A Retrospective

I was looking for a post on this blog about one of the competitions I had won… couldn’t find anything about it. Then realized… this blog started in 2009. My major award winning was prior to that!

So, here goes… to document some of the conventions I’ve attended, competitions I’ve done and awards I’ve received. Some images will seem familiar.

I started with online photo contests at Snazaroo USA Inc. This is a list of awards received from 2001 through 2013 (56 of them):

QUEEN OF THE HILL: July 20 to September 19, 2005

First Place: Sesame Street 2008 (Kermit); Dragons 2005 (Winged Dragon)

Second Place: Brian Wolfe Contest 2013 (Dragon); Halloween 2012 (Evil Jester); Birds 2009 (Penguin); Birds 2005 (Green Bird); Best of the Best for 2005 (Winged Dragon); Dolphins, Sharks and Other Ocean Creatures 2002 (Shark)

Third Place: Autumn & Fall 2005 (Chipmunk); Fish Faces 2005 (Jaws); Unicorns, Rainbows and Balloons 2005 (Rainbow Helmet); Painting with Powders 2004 (Holly); Working with Electric Colours 2003 Winter Tree)

Finalist: Halloween 2005 (Winkie Guard); Halloween 2005 (Full Face Burn SFX); Halloween 2004 (Alien in Space); Summer Free-for-All 2004 (Wolf); Summer Free-for-All 2004 (Lion)

Honourable Mentions: Halloween 2012 (Blue Ice Fairy); Halloween 2012 (Zombie Spidey); Butterflies 2009 (Blue Butterfly); Butterflies 2009 (Purple Butterfly); One-Stroke 2008 (Peacock Crown); Halloween 2008 (Bat); Summer 2008 (Green Cat); Flag Butterflies 2006 (Canada); Silhouettes 2006 (Bison); Silhouettes 2006 (Star); Halloween 2006 (Pinky & The Brain); Best of 2005 (Water Dragon); Painting Hands 2005 (Handgun); Halloween 2005 (Circle Monster); Halloween 2005 (Raptor); Halloween 2005 (Evil Clown); Halloween 2005 (Skull); Halloween 2005 (Cowardly Lion); Halloween 2005 (Evil Smile); Summer 2005 (Mutant Bunnerfly); Summer 2005 (Half Tiger); Summer 2005 (Rolls Royce); Summer 2005 (Phoenix); Summer 2005 (Fire Breathing Dragon); Power Rangers & The Like 2004 (Autobot); Holidays 2004 (Flanders Field); Halloween 2004 (Purple Dragon); Step-By-Step 2003 (Latex Burn); Painting Your Own Face 2003 (Butterfly with Flowers); Painting Your Own Face 2003 (Daisys); Halloween 2003 (Exotic Tiger); Dogs 2003 (Bull Mastiff); Butterflies 2003 (Purple Butterfly); Working with Electric Colours 2003 (Winter Moon); Summertime 2002 (Frog Catching Fly); Accents to the Face 2002 (Swan Mask); Out Of This World 2002 (Flying Saucer).

I also won a few other sponsored contests from different forums and companies.

In 2004 I attended the Face and Body Art International Conference in San Francisco and participated in the Face Painting competition. The theme was “Space” I didn’t place but my score sheet had very high marks for originality and technique. And my costume was very popular. I bought a reaper rob and about $300 of dimensional fabric paint and spent most of a week decorating it.

I did get a couple of uses out of it. It won the costume contest at the local library fundraiser later than year – I had the hood up and my face completely blacked out, with a miniature Enterprise 1701 hanging in front of my face. I called it Space, the Final Frontier.

LEAD Technologies Inc. V1.01

In 2005 this dragon design, painted on my brother (Neil died in 2006) won me Best Face Painter in North America from Snazaroo USA Inc. and also International Face Painter of the Year from the UK Face & Body Art Convention in the UK.

At the 2006 UK Face & Body Painting Convention I was teaching, I wasn’t competing live but won a special award for making the judges laugh. I’d let my friend, Anne, dress me and do my make-up (I was NOT involved in the design nor did I have knowledge of it in advance!) She dressed me up as Super Painter, complete with lettered t-shirt, utility belt, cape, etc. so I just went with it!

