I get asked to paint guests at a lot of events. The Lion King: Mufasa premier was the first time I had been asked to paint the staff instead.
A team of five painters, a venue dressed top-to-bottom
The brief was clear from the start. The client wanted the event team to look like they had walked out of the savannah — zebras, gazelles, cheetahs, lions, a few looks borrowed straight from characters in the film. Because everyone needed to be done before the doors opened, the client booked five professional face painters. We worked in parallel from the back-of-house and moved through the team one by one.
The venue was a large cinema inside a busy Gauteng shopping centre, dressed floor to ceiling for the premier. Lion King decor everywhere, warm lighting, music in the foyer. Once the guests started arriving, our painted staff moved through the crowd and the theme came together.
What it is like painting a team instead of a queue
A face-painting queue at a birthday party is fast — four to six minutes per child, simple designs, lots of giggling. Painting a team for a high-profile event is different work. The designs are more intricate, the deadline is harder, and you are collaborating with other painters who all need to land at roughly the same level of polish so the team reads as one cohesive look from across the room.
I love working in a team of painters when the brief is right for it. The energy is different. You bounce ideas, you watch other artists' choices, you problem-solve in real time when the client adds a request on the day.
Where face painting earns its place at corporate events
This is the side of face painting that surprises people. It is not only for kids' birthdays. For themed corporate events, brand activations, movie premiers, and red-carpet evenings, face painting is one of the highest-impact visual elements you can add — a relatively small spend that completely changes the look and feel of the room.
Planning a themed event in Gauteng?
If you are putting together a movie premier, brand launch, themed staff function, or a wedding with a strong creative concept, get in touch and tell me what you have in mind. For larger jobs I can put a team of painters together to match the scale.
From the event
