Body painting is very easy to get into and hard to master. But if you use the tried and true learning methods in this article, you can cut your learning curve in half and learn how to body paint in no time.
How I got started body painting with no experience
When I first started, I had basically no background in art. I was a well practiced musician, but I didn’t even draw as a kid. I didn’t paint. I didn’t airbrush, and I sure as hell didn’t do art on someone’s body.
But as soon as I saw my now former boss and mentor body painting at the bar, I was hooked. I got his contact info and started bugging him on social media until he let me come watch him work one night. I excitedly showed up and hung around the body painting booth all night.
Take the opportunity when it’s presented to you
After a couple hours of watching my mentor paint hoards of people, I finally got my chance – he had to go take a leak. I jumped up and volunteered to man the airbrush until he got back. My mentor agreed and gave me a 5 second rundown on how to use it.
“Put the paint in the top, push and pull the trigger back to make the paint come out.”
For 5 glorious minutes, I was the center of attention. Person after person stepped up to get designs on their arms, legs or other body parts. I had free reign to lay down the paint in whatever way I wanted, to experiment and work with my “models” to make them look great.
When my mentor came back, I straight up told him:
“I know that I don’t know how to do this right now, but you should hire me because I love it.”
He laughed and said “we’ll talk later.”
My first body painting gig
Two weeks later, I got the call – a club on the west end needed a body painter for a glow party and my mentor was scheduled for another event that night. The glow party was on Friday, and I found out about it on Thursday. That meant that I had just over 24 hours to get all the equipment and gear that I needed.
I ran down to the art store, bought an airbrush, hose, an assortment of paints, and a handful of stencils. Then I flew into my local department store for a compressor, and made a stop at the dollar store to look for anything else I could use as a stencil. (Check out my other post about how to airbrush body paint for cheap and easy if you want a detailed explanation of all the needed body painting supplies)
I hardly slept that night as I prepared for my first body painting gig.
At the event, I painted over 50 people and made back all the money I just spent on supplies.
The point to my story is that body painting is extremely easy to get into. If you really want to do it, there is no better way than to just start.
Of course, I wasn’t very good in the beginning. It wasn’t until years later that I discovered how to body paint with proficiency.
I want to save you the hassle and tribulation in my learning process. Follow the learning methods in this article and I guarantee that your body painting abilities will sky rocket.
Practice body painting on friends
The best thing you can do to get better at body painting is to spend time doing it. Once I started painting at events, I got the chance to body paint 20 – 50 people a night. This was huge for my development as a body painter.
“That’s great and all, but what if I don’t have those kinds of opportunities yet?”
No problem! You can bodypaint your friends. Volunteer to body paint your mates before they go out to raves, cosplay conferences, or other parties. Everyone loves costumes at raves so your friends will be the center of attention and will have a good time showing off your artwork. Halloween is also a great time of the year to get the body paint going.
Make sure to take pictures because you will need them to promote your work to event coordinators and get your first gigs.
Body paint for free at fundraiser events
Another way to learn how to body paint is to volunteer your time for fundraisers and free events. I’ve painted for all kinds of fundraisers such as cultural days, relay races, or benefit concerts.
Organizers are usually very open to having you body paint at the event because they’re on a tight budget. People are usually in good spirits and less judgmental of your work as well – its a perfect opportunity to let the paint fly without worrying so much about mistakes.
Despite doing work for free, these kinds of events are usually really fun. Everyone is in a generous frame of mind so you can expect things like free food truck samples, drinks and tips.
Again, be sure to take pictures to sell to promoters later.
Practice the fundamentals on your own
Like anything else, body painting is a skill. You have to practice your fundamentals to stay sharp.
As an airbrush body painter, I try to practice the different stroke types with my airbrush on paper every week. This gives me confidence in my control of the airbrush when I’m actually painting and the pressure is on.
Whether you’re using an airbrush, bristled brush, or any other application method, practice your
- dagger strokes
- lines
- and blends on a weekly basis.
Set your timer for 30 minutes and force yourself to do it!