Also in 2006 (I flew over after the UK Convention) I participated in the Fantasy Worldwide Face Painting competition in Putte, Belgium. This was a live competition, the theme was “Movies” and we had two hours to paint and accessorize our designs. I won with my Lady and the Tramp design.

In 2007 I entered the US Body Painting Festival’s Body Painting Competition in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The theme was “Halloween” and we had to paint two designs, one each day of the two-day competition. We were allowed six hours to paint and accessorize our models prior to judging and a stage performance. I won Second in the Sponge & Brush category.

These are my design sketches – the final versions after several ideas were scrapped.

These are shots by the professional at the show. Day one was The Headless Horseman and day two was Bats.

In 2007 (yes, I travelled a lot that year) I attended the UK Face & Body Art convention and we won best costume. We meaning my friend Anne was body painted and dressed up by me, and she worked the room! I was a shrubbery.

In 2009 I was an instructor at Living Canvas, a convention held in San Jose, California. No competition but took part in the jams and had a wonderful time.

My mom had a stroke in January of 2010 so I stopped travelling for competitions and conventions. I still entered wearable art shows and participated in local competitions and collaborations, but no overnight travel (unless mom came.) I had planned to attend and compete at the World Body Painting Festival in Austria in 2010, but family first.

February wrap-up

Well… CATS is history.  Closing night was last Saturday.  Every single performance received a standing ovation…  many nights the audience cheered and “whoooo’d” individual numbers too.  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to watch any of the actual performances.  I was able to watch the last run through before the first dress rehearsal which is when we did the make-up, wig and costume checks.  It was excellent… but the atmosphere of a real performance with a full house is so different.  I am sad to have missed that but we were working right through intermission in the make-up room getting the second act performers ready.

This is an excerpt from Tuesday’s paper – it is from a letter to the editor:

“Grande Prairie Live Theatre’s production of Cats – which I saw Saturday, Feb. 16 – was probably one of the best musicals produced over the past 50 to 60 years in my humble opinion. I’ve been involved in theatre here over the years, and yet was in awe of the level of professionalism exhibited in all aspects from costumes and makeup (spectacular) to the ‘cat’ eyes intro (wow!), to the orchestra (splendid, just right), movements and dance (exciting and energetic – I was breathless before the first number ended), character interpretations (intriguing), lights and sound (just the best), and singing (I’m a singing teacher) was beyond excellent.”  Kaye Donovan, Grande Prairie [bold and italics are mine]

And the director sent me this:

“Shannon, you were the only one that could have pulled off this feat. Your talent and dedication drove this show. We always forgot about you ladies working down in the basement. Your hard work is so unsung , thank you so much, again.” Monty Haughian

I’ve had people come up to me at the day-job and when I am out face painting to compliment me on the make-up.  It was so much fun to do this show, tiring and hard work, but FUN!

My crew ended up totaling nine – one of whom was exclusively applying the wigs; one who only applied base colours; and the rest doing full applications to finishing details.  The last week several of the Cats were doing their own bases and some even their whole application and I have to say I was really impressed with how well they did!  It freed up the crew to concentrate on the rest as we had a few nights short staffed.  I’d like to thank Cazzie, Devon, Naomi, Marg, Julia, Robin, Gail, and Amy…  And thank you to the cast members who stepped up and helped out/did their own!

I had done make-up tests on each actor back in January and then used the photos to create charts to use.  Once we did the run through and we could see the effect the lighting had I changed the base colours – the white was to be for muzzles and under the eyes only (except for the two set of twins which stayed white.)  We used Ben Nye creams and base colours were Death Straw, Death Grey, Vampire, and Lite Auguste.  Then the colours and markings of the individual costumes and wigs were replicated to shade and contour – we used many shades of brown, dark grey and grey, yellow, orange, goldenrod, Dark Tech, Sunburn Stipple, Dark Sunburn, Desert Tan, Ultra Lite, and, of course, white and black…. tons of black.  Oh… and blue on Grizabella (except for closing night when she requested green.)  After the initial run through I also changed the eye designs to make the white area larger under the eyes to make them more visible to the audience.  I took all the charts I had printed and using pencil crayons made modifications to the eye lines and colours right on the photos which was way easier than trying to get new photos or draw new charts.

