In April I tried a challenge which was created in one of the Facebook face painting groups which I’m a member of. The rules for the challenge were that each day you must paint one design based on that day’s theme and post it in the group with specific hashtags to make it easy to find by the admins. The themes for April ranged from easy with “Girl Super Hero” and “Red” to challenging with “Stuck on an Island” or “Justin Beiber,” so some of them would definitely be out of my comfort zone.

The truth is, I almost didn’t participate. Life was busy already, between family, home, school, part time jobs, and business, and there wasn’t much time left over for creating an entirely new face painting design every day. On top of that, I had already joined a small group of friends to participate in a weekly challenge as well.

But on the last day of March, I decided to take the plunge. I felt it would be good for me to have tried, even if I failed to make all the daily assignments. Looking back, it was a good decision. Why? Because there is power in challenge.

What do I mean? Well, I’ve reaped benefits from being challenged to produce a design daily, whether I feel like painting or not. These are a few things I’ve noticed:

• My skill level is increasing faster than it was before the challenge.
• I’ve made connections and new friends with other face painters in the group.
• I’ve been inspired by the designs shared by other painters and had the privilege of seeing them grow and develop daily.
• I’m learning from others who share their ideas, regardless of their skill level.
• Painting what I’m unfamiliar with has pushed me to try new things, like sugar skulls and mandalas, which I otherwise might never have painted.
• Stirring up creativity breeds more creativity.

If you’ve avoided participating in groups like the one I described above in the past, consider giving one like this a try. Don’t talk yourself out of it because you think you’re not “good enough.” Learning is a continual journey, and it doesn’t matter where you are on it as long as you keep moving forward. If you are terribly pressed for time, at least try a contest or two, but if you are able to swing the commitment, do a daily challenge. You’ll see the highest benefit from having to paint every day. True, it won’t be easy, but I believe you’ll find it worth it. And don’t forget to stop back in and share the results!

Beth MacKinney is the owner of and primary face painter for Face Paint Pizzazz in the NW Chicago suburbs. Stop by the Clownantics.com blog for more of Beth’s face painting tutorials.