Master Simple Face Painting Designs

"By This Time Tomorrow, You CAN Master Simple Face Painting Designs.
Happy Kids Will Line Up When They See Your Face Painting Talent!"

When I began to plan my daughter's birthday party, my neighbor said "well, you have to have do face painting. Kids LOVE having their face painted!" Face Painting, I'd seen it done at fairs and festivals and I remembered how happy everyone looked but I never thought of doing it myself.


It sounded like fun ... for me ... and for the kids.


So I began searching high and low for "how-to" face painting resources. What I found was a lot of information on professional face painting and full-face art, not at all what I needed at the time.

I wanted to be able to paint a pretty butterfly, ladybug or balloons on a child's cheek and I couldn't find anything that showed me how to do that!


So I dug deep into the world of professional face painting, interviewed the pro's, watched them work, learned their tricks, selected the easiest and most popular "cheek art" designs, painted like crazy, and put it all into a book called Easy Face Painting: You Can Get Professional-Looking Results ... Even If You've Never Picked Up A Paintbrush.


It covers everything you need to know about getting started in face painting ... as soon as TOMORROW!

Imagine being asked to volunteer at your child's school fundraiser or a charity event. How great would it feel to be able to say "I can raise money by Face Painting"? Can you visualize your Face Painting booth with ten or twenty kids in line?


Wouldn't it be great to treat your kids or grandkids on a rainy day by bringing out the facepaints and creating a memorable masterpiece on their cheek, hand or arm?


How about heading to your favorite sporting event with the team colors and logo proudly donned on your face?

It's Easy, Fun and Really Rewarding!


Within a few days, you could learn an art that could:

provide memories, joy and laughter for children,
provide you with a unique talent and creative outlet, even if you thought you didn't have a creative bone in your body,
give you a service that you can offer as a way to raise money for your favorite charities, schools or other organization
with additional training, provide a part time income to you and your family!

Isn't that awesome? Learning these simple face painting techniques could propel you into loving the art and eventually provide an additional source of income for your family!

Kids Face Painting Ideas

Whether they’re getting ready for a Halloween party or simply having fun on a gloomy day, there are a number of kids face painting ideas you can use to help your children express their creativity.

Face Painting How To's

Face Painting How To's:

Sit your subject in a chair and place a towel around their shoulders.
Tie back long hair to keep it out of the way.
Before applying face paint, wipe subject's face with a moist wipe or tissue.
If you know a subject is prone to allergies, place a small amount of paint on the cheek to see if there is a reaction.
Apply light colors first with a broad brush, then use smaller brushes for finer details.
If you're new to face painting, start out with simple designs like stars, half moons and diamond shapes.
To remove face paint, simply use mild soap and water.
Face Painting Around the Web

Elsewhere on the Web, discover more information and resources, expert tips & advice for kids & teen face painting focusing on party activities, face painting supply buying guides, do-it-yourself instructions along with lots of creative ideas to be found in step-by-step illustrations & picture galleries ....



Face Painting Designs, Ideas, Face Paints & Pictures - Excellent guide to do-it-yourself kid face painting with photos and descriptions of suggested brushes, sponges and paints, plus check out an extensive picture gallery of design ideas & step-by-step instructions, related links.

Snazaroo Face Painting Photo Pages - The professional face paint supplier offers up hundreds of party face-painting ideas including recent visitor-submitted photos and sponsored contests, along with guides & instructions for more face painting ideas at thier UK site.

Face Painting Ideas from 4to40.com - Begin at the face painting introduction, then work your way down to an extensive link list of ideas and illustrated instructions for rabbit face painting, pirate face painting, flower face makeup, and lots more...

Face Painting - Everything you need - A guide to working with kids in the face painting process including simple design illustrations for tigers, butterflies, dogs, rainbows and more, plus links to related resources and feature stories.


Face Painting Association - UK organization featuring an online magazine, information on painting competitions, FAQ, face painting picture galleries, membership info and contact details.

How to Face Paint - Brief, general guide to the topic with visitor-submitted ideas & suggestions, from eHow.com

Princess Face Painting Ideas - Ideas and sample illustrations for a fun Princess party activity from AmazingMoms.com.

Face Painting Designs, Ideas, Face Paints & Pictures - Excellent guide to do-it-yourself kid face painting with photos and descriptions of necessary brushes, sponges and paints, plus check out an extensive picture gallery of design ideas & step-by-step instructions, related links.


Novelty Makeup Safety Tips - Good advice from the US FDA site with tips on makeup and face paint allergies, unsafe makeup ingredients and how to spot them, plus contact phone numbers and related links to more information.

Free Face Painting Ideas

Free Face Painting Ideas

Here are some excellent free face painting ideas that will make you a smash hit at your next party or event!

