10 ways to make money with body painting

Thinking of making a living (or at least a little extra money) doing body painting? Is it possible to make a living doing body painting? Yes, you can make a lot of money as a ‘professional’ body painter, and even children as young as twelve have made a lot of money (like $ 500- $ 400 in an afternoon) doing simple painting techniques like temporary airbrush tattoos at fairs and festivals.

It can be hard to believe that there are so many different ways to make money doing body painting. I know when I first discovered the art of body painting, I thought maybe you could earn some temporary money at a party or fair. But there are many, many more possibilities, as you will see.

Here are just 10 of the ways you could get paid to do body painting:

1. Do body painting at parties. It can be booked for a night or a day and receive an hourly payment or a flat rate for the event.

2. Paint partygoers before they go to a party or event. Themed or festive parties would be a good opportunity for this. Be sure to mention that you could paint their friends’ bodies too!

3. As a professional body painter for the theater. You could do a show at a discount to walk in the door and get some recognition, if you don’t already have a track record.

4. Travel with the circus as your “in-house” makeup artist.

5. Become the official body painter of a dance company. Again, you could work for a low fee or even free to get in the door.

6. Face painting alone opens up several opportunities: parties, festivals, fairs, and special events are possible places for you to set up a store. Just make sure (as with all of these options) that you are using suitable, non-allergenic paints intended for face painting only.

7. Special events such as graduations, celebrations, fundraisers, and reunions.

8. Sports events: painting fans with the colors and symbols of their team has a long tradition.

9. Festivals around the world. There are several festivals specifically for body painting around the world, but there are many more that would be a great place for body painting. Look up the festivals in your area and find out how to become a seller and what their requirements and rules are.

10. Teach others to paint the body. You could run a one-time workshop, give ongoing group classes, or even take a body painting course online (like I’m doing).

Hope this gives you some good ideas on how you could earn money as a body painting artist. Maybe you’ve even thought of some ways that I didn’t include … great! Pick a method, research what you need to do to get started, and go for it!

Additional tip:

Here’s a secret clue … since you’re considering one of the possibilities above. Don’t choose what you think would make you more money … choose what you think you would do better and happier. You will always earn more by doing something you love to do, in the long run!