you’ve ever struggled to keep what seems to be an endless stream of eager children (and adults) in check while remaining calm and enjoying your job, you may need a line manager.

We only bring our own line manager at extremely busy events or when one can’t be provided for us. This is a person who solely manages the queue, making sure no one skips (this can cause absolute chaos), ending the queue when it gets too long and finishing the queue about half an hour to an hour before you are finished with your event.

You must estimate how many people are in the queue and how long it will take to complete near your finish time. Most organisers are happy to offer a member of staff or security to handle our queue, which we confirm in advance via email.

2. Limit your designs

If you truly want to speed paint (say, 25 children’s faces in an hour), you should have a limited menu. The fewer designs you have on your menu, the more children you’ll be bale to paint. They should also be simple to create.

Even 2-4 designs are OK if you want to paint as many children as possible, but we recommend 6-10 if you have learned them off and find them easy.

With fewer options for the kids, they are more likely to know what they want when they get to your chair. You can also get into a groove by repeating the same designs, which can be boring yet fast.

3. Easy to use tools that work well for speed painting

– Use one strokes or split cakes to add multiple colours at once like rainbows

– Have brushes, sponges, stencils and glitters ready to use on repeat

– Skip extra outlines and details that add more time onto the face paint and aren’t necessary for the design

– Limit communication with the kids (Don’t ask what colours they want as they can take time to answer)

– Keep a stand up mirror on your table so kids don’t ask you for it

4. Practice your chosen designs

You won’t be at your fastest speed if you try new designs while trying to speed paint, so make sure you know your designs by heart first and then practise, practise, practise until you feel confident and effortless making your favourite designs. If you know you’ll need to speed paint, plan a menu ahead of time.

Just a quick note on speed painting, it is not the same as regular face painting were you would usually do your best to interact with the children, ask what colours they like, they’re name etc and speed painting should only be used when you absolutely need to, finishing your queue on time or at a crazy busy event.

Check out our socials for more tips and tricks, instagram, tiktok, facebook. youtube and pinterest.

We also post weekly to our Facebook group chat and to youtube with a topic of the week.

Stay creative,

Selena and the team

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