When face painting, don't stop with the face, include body painting also. This is always a hit. Kids go crazy for body painting. This is great to do because it makes the kids feel like they are wearing a costume and they really have fun with the character that they have been painted as. Whether it be a king or a witch, this idea is a "no fail" when it comes to pleasing youngsters. And don't worry about the time this may take. Just keep it simple, short, and sweet and it's a snap!

Another of the free face painting ideas is for you to try mixing and using makeup with your face painting. Taking some cosmetic makeup and combining it with face painting is an awesome idea. You can use blush to create rosy cheeks on a princess or eye liner pencil to create whiskers on a cat. Using makeup creatively and in combination with face painting can save you time and effort. Beginners may also find this easier than using paint on certain designs. Simply test out and experiment with different cosmetics to find what works best for you.

An entirely new and incredible dimension to add to your face painting routine that has been tried and tested is the use of stick-on-jewels. What's great about stick-on-jewels is that they are simple and incredibly effective. Kids love them and it escalates the look of any face painting from amateur to pro. They are also very simple to use. Just remove the paper backing and apply to the desired area. This is one of the best and most effective of the free face painting ideas.

Try to use costumes with your face painting for an incredible combination that delights every time! Finding simple costumes is the key to this favorite of all the free face painting ideas. You don't have to go all out and spend a lot of money. That's not necessary at all.

Some costume ideas: • A simple black cape for a vampire. • A paper crown for a king • Paper bunny ears for a rabbit • A paper or plastic tiara for a princess • Stripes painted on t-shirts to look like a zebra or tiger • Or an old sock or stocking stuffed with tissues, magazine pages, or newspaper to look like a tail for a monkey, lion, or tiger. Art

And the last of the free face painting ideas is for you to use good old glitter! It's simple, cheap, and incredibly easy. You can find glitter gel, glitter powders, and glitter dust that all work well (you just need to decide which one works best for you). Just as the stick-on-jewelry can improve the look of your face painting, glitter can make your painting look highly professional. Arts in Art

There are endless free face painting ideas, you just need to be creative, use your imagination, and most importantly, have fun and enjoy your art!
About the Author

Face painting can be a lot of fun, but it can also be a lot of hard work. And finding face painting ideas that haven't already been done many times before is very difficult. So unless you can take time out of your busy schedule to register for a face painting class

Face Paints for face painting designs and ideas, how to get started, Face painting courses for budding face painters. step by step guides

Well you've got this far so you must be interested. So where do you start? Everyone has to start somewhere and we hope this will help. Face painting can range from a simple design with only a few colours, sometimes only one or two face paints, up to incredibly detailed works of art with blended colours fading in and out to create a masterpiece on the face. Whatever you are going to create you will need some sort of face paint and the equipment to apply the paint to the face, usually brushes or sponges.

Face Paints: Lets start off with the face paint: Obviously this needs to be a special paint as its going to be applied to the skin on mainly children, so going off to the local DIY store for some match-pots isn't a good idea. There are a few companies who produce paints specifically for face painting, which have been tested for safety and comply with various European and American regulations. These paints come in a huge variety of colours and can generally be purchased either singly in various sized pots or in sets containing a number of different face paints. A few examples from one of the manufacturers (Snazaroo) are shown here. They can be plain coloured face paints, contain glitter to give a sparkle effect, have a pearlescent effect added to them or even some ultra-violet light reflecting paints for the disco nights! At first it is best to start out with maybe half a dozen of the basic colours to get used to working with them and see how you can apply and mix to achieve the effect you want. How you apply them brings us to the next section.......

Brushes and sponges: Brushes come in all shapes and sizes, so which do you use? First of all face painting brushes must be of good quality, usually with a synthetic bristle and soft enough for young faces. Three or four brushes is enough to get you started to allow you to experiment with the face paint and working on skin. You'll need say a small fine pointed brush for extremely detailed work, a medium sized softer pointed brush for the bolder strokes and a larger brush for filling in the big areas outlined before. as you progress you'll find a need for more specialised brushes to acheive the end result such as an angled flat brush to blend two face paints together, a fan shaped brush for feathered edge effects and so on. eventually you'll find a large selection of brushes in your box but will probably have your favourites which you use time and again. To cover large areas of the face with one base colour a sponge is used to give a smooth effect with the face paint, yet again these sponges are made for face painting and are readily available. One tip with the sponges is don't be afraid to cut them up - two reasons, one you get twice as many for your money but more importantly you can use the sharp edge on the cut sponge to produce lines and clean edges if the design calls for it. (see the picture)You can paint the whole face with a couple of sponges, bending them to create different edges and face paint effects. For stipple effects special sponges such as the one in the picture are available.