I strung up a rope in the make-up room with 3M hooks and used fold back clips to attach all the charts to the rope.  Then the actors would remove their chart when they arrived and went to get their bases on.  Then they would give the chart to the make-up artist who would finish their make-up.  We would then keep the charts until the end of the night.  Then when the stage manager or other backstage cat-herder came to check how far along we were they could just look at the charts on the wall to know who wasn’t yet started.  This worked excellently!  I could also then know how many cats I did at the end of the night.  I was doing 13-14 of them myself most nights.  You can see the charts in the background of this photo of me doing McCavity’s make-up.

Five characters were face painted – Rumpus Cat, Fire Frore Fiddle, McCavity, and two kittens (who appeared after the bows with their “mom” who presented them to Rum Tum Tugger who ran away with them chasing after him!)  The impact of the face paint was bolder and it was faster to do for the actors who were only on stage for minutes and not working up a sweat.

I took some photos of my applications that I was particularly pleased with during the run.  And I did Rum Tum Tugger every night and took photos to see how I changed the design each time.  One of the reasons I love theatre make-up so much is that I can play around with a design and alter it to improve it, or fix something that doesn’t work, or just try something different just to see how it will work.  I tend to stick to a plan, but details can change without causing the character to alter.  And when I like how it looks I will keep that element and play around with other parts.

Last Saturday I also face painted at the Maple Sugar Festival put on by the ACFA (local Francophone association).  This is a very popular annual event and this was the first time they hired me to face paint.

I was swamped!  I don`t know how many I painted but I was doing under two minutes a face most of the day.  And an interesting note:  First time that I have ever had the health inspector come and check out my set-up… passed with flying colours of course!  When I arrived I was handed a copy of the Alberta Health Regulation for Face Painting by the event organizer with was the first time an event has actually been enforcing the regulations, let alone even known about them.  I was impressed and happy to be in compliance.

On Sunday I face painted with two crew members at the annual Timbits Jamboree which is an Under 8/Under 4 soccer tournament sponsored by Tim Hortons.  We were painting steady without any breaks for five hours, as usual.  Mom was washing all of our brushes as we worked.

Had a rather nasty woman at the end of the day – I had my signs up and they stated that the people in the chair at 5:55 p.m. were the last being painted.  This woman came over about 5:54 (we were all in the middle of painting children) and asked if we were painting the last ones in the chair, I said yes, these children in the chairs now are the last ones (as they were going to still be there at 5:55.)  She went away… I thought.  (I know the time exactly as we were in an arena with the big clock up on the scoreboard.)

Then when I finished the face I was painting, I stood up to see that she was still over at the bench by the sign which was the line-up location.  I said, Sorry, we’re done.  She got really angry and said all sorts of nasty things… I was tired so was not in any mood to try to be nice about it.  We think she thought that the ‘chair’ was referring to the bench used as a line indicator not the actual chairs we were using for the kids to get painted in.  Although I have no idea what her reasoning could have been.  Painting was done at 6 p.m., the event was OVER at 6 p.m., they were removing things from the arena in order to play soccer.  We weren’t able to continue in any case.  I pointed out the sign that clearly stated the times (and I’d also been making announcements for the last 4o minutes about how much longer we had.)  She said the line was long and she couldn’t see if from way back there… um, lady you’ve been pretty close to it for sometime now, obviously.  She told me I had a lousy business model. I can’t figure that one out as she was lining up for FREE face painting sponsored by Tim Hortons, not sure how us closing the line before she got her turn is a bad business model? I told her to speak to the organizer if she felt that way as we were following instructions – she said she was going to.  The organizer said she hadn’t heard from her when she came over to give me the cheque… and said she is going to try to get more budget for next year for four painters.

I rarely get really nasty people… this would be, I think, the third that has been really belligerent.  One of them was a woman with a child in a stroller who got really mad because she had got in line and waited, only for me to refuse to paint her baby… the sign, again, clearly stated that I did not paint children under three years but she complained that the sign wasn’t visible because the line was so long…???? So… once you get close enough to read it you stayed in line? Really?  What is it with people and lining up for FREE face painting and not bothering to read any of the notices?  And am I supposed to hire someone to wear my a-frame sign and walk up and down the line using a megaphone?

