Me: Who inspires you the most, right now?

Mark: My Students!  Every single one of them.

Me: What is your single favorite color to use?

Mark: Pink or Dark Pink (Paradise)

Me: Which color (beside white and black!) do you find yourself re-purchasing most often?

Mark: Wild orchid (Paradise)

Me: What are you practicing or doodling the most, lately?

Mark: I doodle when I teach and then I try to make them into something beautiful!  Otherwise, not much doodling.

Me: What design are you happy to paint over and over again?

Mark: Tigers and Butterflies.  I’m happy with either of those.

Me: Are you spending most of your time Face Painting or Body Painting, lately?

Mark: Let me put it this way: Face Painting is my Career.  Body Painting is my hobby.

Me: Where does most of your inspiration come from?

Mark: For the body painting, inspiration usually comes about a week before the shoot.  Like if I see a billboard while I’m driving.  I try to imagine the different shapes of the body in the design “Hey, That looks like a butt!” or “That could be the arm extending into the breast!”.

Me: What should we order for you on a Starbucks run?

Mark: White Chocolate Mocha w/a double shot of espresso

Thanks for your time, Mark.  Keep on rockin’!

Christina Davison

I have always admired Christina Davison’s work and ever since I stumbled upon her client gallery on her website I have felt like I personally knew her through her pictures. 

She was sweet enough to grant me almost 2 hours of her time for my first interview (ever!) and I’ve included the highlights of our time below.  Christina had a lot of insightful advice and she was very humble about her art and her business.  I really hope to be able to take a small, intimate class with her sometime soon.

Me: What is your Favorite Dessert?
Christina: Chocolate Dipped Strawberries!  Or at least they are a very close second *laughs*

Me: Name your Favorite Holiday or favorite season.
Christina: I have young children so … Christmas!

Me: What is your Business Philosophy
Christina: “Make ‘Em Smile!”

Me: Who would you consider is your master or “sensei”? 
Christina: My mentor is definitely Mark Reid.  He is the one who took me under his wing and taught me how to fly.  He was kind of grooming me as a “Mini Me.”

Christina Davison and Her Mentor, Mark Reid

Me: What is the biggest mistake you see most new face painters making?
Christina: Being too hard on themselves.  Not being confident- and it was my thing too! It’s a stumbling block for so many new painters I see who spend so much time worrying about what’s perfect. 

Most of our customers really really haven’t seen anything like what we do.  Every single thing you paint, as far as your customers know, it’s the best thing you have ever painted!  You have to just sell it to them: “Oh my gosh, you’re so BEAUTIFUL!  Look at that Kitty!!”

Me: Besides black and white what is your one favorite color and from which brand?  What is the color you end up having to re-purchase the most?
Christina: My Favorite is Wolfe Metallic Purple – the bane of the body painting world!  The color I repurchase most is probably Kryolan Interferenze Red – I do a looooooot of Spidermen.

Me: What do you paint when you are doodling for practice?  Teardrops, swirls or…?
Christina: Practice?  What’s that? *laughs* If I have time to doodle, I paint dragons or eyeballs.  Or Japanese characters: the  hiragana alphabet.

Christina's Toruk from FaceBook

Me: Whose art inspires you the most right now? 
Christina: Lucie Brouillard right now but I will always love Lynne Jamieson.  Especially in the beginning, I couldn’t get enough of Lynne’s stuff and there wasn’t enough of it out there. 

Me: What is your absolute favorite design?  Something you could be happy to paint 100 of in a day and still do more and be happy doing it?
Christina: Tigers and butterflies – they are never the same thing twice!

Me: Any secret ingredient products that you can’t live without?
Christina: MAC Glitter in Reflects Pearl – it picks up all the colors!

Me: Tell me a little about your experience painting in Japan.
Christina: At the festival, they were happy paying more than what we would consider the normal amount for face painting.  Approximately $10.00 for a half face and $20 for a full face.

Everyone wanted to be painted, not just the kids- and they were pretty detailed in telling you exactly what they wanted.  I also had to change the versions of the designs to make them worth the $10 or $20 these people were paying me.  I couldn’t do a 2 minute dragon and be happy with it.

I also owe a huge, huge debt to Lucie Brouillard.  I’ll never be able to repay this life experience to her.

Me: If you could have any super power what would it be?
Christina: “Healing.”

We also talked about different conventions she had attended or taught at and Christina told me about how much she enjoyed LA Fete in New Orleans.  It was a collaborative experience and she enjoyed it more than other conventions because of the lack of competitions and the greater sense of sharing during the painting of the models.

Thank you, Christina, for spending time with me and for being so open to sharing.  I really really hope I get to meet you in person so I can give you a big hug sometime soon!

What do YOU think about Christina’s interview?  Are there still burning questions you want to ask?  Leave a Comment Below and I’ll see what I can do!