Working with the face paint: As said above the face paints are water based so really it's just like going back to your childhood with the painting kits. All you need is lots of water for dipping sponges and brushes into. The majority of face paints will get thinner the more water you mix with them to enable you to change the shading/intensity of the colour. Obviously the brushes need to be cleaned between each colour to prevent mixing, hence the need for lots of water usually a small pot or pots regularly changed. Some people tend to have different brushes for dark or light coloured face paints, but this can prevent you from using your "favourite" brush for one particular colour, it's all a matter of personal preference.

Removing face paints: Now you've managed to cover your children's faces with the paint and want another go, you'll have to 'clean the canvas' as it were. Being water based the face paint comes off easily with soap and water (or just water). Baby wipes are also useful - particularly for getting rid of small designs on the cheeks or part of a bigger picture to let you try again.

face painting design lion

Face painting a lion is a fun way to explore your artistic creativity and spice up a party. Learn to paint a lion using face paints from a face painting expert in this free video series.

Lion Themed Face Painting Kit

King of the jungle, or should that be king or queen of the party? Always popular with both boys and girls, just see who can roar the loudest!

Contents: 3 X 2ml water-based face paints - light brown, gold and black , applicator brush and instructions.

Ideas: Using a damp sponge apply a light brown base tint, using the same sponge apply gold around the outside of the face, on the chin and down the nose. Use the brush to paint in eyebrows, then black for detailing.

Face Painting design Cat

Face Painting-Cat
Face painting is a fun and exciting way to create almost any animal or character you can think of! With just a few make-up colors and accessories, follow these easy steps to transform yourself or your little trick or treater into a cool cat.

Tip: Refer to photos for placement of make-up and detailing.
Before applying make-up, test a sample on the inside elbow or wrist of the person to be made up. The ingredients are laboratory tested and non-irritating to eyes and skin, but some individuals could have an allergic reaction. Red color should not be used in the immediate eye area. Leave make-up on for 30-60 minutes, if a reaction occurs, discontinue use and remove. Glitter should not be used on young children as they may rub it into their eyes.

Work in front of a well-lit mirror and cover the floor or table with newspapers to protect from spills. Water will be needed for moistening face paint and for cleanup. Use damp paper towels and cotton swabs for minor fixes.

Any costume or clothing that will need to be slipped over the head must be put on before applying make-up. To protect the costume, cover it with an old sheet or cloth.

To design a face, first wash the face and pat dry. Apply make-up with fingers, a brush or sponge. Moisten with a few drops of water to spread evenly. Be creative. Blend colors to make new tints. Practice and patience will provide a professional look.

To remove make-up, wipe excess off of the face with a moist paper towel before washing clean with mild soap and warm water.

Add additional accessories to create the desired look.

FACE PAINT DESIGNS - Tiger Face

FACE PAINT DESIGNS - Tiger Face

On this page we will try and show how to paint a tiger face step by step so that you can see how the various layers and details are built up. We will give you the colours of the paints used and details of the brushes and sponges used so you can practise this for yourselves, although obviously different colours can be used for different effects (see bottom of page for examples). Before you begin to paint you will need a supply of clean water, a dry towel (to place around the person being painted) and either some wet wipes or a damp flannel (to keep your hands clean).

Step 1:

Using a sponge paint a white area around the mouth. This will help keep the whiskers white later on.

Step 2:

Using a clean sponge paint yellow around the eyes, cheeks and chin.





Step 3:

Using another sponge add orange around the outside of the face. Blend the orange and yellow together by going slightly over the edges of the yellow paint with the orange, if the paint is too dark you can keep blending using the yellow and orange sponges until you get the effect you like.





Step 4:

Using a medium thick brush, paint white eyebrows above the eyes. Use the line of the clients actual eyebrow as a guide, lifting the brush at the end of the stoke to create the point.





Step 5:

Paint another eyebrow onto the other side, it is sometimes easier to paint the side you feel least confident with first. Add brush strokes around the mouth creating the whiskers, if you lift the brush as you come to the end of the stroke and flick the tip of the brush slightly you can achieve the pointed look to your whiskers..





Step 6:

Add white stipes, start your brush strokes at the outer edge of the orange paint and drag in, if you lift the brush as you drag it it will create the tapered look to the stripes very easily. Still using the white place a thin line under each eye.

Using black paint add a nose, following the natural flare of the nosterals will help ensure both sides are even.





Step 7:

Using the black add a line from under the nose to the top lip, this should get larger as you go down to incorporate the top lip. Paint both lips black. Add black stripes in the same way as the white ones, the number of stripes is down to personal preference..





Step 8:

Using a thin brush add small dots above the top lip in black and outline the whiskers and eyebrows, this will give more definition.