The line at the Maple Sugar Festival ended easily – the organizer put my sign out front a little less than an hour before the end time and put a “closed” sign on it.  No problem there.  I think I’ll have to start putting a “Line Closed” sign up – might make it easier.  Generally the times being posted works well enough.  Just is annoying to have someone attack me after a long tiring day.  I mean… none of us even got a chance to go to the restroom!

I’ve got a new crew member, Cazzie, who worked with me on Cats.  I had put out a call for volunteers to work on Cats and Cazzie contacted me – she’s also a graduate of Blanche Macdonald which is where I got my make-up diploma!  She did great on Cats and I was needing a third painter for Sunday’s job… so we made her face paint the kittens at the closing performance of CATS and she did great so “you’re hired!”… She did fantastic face painting from my photo sheets – was able to copy them and her speed was great for a beginning face painter!  Mom was very impressed as she was watching her all day.

I’ll post more of my photos from Cats later this weekend… I need to crop and edit them first.   But here’s one of Naomi starting McCavity’s make-up…

Business Tips for Face Painters, Body Artists and Make-Up Artists #1 – The Business Plan

In 2012 I will be posting excerpts from my e-book The Business of Face Painting once a month.  Of course, if you would like to get all the information included in my book right now you can find out how here.

The Business of Face Painting was published in September of 2009 and I am working on the final stages of the companion book The Art of Face Painting which we hope to have out sometime this year.

Since this is a start of a new year I thought it would be appropriate to discuss The Business Plan.  I just updated mine again and it is a great tool for focussing on the coming year’s goals.  I update my plan every three to five years and review it annually – if there have been big changes over the current year I will update, if things are ticking along as anticipated I just review.

The following is an excerpt from Chapter Three of  The Business of Face Painting.

THE BUSINESS PLAN

If you are starting a business, no matter how small-scale, you need to have a plan.  Obviously, planning to start a business is a plan but formalizing it into a document is a very important step and the process will cause you to think about all the aspects and risks of starting your own business.

Writing a business plan sounds daunting to many people but it is not.  The process of writing it and pulling all the information together can really help you to gain an understanding of your business and what is needed to make it the success that it is meant to be.  Being a professional face painter is really no different, from a business point of view, than being a plumber.

There are many tools available to assist you with drafting your first business plan: on the internet, from your bank or financial service advisor, from your local small business association or Chamber of Commerce.  I have provided a template at the end of this chapter which is the one that I used for my business plan and this was loosely based on one in a booklet from the bank I was dealing with at the time.  Once you take the time and effort to do it the first time all you have to do is periodically review and update it to reflect your current business operations and goals.

The business plan is just that – a plan.  It is not written in stone, in fact, it is meant to be updated and changed regularly to keep up with your business and your changing goals.  In many cases businesses write-up a business plan in order to use it to support loan applications and other requests for funding. But, I think that it is a tool that anyone starting a business should take the time to use.

A full business plan covers all areas of a business’ operation – industry analysis, opportunities for work, competition, description of your business, services, target markets, staff, equipment, contingency planning, risk assessment, business goals, marketing plan, sales forecasts, operations, inventory control and management set-up.

Many people start face painting without a real intention of it becoming a fully fledged business, then gradually they start to get paid for doing it, and then realize that they are in business without actually planning to be.  Once you are in business there are lots of things that you need to be aware of and by following the template for a business plan you will cover all the areas that someone starting or assessing their current business needs to consider.

There are different styles of business plans so if you don’t like the template I have included look around to find one that suits you… some are shorter, some are longer… it is all a matter of how much depth you want to get into.

I will go through the template point by point and provide some suggestions as to what sort of information fits with the headings.

–  Description of Industry:   Describe the services available like face painting, body painting, glitter tattoos, etc. the demand locally for the services, where you can sell the services, potential for growth, etc.  Then describe the competition in your area – do some research to find out exactly what there is in your area.  This information is for your eyes only so please be honest and accurate.  Economic factors are things like  recessions or booms – how much money do the locals have to spend?  If you are in a factory town and the plant shuts down then your economy will be slow as people won’t have extra money for face painting.  Social factors are things like religious prohibitions against face painting or lots of demand for henna tattoos for cultural reasons.  Technology and environmental factors are things like new equipment like airbrushes and environmental might be allergens or disposal of solvents.