Body painting is fun, but it also involves some hard work. You have to do some marching in the ranks to fly like an eagle. If you practice the fundamentals consistently, I promise that your development as an artist will sky rocket.
Take art training programs, courses and classes
Before I go into all the benefits of taking classes, I would like to insert one small caveat:
You do NOT have to take formal classes before you start body painting!
Too many people get addicted to taking class after class before they get out there and start doing it. I’ve met people that have spent over a year taking dozens of courses before they had the confidence to start body painting. These people usually have a plethora of technical terminology and knowledge, but they often lack the touch and finesse of those that jumped right in.
Please for the love of god, don’t do this to yourself. It’s a waste of time and money and you will stagnate in your development. Just start body painting and learn as you go.
With that being said, training courses are a great SUPPLEMENTAL resource to aid in your learning.
I’m a big fan of training courses for several reasons:
- You get to learn from people that are better than you
- You almost always learn new concepts or different ways of looking at things
- They force you outside your comfort zone
- You meet other artists that you can keep in contact with
A weekend course every few months, or a 6 – 8 week, weekly program once a year is a good pace. You might find a weekend course that you really like and go back every year. Some people treat these things like get-togethers – learning during the day and going out and partying during the night – its a good time!
I can’t reemphasize the importance of meeting other artists enough. Learning together is a great morale booster and you all push each other to get better.
Work professionally at bars, clubs and events
Getting paid to do what you love is one of the best confidence boosters there is. Bars, clubs, special events and really any kinds of big parties are perfect for body painting.
Like I said, I learned how to body paint by working at bars and clubs with no prior artistic experience. So if you have any background in drawing or painting (or you’re just very enthusiastic like me), I’m sure you’re ready to start doing it too.
But even though I didn’t have any body painting experience to start, I always took the paid events very seriously. You want to test out and prepare your equipment, plan out the stencils you are going to use, show up and set up early, and offer to paint the bar staff for free.
My experience is that people enjoy your body painting service if you’re enjoying it too. If you’re working hard, and putting your heart into every single customer, you’re going to make everyone happy and get invited back. If you’re treating it like a job, people will sense that and they won’t respect your work, no matter how “technically” good it is.
When you’re done, clean up your work area and make sure you don’t leave any blotches of paint or garbage lying around. Make sure you talk to the organizer face-to-face before leaving. Thank them for the opportunity, ask them how the night went, get paid, and exchange business cards. Ask them about any other events coming up and tell them to keep you in mind for the next one.
Once you start getting paid for events, you’ll be that much more motivated to practice your craft and keep getting better!
Enter body painting, fashion and art competitions
Body painting competitions are a step up from normal body painting events. They often involve a rule set, a time limit, a judging process and some sort of fashion show and display.
Competitions are obviously a great way to bring out your big guns and do your best work possible.
Most competitions require you to supply your own model. Try to find a model that has proven experience being exposed in front of people. There’s nothing worse than painting someone that is visibly uncomfortable or unsure about adding revealing photos to their portfolio.
When the bright lights are on them, you don’t want them to be anything less than confident and radiant. If they’re not, you’re going to feel bad about putting them in that position, and they’re going to feel like they let you down. It’s not fair for either of you.
With that being said, you shouldn’t have a problem finding professional or amateur models that love the idea of body painting and would love the opportunity to try it out. Just pick your model wisely.
Other than that, there’s really nothing different about competitions. Just do what you do and don’t take it too seriously. I have entered several competitions or fashion shows where I felt completely outclassed. At the end of the day, I was just happy to get my work on stage beside the others.
And most importantly, competitions are a great learning experience.
There’s nothing wrong with taking last place and getting your sorry ass back to the drawing board (although you might also surprise yourself and place higher). There really is no downside!
It’s been over 7 years since my first gig. I’ve learned a lot in that time. By trial and error, I found the best ways to learn how to body paint. It took me years to find how to practice and get better, but if you follow these tips, you can cut your learning curve in half.
By experimenting on friends, doing fundraisers, taking classes, body painting professionally, and entering competitions, you can learn how to create mind blowing artwork that will turn your artistic vision into reality.