The final touch is to add a sprikling of glitter, gold looks good with these colours, around the edge of the face, try not to go too near the eyes. If you have glitter gel, as opposed to loose glitter, this can be added in between the stripes creating extra glitter stripes.

face painting design tiger

FACE PAINT DESIGNS - Tiger Face

On this page we will try and show how to paint a tiger face step by step so that you can see how the various layers and details are built up. We will give you the colours of the paints used and details of the brushes and sponges used so you can practise this for yourselves, although obviously different colours can be used for different effects (see bottom of page for examples). Before you begin to paint you will need a supply of clean water, a dry towel (to place around the person being painted) and either some wet wipes or a damp flannel (to keep your hands clean).


Step 1:

Using a sponge paint a white area around the mouth. This will help keep the whiskers white later on.

Step 2:

Using a clean sponge paint yellow around the eyes, cheeks and chin.

Step 3:

Using another sponge add orange around the outside of the face. Blend the orange and yellow together by going slightly over the edges of the yellow paint with the orange, if the paint is too dark you can keep blending using the yellow and orange sponges until you get the effect you like.

Step 4:

Using a medium thick brush, paint white eyebrows above the eyes. Use the line of the clients actual eyebrow as a guide, lifting the brush at the end of the stoke to create the point.

Step 5:

Paint another eyebrow onto the other side, it is sometimes easier to paint the side you feel least confident with first. Add brush strokes around the mouth creating the whiskers, if you lift the brush as you come to the end of the stroke and flick the tip of the brush slightly you can achieve the pointed look to your whiskers..

Step 6:

Add white stipes, start your brush strokes at the outer edge of the orange paint and drag in, if you lift the brush as you drag it it will create the tapered look to the stripes very easily. Still using the white place a thin line under each eye.

Using black paint add a nose, following the natural flare of the nosterals will help ensure both sides are even.

Step 7:

Using the black add a line from under the nose to the top lip, this should get larger as you go down to incorporate the top lip. Paint both lips black. Add black stripes in the same way as the white ones, the number of stripes is down to personal preference..

FREE Face Painter Directory

Are you looking for a Face Painter in a particular Country? Then please scroll down to the list of Countries lower down in this page.

Are you a Face Painter? Our website aims to build a global resource for the face art world. One of our goals is to build a global "face painters directory". Submission to the directory is Free and we would support the site by adding various adds to the site. This will have an advantage to the face artist of no setup fees. People looking for an artist, should find most face and body painters listed. We plan to give preference to the accredited artist, so as to have a quality listing. People will also be able to leave comments so a kind of peer and customer review should emerge in time.

Listed by Country and City
The plan is for the Artists to mention the Country, State/ Province/County and City/Town that they operated from. This will enable us to group the artists by area. This information would be included in the submission text once an artist submits a page. This website is not sponsored by any particular brand or shop so there sould be no reason that any artist should have to not take advantage of this free listing. The more artists that list the more weight the search engines will place on the listing and the more valuable the link from this site will be. Once the directory gets big we will include a search block to enable a visitor to quickly find and artist in their area.


Are you an established artist, or up and coming Face or Body painter looking for some more online exposure? Do you have a great new creation of yours to share with the face art world? As long as it really is yours, Share it!
(Add a link to your site in your text description. If the link works we will add it back to your site) The advantage of this directory over some others like the Snazaroo-Submit a Face Painter is that you can upload an image.

Face Painting Fun, a global resource for the face Art world

Whether you're a beginner or a pro, Face Painting Fun should answer many of your face art questions. You'll find quality designs, examples, Free advice, and ideas. You can Shop online for any items you may need. Do you need Public Liability Insurance? Then stop by our insurance page. If you love art, you'll enjoy our traditional, strange and unusual pictures, on our Examples Page. Face-Painting-Fun has everything you need from step-by-step Videos to instructions for Special Needs children. You'll find so many free ideas, including tips and information on everything from using Glitter, to UV, plus award winning Artistic Designs.



Also, be sure to check out our Cultural page to discover how and why different cultures use face and Body art. Our latest page deals with Temporary Tattoos

A Painting Isn't Finished with the Last Brushstroke

Painting is "an exercise in continuous clarification: the painter clarifying his idea, but then making sure that that clarity was passed on to the beholder...

"... for Rothko, the painting was never finished with the last brushstroke. That was merely the end of the beginning. The picture continued to form, grow -- 'expand and quicken' ... in the eye of the beholder.

"... And that's also why Rothko was so fearful about letting his paintings go 'out into the world'."

-- Art critic Simon Schama on Mark Rothko, in Power of Art, p420.
If a painting isn't finished with what you think is the last brushstroke, as Rothko would have it, then how do you decide it's time to put down your brush? How do you judge what a viewer might see and "clarify"?

I think you could drive yourself nuts trying to figure this out, because each person looking at a painting sees something different. Even you do, depending on your mood on a particular day and how long ago you did a painting. It comes back to needing to paint for yourself, to work on a piece until you're satisfied, to consider comments from others but not to be too easily swayed to change things. To said: "It's Done! (At least for today.)"