– Description of Business Venture:  Well, what IS your business?  Describe your business in a short paragraph or in point form.  Define your target market (this is covered in detail in Chapter Four.)  Explain your competitive advantage – why will people hire you over the competition. Describe you location and set-up, staff, equipment and supplies, and  a history of the business or your experience in it.

– Business Goals:  Where do you want to be after one year?  Two years?  Five years?  This can be a simple statement or a detailed breakdown year by year.  You can be as detailed as you want – I like detail as it is easier to breakdown into parts and projects that can be completed or scrapped depending on the market.

– Marketing Plan:  How do you plan to sell your service?  List every method you can think of and how you will do it.  That is everything from giving out business cards to buying advertising to direct mail to networking with soccer moms.  Distribution is how are you delivering the services and where, how far will you travel to do so?  Your pricing, promotional plans, any guarantee or warranties (these are mostly those of products,  our services don’t lend themselves to guarantees of any sort other than showing up and doing the work.)  How do you plan to track customers and results of marketing?  Methods of payment – how do you intend to collect your deposits and fees, terms for corporate customers, etc.  The marketing plan will be covered in a lot more depth in Chapter Four.

– Sales Forecast:  This is where you get to make assumptions and predictions.  State the assumptions that you are basing your forecasts on like “The first assumption is that more work will be offered as more work is completed from recommendations, word of mouth, repeat customers, etc.”  The current version of my business plan only has four assumptions.  You can forecast your bookings month-by-month for the current year – confirmed bookings and anticipated bookings from repeat customers, etc.  And   then forecast for the future based on your assumptions.

– Operations:  This is how you supply your business with the material need to conduct business. Where will you get your supplies, terms with vendors, alternative sources for emergencies, and how you will control your inventory of products and equipment?  Where do you store your equipment?

– Management and Structure:   How is your business set-up – are you a registered company or a sole proprietorship?  What is your legal and tax status?  Who are your key personnel?

– Risk Assessment:  What is your competitors’ reaction to your business? Are you friendly and refer work to each other or are they undercutting you?  This is just a statement of fact you don’t have to solve the problems here. List “What ifs…” for external and internal factors.  What if… you spill paint on a customer’s white rug?  What if… your wrist develops carpel tunnel syndrome? Explain how you plan to deal with the risks – insurance, taking care to avoid situations that could cause injury, etc.

– Environmental Statement: Explain how you are meeting environmental regulations, recycle containers, etc.  State any training taken like WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System.)

– Action Plan:  The steps to be taken to meet the goals of the Marketing Plan and how the results will be measured – usually would be increased bookings, increased income, etc.

– The Financial Plan is simply statements and numbers.  Attach your financial statements and accounting information if you want to. Forecast your income for the coming year, two years and/or five years.  Remember that this is just a plan and you can change it depending on what actually happens.  Try to assess realistically where you want to be and what you can expect to achieve.

Don’t panic!  It sounds like a lot of areas to cover but once you start to make your notes you will realize that a lot of the information will apply to different areas of the business plan.  I am not saying that it is a quick and easy exercise, but, by taking the time and doing a bit of research to fill in the information in the template you will be giving yourself a fantastic aid to develop a successful business.

It is not a project that you will complete all at once so do not be discouraged if it takes you a few weeks or even months to actually draft the entire document.  But be assured that once you have completed it you will have a firm grasp of the business you are in and be able to go back to it annually to see if you are on track and to make adjustments.  Not to scare you but my current business plan is twenty pages long without the attachments – but all I do now is review it and update where necessary and do a major update every five years.

I updated my five-year plan for the third time a couple of years back and it was really interesting to read over my goals and plans from five and ten years previous… I was a bit surprised with how things had altered and progressed as reading over what I put down on paper for my business goals has changed so much.  It really is an excellent way to keep track of your goals and how they change with time.  Growth will cause changes to your plans, as well as changing interests that you have.

Another benefit to creating and keeping an up-to-date business plan is that it can help you to prove your business intent if you are ever audited.  My accountant highly recommended that I do one when I was first starting out in the make-up industry for this reason.

© Shannon Fennell, 2009

with material from “Designs and Templates Volume 1” © November 2007

and “Designs and Templates Volume 2” © March 2008