My demonstration model, painted for the Dayglo and Metallics class at FABAIC 2009

Getting set for FABAIC in Orlando this week. I have two classes to teach, sponsored by Kryolan:

Kids always rememberthe day when their paremts got painted

Facepainting Adults – the How and the Why

Looking at the roster of classes, I wanted to offer something that was less of a “how-to” class and more of a “why” class. The twenty year success of my New York company has depended in large part on our development of adults as participants. At our Bronx Zoo concession and all of our events we put a big effort into getting the adults to sit down and get painted along with their kids. Getting adults involved increases your income potential – but more than that, it elevates your act. It’s the adults that book the parties, if you get them involved and give them a fantastic experience they remember you and the bookings come. Painting adults is an opportunity to show off, draw a crowd and generate excitement. This is a workshop in how to get the adults to get painted, what to paint on them and why you want to do it.

painting adults gives you a chance to show off, people will notice their faces more than the kids you paint.

Whenever possible, paint Grandpa, the birthday boy loves it

Metallics, Interferenze and Dayglo  —Specialty Makeups to add instant pop to everyday faces – Hands-on Class

A hands-on and very practical class in how to use specialty makeups from basic application and tricks of technique to design concepts like how to get the most out of your metallics, how to make Dayglo designs look good in regular and UV light and how to get the maximum effect with minimal makeup expense. I’ll demonstrate some real special uses such as Dayglo bodyart design for club events – though the primary focus will be on how to incorporate specialty makeups into regular face and body designs and everyone will get a chance to paint and try products. For this class I will be painting a model beforehand as a menu of techniques and effects, then I’ll use that model in the class to describe application methods, demonstrate some of those ideas live and then let everyone get their hands on some product and try it on each other. Bring your painting tools.

student work in my 2009 class

student work in my 2009 class

Bodypainting at FABAIC

Between classes, demonstrations and the jam sessions, FABAIC presents opportunities to do fully realized body paint designs and also to experiment. I bring sketches and images for more designs than I need, so I can adjust to the models I will be working with and to the time constraints. And I have learned over the years to be open to improvisation. There is less control in the painting process, and especially the photography, than I have in studio sessions at home, so I can paint more for the joy of the art than for the expectation of producing a specific fine art image. There is also an encouraging sense of camaraderie and mutual appreciation of everyone’s work. I might have felt the need to be competitive about what I painted in earlier years, but given the level of world class, award winning talent at these events I’ve come to see there is no point to that and gotten much more comfortable painting to my own artistic goals. If you are attending, I recommend that you paint someone there — paint as often as you can and don’t worry about whether or not you are “good enough”, I have found that painting in that exhilarating atmosphere is a great way to accelerate my development as a body painter.

From a fine art bodypainting I did last week, a section of design based on Mangbetu and Massai body art gave me an idea to combine it with Modern Art pictographs

a painting using pictographs by Paul Klee

At a party this past weekend I took the opportunity afforded by a girl in a blue outfit to do some color experiment with the Paul Klee and African images

I am also bringing some images from the Japanese print maker Kuniyoshi

http://www.fabaic.com/    http://www.agostinoarts.com