First Birthday... and Selflessness

I painted this afternoon at a first birthday.  While the birthday boy didn't want to get painted, his friends and family were certainly willing... but then, I've painted several of them before!  Remember these guys?

Well, you might recognize two of them from today's party.

The kids at this party were great.  Even the ones who started out reluctant, like this girl who wanted a tiny butterfly on her cheek came back later for a flower on her arm, and wanted blue to match her dress, which you all know I love.

I tried a new puppy, and love the ears on this one.

And I got my first ever parrot request!

Maybe it's not entirely accurate, but it's not bad, if I do say so myself.  Of course, there were still the requisite butterflies.

Spidermen too, but these boys wanted them all on their arms!

One young man who'd already been painted as a lion decided he also wanted a pirate.  Since I couldn't put one over the other on his face, I suggested this skull pirate on his arm.  He was very skeptical beforehand and as I painted him, but once the design started to take shape, he understood and then he loved it.

Meanwhile, I did get to do one tiger, on this terrific little boy.  He's four years old.

And here's where the lesson in selflessness comes in.  He loved his tiger.  He and the lion were going around growling at all the butterflies and puppies running about.  But when he approached another four-year-old attending the party to play, the other boy, who wasn't a fan of face painting and was quite shy, got scared of the poor tiger-faced kid.  Apparently, my tiger kept trying, and the other boy kept getting scared.

So what did tiger-boy do?  He went and washed his face so he could play with the other boy, who then happily followed him into the playroom.  I've never before seen such a mature decision in a four-year-old.  Heck, I've yet to see some adults behave so selflessly!

Kudos to you, kid.

A First Birthday

I painted at the first birthday party of an adorable young man this afternoon, and in the process, got to be his first face painter! I always love being first. He wasn't crazy about the feel of the brushes, so I did the quickest (and probably messiest) pirate I've ever done in my life. He did seem happy with the result when he looked in the mirror, at least.

And yes, that's dad as Gene Simmons. In fact, I got to paint the whole band!

I've done Gene Simmons before, and Peter Criss (the cat), but I'd never done Paul Stanley and Ace Freeley. They were a fun bunch, each egging the other into getting painted.

It was a day of firsts. I also did my first Sponge Bob, and I think he came out pretty darned good.

And this cutie wanted to be a monster, but was wearing the sweetest pink and yellow dress with flowers and bees on it. I love to match outfits anyway, so she approved my suggestion that I paint her as a monster to match her outfit. This is what we came up with...

How can you not love it?