Facepaint UK Blog - Step by Step

It looks so easy... but the simplest faces can be the most tricky.

The easiest way is to use Grimas Cake White if you have it. You don’t need to be so careful as you can paint another colour over it. If you don’t have Cake White (and at Wembley you won’t) you need to be careful not to cross over the red and the white. Make bold strokes and you will get a straighter line. Look ahead at...

This is the basic Tiger that we teach at The London School of Face Painting. It is not just a beginners Tiger, we all need to be able to do a very fast tiger for busy queues as well as the beautiful designs that facepainters sent in for the competition. Even the most simple face paint will look good if the paint is applied well.

First step is to sponge orange around the outside of the face...

He's arrived! And being asked for already. They didn't give a thought for us poor facepainters when they dreamed this one up, but hopefully we've cracked it for you. Bibi was inundated with requests for him at a party last weekend, and took a couple of useful pictures, so we're publishing her first go at this challenge with some advice on what products to use.

You need to make a decision about which way round you're going to do...

PEACE STEP BY STEP

This was the face that won 'Best Design', 'Best Technical Ability' and 'Facepainter of the Year' at the Face Conference in Scotland in January! As the artist was Facepaint UK's very own Bibi Freeman, we are able to bring you a Step by Step breakdown of exactly how it was done. Over to you Bibi....

Thank you, thank you. I would also like to thank my friends, my family, everyone that's ever been nice...

While summer's still with us, thoughts of sun and glistening sea reminded us of this ocean cool design. Some Face members may recognise this one, but it was in their magazine so long ago that it's worth repeating!

It seems that some painters are still having trouble with dolphins, but once you get the hang of them they are easy, lovely to paint and very popular. So, rather than a step by step, how about a stroke by stroke...

SPIDERMAN by Caro Childs

Ever popular, Spiderman, is more tricky than the customers realize. Being clear solid colour with fine lines and a design that everyone recognizes, leaves no room for artistic blending of wobbly lines. So here is a fail safe method of getting that super hero onto your wriggliest customer.

1. Start by sponging Grimas cake white over and around the eyes in a teardrop shape. Cake white is white enough to give a good contrast but it...

This Rabbit was inspired by watching an old Bugs Bunny cartoon the other day. It can be interpreted many ways, with different colours, add cute eyelashes for a girl, but we'd never seen one quite like this that changes the shape of the face so effectively.

1. The face was painted with white cake (Grimas 001) first, this gives a good base for the pearlised grey (Grimas 710) that was going to be used later. The white is sponged roughly...

Rain Forest Butterfly by Caro Childs

This Butterfly design has a jungle feel to it, I wanted to get away from the usual 'across the eyes' technique with attendant problems of symmetry and introduce a more patterned feel to the design. The dark colours were inspired by Beth's shirt and hence the rain forest butterfly came into being.

This butterfly was painted using Grimas pearlised gold 705 and Grimas bright green 407 and bright yellow 203 in the background. The...

How Far Can You Go With the Ubiquitous Desert Island? by Caro Childs

I still love doing Desert Island scenes, they are always popular and have a wow factor, but they can get a bit boring. OK we introduced dolphins and scrapped the shark and pirate ship, but that was about 15 years ago. It is certainly time for something new and what could be more appealing than a Mermaid?

I used a real variety of products when doing...

I don't know any face painters who really like painting clowns, so when I saw Bibi's beautiful little girl clown I thought I would have a go - and take photos for this step by step. Of course it is not exactly the same, but when ever you are working from some one else's design it is important to let your own style come through. I did ask nicely, so I am not nicking a...