Face Painting by Jennifer Van Dyke

Sunday, May 5, 2013

New Designs

I really love it when a child asks me to paint a design I've never done before. It's always a fun challenge, and sometimes I really like how the new design turns out. Here's an example: this young lady wanted me to paint an owl mask. It turned out cute!

Saturday, May 4, 2013

TIGER, tiger, burning bright...

TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry? This hand could do it with face paint! I'm excited to get back into the fun of face painting this summer.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

So Much Fun!

Face Painting is so much fun! I did a party yesterday, and the girls had a blast running around acting out their face painting characters. The girls who had "people" designs, took care of the girls who had "animal" designs - like pets. The panda and the dalmatian were growling at each other, but they weren't fighting - they were communicating. When asked what they were saying to each other, they had to go into the othe room for a second to figure it out. It was so cute!

Anyway, I'm really happy with the new Blow Fish design, and the Ice Princess.

Ice Princess

Sunday, November 25, 2012

My Creative Journey

My Creative Journey:

I've learned a lot from doing face painting. I'm really happy with how many of my designs turn out, and some designs are just - meh. Okay. Not great. It's the same thing as when I'm scrapbooking, or cooking, or writing, or singing - or pursuing any artistic endeavor. Not everything is perfect. Not everything turns out as I had envisioned it. Sometimes I feel really bad about that. But I'm realizing that that's okay, and that very few people expect perfection. Mostly, they just want a positive experience. Maybe a recipe doesn't turn out exactly right, but the meal can still be enjoyable. Maybe a scrapbook page looks a little unbalance, but the memories that I have preserved are still precious. Maybe I don't hit a note exactly right in a song, but the message can still be felt. And maybe a few of my brush strokes are little crooked or clumsy, but the child can still feel very special, very important, very cared about. The positive experience is what's really important, so that's my goal - to make every child have a positive experience where the get to be the star for just a few minutes. And then I get to see that great smile when they look in the mirror, and that's what makes it such a positive experience for me as well.

And, speaking of positive experiences, the kids in the following photos got so excited about having their faces painted that they kept coming back and wanted designs on their arms and hands. So here's what they wanted:

First of all, this little girl wanted to be a Winter Fairy (and I'm always a little sad that the snow flake doesn't show up in photos very well), but that wasn't all she wanted. She also wanted Cherry Blossoms on one arm and Bumble Bees on the other. Apparently, she didn't care about seasonal continuity, but that's okay. ; )

Butterflies are always a favorite with the girls, and this little cutie ask for a pink butterfly. But she also wanted more than one design. When she saw my picture of Pikachu, she pointed to it and asked for "that yellow bunny". So I painted it on her little hand. She was very good to hold very still and was very happy.

This boy liked dragons! He wanted one on his face, and two on his arms, AND a scar. And he wanted me to make the scar realistic. I did my best, and he was happy with hit, but I think I'd better practice making 'realistic' scars a little more.

This young lady chose a Christmas Poinsettia. I really like this design, and it could be easily modified to be a Hawaiian flower in the summer.

Oh - and this is what I looked like while face painting for a Coat Drive for KUTV and the Utah Food Bank. It was a cold morning - and early - but it was fun.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Utah Food Bank Coat Drive

Happy Thanksgiving!

On Wednesday, November 21, I'm going to be at the Smiths at 500 S. 500 E in Salt Lake City. I'll be there from 5:00 to 8:00 AM painting faces for people who bring donations for the Utah Food Bank's coat drive. KUTV will be there, and maybe, just maybe I'll get to be on TV too! Well, they said I would be interviewed for sure, but I don't know when or for how long. But it's a great cause, so I'm on board! So come donate a coat or other helpful items, and get your face painted for Thankgiving!