New Facebook Group for Face Painting: CHEEK ART!

I am getting a little fed up with professional face painters who brush off cheek art as being something that only beginners do.  Yes, it is true that many painters start out with simple cheek art, however, that does not make cheek art any less amazing and smile-inducing than full face designs! The ironic thing is, most of the artist I have heard comment on cheek art being beneath them, also end up admitting that they find larger, full-face designs quicker and easier to do because they have less detail and are more forgiving.

Cheek art can be just as awesome.  I have personally been doing mostly cheek art for most of my 18+ years of professionally face painting.  Over the past few years I have slowly started to introduce full faces into my repertoire.  However, creating amazing cheek art still does require artistic talent and great control of the brush and paint, especially when creating recognizable characters with detail.  Just about every kid you will come across will have a character they love, and getting that character just right is a talent in itself!  As we all know, a kid will be the first one to call out any and all little mistakes we may make in their likeness! 

Cheek art is versatile.  You can start with super simple images, and add more detail as you get better.  You can keep it simple, or elaborate more if you have a child who is wiggly or one that can't sit still.  The same art can be created on an arm, a hand, a shoulder, or a leg, without relying on a face.  I can't even tell you how many parents have told me how happy they are to find someone doing cheek art, because their child makes a total mess of full face designs when they eat, play, rub their face, scratch their nose, etc.

On the flip side, most cheek art designs can also be very easily turned into full face designs!!  Simply placing a cheek art design in the center of the forehead and embellishing around it can turn it into a great full face or mask design!  So, please don't write off the inspiration you can draw from cheek art if you are a full-face-only artist!

I'm not saying one is any better than the other, however, I think cheek art has been getting a bad rep lately in the professional community. So, for this reason, I have created a new face painting group that focuses on cheek art!  This group is open to actual face painters only, just like all of the other face painting related groups I have found and joined on FB, so please don't be offended if I message you asking if you're a face painter when you request to join.  I've learned from some other wonderful FB group admins that there are some creepy characters out there and we want to watch out for them!  So, if you are a face painter who is interested in cheek art, or would just like to get a little additional inspiration in your news feed, please join us!  We'd love to learn and share with you!!