Face Painting and Balloon Twisting Blog

I have recently launched two new websites. Although the primary target audience of the websites is clowns, there will still be information that should be of interest to face painters, balloon twisters and other types of children’s entertainers.

The first website is Just for Clowns. Just For Clowns is a blog for the professional clown. The purpose of this blog is to promote, preserve and present the time-honored profession of clowning by providing professional clowns with information that will help them become the best clown they can be. It will have information about upcoming conventions, makeup and costume tips, product reviews, and other information related to clowing around.

The second website is Websites for Clowns. I plan to use Websites for Clowns to present topics related to the business side of being a clown including websites, business cards, and marketing. I launched my own personal website in 2004 and since then have created and maintained several other websites for myself and others. I have also spent countless hours on the Internet and hope to be able to share some of what I have learned.

My very first clown convention was the Circus Magic Convention in Williamsburg, VA. Circus Magic is a regional clown convention that is held each year at the end of February and that means that it is coming up soon. This year, it is February 23-26, 2012 at the Holiday Inn Patriot in Williamsburg, VA. The convention is one of several conventions run by Steve “Salty” Kissell and DJ “Fancy Pants” Ehlert.

Although this is a clown convention, they have workshops on balloon twisting, face painting, magic, and other topics that would be of interest to clowns and other types of children’s entertainers. They have a great list of instructors coming to help with the workshops. Ken Stillman will be there teaching balloons. Marcella “Mama Clown” Murad and her co-workers from Silly Farm will be there to teach face painting. Jim Howle and Leon McBryde, both former Ringling Clowns, will also be there helping with makeup and clown noses.

Circus Magic Convention
February 23-26, 2012
Holiday Inn Patriot 3032 Richmond Road
Williamsburg, VA 23185
http://www.circusmagicconvention.com/

Presented by Steve Kissell. Bringing Education Excellence to the Performing Arts! Come Celebrate, Laugh, and Learn at Circus Magic with the special theme of: Tribute to the Wizard of OZ!

Sir Toony Van Dukes at the North Pole for a charity event

Q. Why is it so cold at Christmas?
A. Because it’s in Decembrrrr!

Q. What do snowmen wear on their heads?
A. Ice caps.

Q. What do you call a party for snowmen?
A. A Snowball!

Q. Where does a snowman keep his money?
A. In a snow bank.

Q. What do you sing at a snowman’s birthday party?
A. Freeze a jolly good fellow!

Q. What’s the best thing to give your parents for Christmas?
A. A list of everything you want!

Q. Why does Santa have 3 gardens?
A. So he can ho-ho-ho.

Sometimes, you just need to get out and have some fun.

Sir Toony Van Dukes and his friends from Just Clowning Around of Northern Virginia

On Friday, November 25th, 2011, Mike Becvar went out as Sir Toony Van Dukes and joined several of his friends from Just Clowning Around of Northern Virginia (JCA) and participated in the Reston Holiday Parade at the Reston Town Center.

Several of my friends from JCA are also balloon twisters and face painters. They have helped me become a better clown, face painter, and balloon twister. Getting together for parades is a way for us to have fun and give back to the community by spreading smiles to large groups of people.

I was at an event on Saturday when two kids said they planned to be clowns for Halloween and they asked to have their faces painted to look like a clown. My friend, who is a clown, was painting faces that day and she offered to make them into her own “Mini Me”. When she was done, they looked great!

There is one face that I will always take extra time painting to make sure it really looks good, and that is a clown face. Being a clown, I want people to like what they see whenever they see a clown. But, I have seen other examples where friends who are not clowns have painted kids to look like a clown. Unfortunately, they demonstrate that they do not understand the key aspects of a good clown face.

The other week, I was at an event where another face painter was telling about her one and only time dressing as a clown for an event. I understand why she used face paints instead of clown makeup, but the description of her face, complete with hearts and swirls got me thinking. All face painters should learn about clown makeup. I have recommended to several new clowns that they get a copy of “Strutter’s Complete Guide to Clown Makeup” which is available from Amazon.com.

I know when I was first designing my own clown face, the two points of reference were Ronald McDonald and Bozo. Both have very large red mouths. For most clowns, a much smaller mouth looks better. Actually, the best mouth is rarely larger than your own mouth. And, most clowns only paint their lower lip red. Otherwise, you get a big red, O, when the clown opens their mouth.

The clown makeup is designed to highlight the natural features of the face. In the circus, it helps people see the expressions they make from a distance. As such, the usual features are the eyes (and eyebrows), nose, and mouth. A clown doesn’t usually have stars or hearts on their faces because those are not part of their natural features.

