Face Painting Designs

Painting is exploring the magic of colors, patterns and designs. Face painting is exploring how painting magic can transform faces in to something totally different from what they really are.

Face painting has been a part of human culture, since times immemorial. Tribal groups used face and body painting, to show their allegiance to a particular group. Even American Indians, the original natives of the USA, had a body painting culture, which helped them identify which tribal group they belonged to.

In modern times, various hippie movement participants had symbols on their faces, to show their unity for a cause. For theater actors, getting their face painted is an occupational need! Pantomime artists and jokers have traditionally used face painting to make their expressions more visible on stage. Followers of various sports teams, often color their faces with colors of the national flag or the colors of the team mascots. They call it applying 'War Paint'. In fact, every year there is a body painting festival in Europe, of which face painting is a big part.

There are many more practical uses of face painting ideas. In the army, commandos deployed in the field, often paint their faces green, black or brown to disguise themselves and dissolve in the landscape during stealth operations. These designs are popular among kids, who enjoy getting their faces painted at theme parks and fairs. They can be used for camouflage, for symbolizing allegiance and most importantly, you could paint your face just for the fun of it!

Use only the paint which is meant for body painting! They are usually water based cosmetic paints. Acrylic and oil paints are not meant for that purpose. So much so for the precautions. Before beginning, decide and sketch the design on paper and fix the colors you'll need. Apply thin layers and let each layer dry before applying newer ones. Use narrow brushes for detailing and broad ones for the background.

Popular Designs
Okay, now let's get down to seeing some popular and simple designs, that are fun to paint and carry around.

Cat Face Designs
A cat, tiger or any feline design is very popular and quite easy to paint. First paint the background color, which can be yellow, brown or orange, according to which feline face you are painting. Tiger faces are most popular. Then you must make the nose and the whiskers with black dots. Outline the eyes with black liners. If it's a tiger face, draw black stripes and let them radiate out and around the eyes, nose and face.

Clown Face Designs
This is the most popular design worldwide. First give a total white wash to the face. Paint the nose red or stick a red round nose and outline the lips with a red outline, to make a perpetually smiling face. Lastly, color the eyebrows and outline the eyes with a black eye liner. You can color the cheeks with any color that gets highlighted on white. Improvise and try out different color combinations.

Other Crazy & Easy Designs
You can try out several other unconventional designs like:

• Comic book character faces (Spiderman, Batman, Wolverine)
• Scary faces (Witch, Warlock, Gargoyles)
• Animal Faces (Chipmunks, Zebras, Parrots and Other Birds)
• Just Abstract Designs (Splashes of colors in various combinations!)

Hope, these ideas have helped in kick starting your creative engines! Get some face paint colors, some brushes and have fun painting faces. You can start a face painting booth at fairs and theme parks for kids, if you think that you are getting better at it.