So you have booked a long face painting job.

I mean, potentially days. Something that you would set up an entire area for and not move for at least the whole day or even weeks. This could be a festival, show, or convention. 

What do you bring?! 

We will assume you already know your actual face painting kit so I skip over that. This is a post of all other other stuff that is different to a once off or short face painting job.

First Aid Kit

In my long job kit, I bring the following. 

- Pain Killers. You dont want to spend hours painting dealing with a headache. 
- Bandaids in bright colours so if it comes off, you will notice. 
- If you are anything like me, bring antihistamines to stop needing to blow your nose all day long. 
- Muscle Rub. It's a long day. Your back will hurt. A spray on magnesium saved me during a two week stint of constant face painting

Snacks 

If you are working at an event that could get busy, bring your own snacks. You may not have time to go line up elsewhere for food! Find easy to eat items that wont spoil being out of the fridge. Nothing smelly and nothing with known allergen risks. 

A Kettle 

Now this is reliant on you having power access of course, but if you do I highly recommend bringing a kettle. It opens up a whole range of options for you including being able to make your own coffee/tea and hot soups/noodles. If you are at an event for days, this will save you a huge amount of your profit. Plus being able to make a coffee breaks up the day. 

Extra supplies 

You have your usual set up, but if you are working for days you will run out of supplies. Have a box full of extra materials and back ups. Always bring extra black, white, red face paints and clean brushes. Bring extra glitter in case you drop one! You may not have the capacity to clean your brushes and sponges during the day, so bring extras. Bring a spare mirror in case yours breaks. You dont have to open your back up supplies, but if you need them its a life saver

 

 

A fatigue mat

You can get this from office shops. Its a mat for you to stand on that puts less pressure on your back. If you are working all day, especially on concrete floors that many convention centres are filled with, your back will hate you pretty quickly. A fatigue mat helps a lot. 

Weather alternatives. 
Depending on your event/set up/location this could be a fan, a heater, shelter, lighting. Have a think about what you are likely to encounter and prepare for it. 

Cleaning supplies 
If you are face painting for a few days, things are gunna get messy! 
So absolutely bring cleaning supplies for your paints, brushes and sponges, but also bring a cleaning spray and a rag to wipe down your table, the chair, your hands, and anything else that could get paint (or mud at outside events) caked on.

Cover Up Sheet
At the end of the day, you are not going to unpack everything only to set up again the next day! So you want a cover up sheet. This is either a sheet that drapes over the entire of your stand and keeps it protected. If you are working in a marquee/exhibitor stand you clip the sheet to the walls to create an enclosed tent. This allows you to close your stand for cleaning and privacy. It wont do that much from a security point of view and you will need to judge based on your event. 

 

Do you know of something else that saved you during long events? Comment below!