I started learning how to twist balloon in 2008 when I attended Mooseburger Clown Arts Camp or Moose Camp. I bought my first bag or two of balloons before going to camp and watched a few videos on YouTube, but I had no idea what I was doing. When I got started, I didn’t like balloons and had so many things I wanted to learn that it wasn’t a priority.

It took me 18 months to get to a point where I felt comfortable doing balloons and felt that I knew enough balloons to be able to offer it as a service. OK, I didn’t put much effort into balloon the first year… I was taking magic and unicycle lessons and going to face painting jams. Suddenly, something shifted and I began to focus on balloons and stopped working on magic and the Unicycle. I still wanted to learn face painting, but realized it was so much easier to practice balloons (I don’t have kids to practice face painting on).

In March 2010, Balloons By Mike was created. I had been advertising balloons on my clown website, Sir Toony Van Dukes but realized I didn’t have to be dressed as a clown to do balloons. Now, 18 months later, I am booked more for balloons than for clown or face painting. I have friends who are much better at balloons, but I think I am catching up.

Almost every time I go to an event to do balloons or face painting, I meet someone who asks where I learned how to make balloons or do face painting. The answer is, I went to clown conventions. There are a few dedicated face painting or balloon twisting conventions, but there are more clown conventions.

You don’t need to be a clown to go to a clown convention… Most clown conventions offer a variety of workshops including magic, face painting, skits, balloon twisting, puppets, juggling, and more. They will often have competitions for face painters and balloon twisters or jam sessions. Also, they will have dealers who sell balloons, pumps, face paints, brushes, along with colorful outfits and other supplies.

So, the next time you are thinking that you need to go to a convention to expand your skills be sure to check out the clown conventions and see if they have enough workshops to meet your needs. And you never know, maybe you will discover the clown you were ment to be.

The Big Apple Circus and PBS show how to make a clown face.

How to Make a Clown Face

Watch the video and get your kids involved in drawing their own clown faces.

Watch the full episode. See more Circus.

The other week, I was shopping at BJ’s Wholesale Club and saw the Giant Kingpin Folding Chair. I had seen another oversized chair at a clown convention, and thought it would make a great addition to my Farmer’s Market setup. I happened to be driving my smart car at the time, so it was interesting getting it home, but it fit.

Balloons By Mike with several balloons at the South Riding Farmer's Market in his Kingpin Folding Chair.

One of the local farmer’s markets sets up in an open field and all of the vendors have plenty of room. The first time I brought it to the farmer’s market, I put it in my tent and sat in the chair. At the end of the day, I realized that keeping the chair under my tent didn’t quite have the effect I was hoping for. The next week. I set it up in front of my tent and let other people sit for a while. I think it definitely caught the attention of people and helped draw people over to my tent where I had a chance to offer them a balloon.

The chair stands over five feet tall, has six drink holders, and is supposed to be able to hold two adults. It all folds up and fits in a bag about the same size as the bag for a 10×10 vendor’s tent.

It is a large item to carry around, but if it helps attract customers and increases my sales, I think it was worth it. I am not sure that I will pull it out every week (some weeks I have to leave quickly to get to another event) but think that when I do bring it that it will continue to be a big hit.

Each year, International Clown Week is celebrated during the first week of August. Clown Week became official in the United States when President Nixon signed Public Law 91-433 and proclaimed August 1-7 as Clown Week.

Thanks to the charitable nature of clowns and clown alleys, many clowns in the United States use the week to give back to their community. Some do it by wearing their clown shoes to their regular day jobs, others donate their time for one or more charity events. To further encourage clown alleys to paricipate in activities during International Clown Week, Clowns of America International (COAI) gives out the Charlie Award. The Charlie Award is a trophy that is given to the COAI Clown Alley which best documents and celebrates International Clown Week (August 1-7).

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Public law 91-443

JOINT RESOLUTION
October 8,1970
91st Congress H. J. Res. 236

Authorizing and requesting the President of the United States to issue a proclamation designating the week of August 1 through August 7, 1971, as “National Clown Week”.

Resolved hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled^ That the President of the United States is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation (1) designating the week of August 1 through August 7,1971, as “National Clown Week”, (2) inviting the Governors of the States and territories of the United States to issue proclamations for like purposes, and (3) urging the people of the United States to give heed to the contributions made oy clowns in their entertainment at children’s hospitals, charitable institutions, institutions for the mentally retarded, and generally helping to lift the spirits and boost the morale of our people, at a time when it is especially desirable and necessary.
_ Approved October 8, 1970.

Source – http://www.internationalclownweek.org/