What Kind of Painter Are You?

This was first posted on the Face Paint Forum and I've since edited it a few times to add instructors and paint brands...

"This ended up being an essay...sorry it's so long but I hope it helps you decide what type of painter you are and then you can buy paints that match your style...I often give the advice that find your favorite painter and buy the kind of paints that they use. That will be a great start and guide you in the direction you should go so you don't waste a lot of money trying everything.

Kerry Ann DePetro's Fabulous Line Work

Sponge and Line

From what I've seen at conferences and online is there are basically two types of painters. The first type are sponge and #4 round brush painters/instructors: Pashur, Wolfe Brothers, Mark Reid, Kerry Ann DePetro, Christina Davison, Ronnie Mena, Jay Bautista, Jocelyn Casdorph, etc. and they have the basic 12 single pots of colors (or monochromatic splits like Wolfe Brothers), a good black and white (usually Wolfe) and they have a limited amount of brushes...maybe 5...that they use TOTAL.  These type of painters are VERY good at line work. They are able to sponge on blobs on the face and then make them look ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS with their finishing line work. These types of painters usually like to use glycerine base colors that blend because they blend the sponge work right on the face. They have a sponge for every color and use the edges of the sponges to map out a design and the backs of the sponges to blend. They rarely use any split cakes.
If you are that type of painter you will want to use Kryolan, Paradise and FAB and other softer glycerine based paints and Wolfe or DFX black and white for line work and highlights and will have a limited brush collection.

Jenny Saunders Layered Work

Layering and Embellishments

The second type of painter/instructors are teaching a combination of sponging and one-stroke brush techniques. The instructors that teach this style are Heather Green (from Silly Farm), Marcela Murad, Lisa Joy Young, Cameron Garret, Karen Harvey, Jenny Saunders, Laura Oliver, myself and I'll count Lynne Jamison in this group. 
These types of painters will use rainbow cakes and one-stroke in combination with either brush or sponge base work to get a multi-layered type look. The actual blending comes in the sponge, not on the face. The line work in this type of painting is a supplement to the design, not necessary for the design, and in most cases you could actually stop before the line work and still have a workable product. 
 The advantage to this type of painting is sponging is kept to a minimum and there is less artistic ability required. You can add trendy things like "sparkle powders", gem clusters, liquid bling, and glitters to the designs without ruining the integrity of the design because they become part of the layering process.

Because the blending is "in the sponge" or on a brush using one-stroke cakes, new color combos and making your own cakes is part of the fun. You can have cakes for different holidays or different designs (like a dolphin cake). You can use daubers or stencils to create new shapes or add texture.

The disadvantage to this type of painting is that you, in all practicality, need a monster tool box to hold all the stuff! Instead of 12 pots of paint, sponges and a few brushes that can fit in a small bag, you have many different rainbow cakes, one-stroke cakes, stencils, glitters, jewels, and probably tons of brushes: angles, flats, filberts, round, rake, petal, flora and in a bunch of sizes too.

Best Kind?

So, if you are very artistic and love to draw in real life, I see distinct advantages to the 12 color/sponge/round brush method. It's easy to pack your materials, it's low cost, you aren't trying to keep up with trends in materials and it's easy for you to paint-to-order...if you see a picture, you can duplicate it.    If you find it hard to draw "on-the-spot" but can make a fantastic one-stroke flower and beautiful teardrops and swirls, then the layering style is good because the rainbow cakes and one-stroke are really impressive at parties and fairs. You can learn designs that can be replicated over and over again (like a butterfly) and make them different by using a different rainbow cake. You can get really fast with your designs and can make a full face tiger in just 3-5 minutes. It's also easier to work with an assistant with this style because the assistant can put in the base layer and you can add in the finishing layers without having to train them. There are also a lot of painters coming up with new ways of using one-stroke and rainbows in their designs so it evolves a little quicker than the other method.