Drag Paint Night
A few months ago I embarked on my biggest drag adventure to date.
It all started with an idea. A party for myself and my friends where I would teach them to paint their faces into drag queens, while drinking and eating excessively of course (because we are all gluttons and drunks).
The party was a resounding success, albeit with some sparsely covered eyebrows and some interestingly blended shadows. Everyone had fun, and an even bigger idea came to me! What if I could hold a paint night, like they do at bars, but instead of painting on a canvas, participants could paint their own face!?!?!? Hence the first ever "Beat Your Face Night" was born (trademark pending, lmfao).
After throwing out the idea to the local club manager at Evolution Wonderlounge (Edmonton Alberta Canada, if you're ever in town you should definitely check it out), the planning began. I formed a partnership with a local theatre and costume company Theatre Garage Inc. to source the makeup, brushes, mirrors, etc, and got to work finding sponsors for the event. I wanted the paint night to raise money for charity, and since we have a fabulous charitable organization in Edmonton Alberta, the ISCWR, a drag-run LGBT organization, I started getting interest.
I tagged the event onto one of the larger ISCWR drag shows of the year for extra incentive to participants to show up.
Then came the event planning...how to make it feasible to teach, not a few, but a large group of people drag makeup while minimizing costs, and maximizing results:
It all started with an idea. A party for myself and my friends where I would teach them to paint their faces into drag queens, while drinking and eating excessively of course (because we are all gluttons and drunks).
The party was a resounding success, albeit with some sparsely covered eyebrows and some interestingly blended shadows. Everyone had fun, and an even bigger idea came to me! What if I could hold a paint night, like they do at bars, but instead of painting on a canvas, participants could paint their own face!?!?!? Hence the first ever "Beat Your Face Night" was born (trademark pending, lmfao).
After throwing out the idea to the local club manager at Evolution Wonderlounge (Edmonton Alberta Canada, if you're ever in town you should definitely check it out), the planning began. I formed a partnership with a local theatre and costume company Theatre Garage Inc. to source the makeup, brushes, mirrors, etc, and got to work finding sponsors for the event. I wanted the paint night to raise money for charity, and since we have a fabulous charitable organization in Edmonton Alberta, the ISCWR, a drag-run LGBT organization, I started getting interest.
I tagged the event onto one of the larger ISCWR drag shows of the year for extra incentive to participants to show up.
Then came the event planning...how to make it feasible to teach, not a few, but a large group of people drag makeup while minimizing costs, and maximizing results:
- 1. Get a good instructor. I ended up with a fabulous instructor, the current reigning Drag Superstar in Alberta, Divina Diefor (instagram here), a true Queen and active member of the charitable community.
- 2. Share one, share all. Most makeup products can be shared between people if proper sanitizing methods are used. High concentration rubbing alcohol is a very good, and cheap option. By sharing products, we were able to have 30 people beat their faces with minimal products.
- 3. SHOW people what to do, don't just say it. Divina taught by painting her own face, step by step, with instructions, and had people follow along with each step. Then we both walked around and assisted and guided the participants.
- 4. Keep it basic. Drag makeup is all about extravagance. Glitter, rhinestones, lashes, these are all things we add at the end to really make the look pop, but are not necessarily essential to learning to paint your face. These made nice additions if people finished early, and wanted more.
The event was a resounding success!!! So much so, that I have been asked to hold not one, but two more events in the near future. I am overwhelmed by the support I have received from the makeup, LGBT, and drag communities for this event. It was my goal to spread knowledge of the artistry of drag makeup OUTSIDE of the drag community in Edmonton, and I hope I have achieved that.
I am anticipating greater success in future events, as I am expanding (with support from Evolution Wonderlounge) the Beat Your Face Night into a paint night and drag show of it's own, where newbie queens, lady queens, and others get the chance to not only learn their makeup, but to pop their cherries on stage for their friends, family and community to see.
Final message: When you have an idea, roll with it, sometimes it will fail, but other times you will create something wonderful! <3
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