Ideas for Face Painting

Face painting has become a new rage especially with kids. For face painting, your canvas is a beautiful face. There are some guidelines that you need to follow for face painting. Always use the colors which are specially made for face painting. Normal colors can cause allergies. Ultraviolet reflecting colors are perfect if you are painting your face for a party or occasion to be held at night. The most important aspect that you need when painting your face is that, you need to be patient. After applying a color, wait for that color to dry and then start applying a second color. Start with small designs like roses, before painting the whole face.

If you are not confident about free hand drawing, you can use stencils. You may try out different designs and colors to enhance the natural features of the face. Eg., if the kid has blue eyes, use lighter shades of colors around the eyes to highlight the eyes. Apply base colors using a sponge. For drawing different designs, use different brushes. Make sure that the brushes are of good quality and soft.

Here is a step by step guide to various designs of face painting.

Clown Face Design
This is the most basic design for face painting. Colors needed are white, red, yellow, blue and pink. First paint the whole face white with a sponge. Let this color dry. Then paint the nose tip red, remember this will be the focal point of your design. Now comes the smile which should be wide, so paint some area above and below the lips. At the end of the smile you can add a circle or even a star. Draw wide eyebrows above the actual eyebrows and color them blue. Now fill yellow color between the eye brows and eyes. For blush, add some pink color on the cheeks.

Tiger Face Design
For this design, the basic colors needed are white, yellow, orange and black. First use a sponge to color the area around the mouth white. Use yellow paint for coloring the nose and cheeks. Apply orange color to the outer part of the face. Take a clean sponge, dip it in water and merge orange and yellow colors. Using a medium sized brush, color the eyebrows white. Keep the end of the eyebrows thin. Create white whiskers around the mouth using brush strokes. Add white and black stripes along the orange paint. Don't overdo the stripes. Using a thin brush, paint the nostrils black, just like a tiger and add small dots above the lip. You may add golden glitter to the stripes. Remember don't use the glitter near the eyes. The same design can be used for the cat face design, but the colors will be different.

Fairy Design
In this design, the most important part is your choice of color. Use colors like baby pink, light blue, light green, etc. Choose darker shades for drawing the designs like magenta or purple. Use of glitter paints can also be a good option. In this design you will have to divide the face, vertically in two parts (except lips). Carefully using a clean sponge, color one part with baby pink and other with light green. Make sure that they don't mix with each other. Color the lips red and add glitter to them. Now using a small brush, paint small flowers on both sides of the face in magenta. You can even make vine designs. Make sure to add golden or silver glitter.

Take proper safety measures while face painting. After the party, clean the face immediately. Never leave a face paint over-night. Most of the times colors are water-based, so you can remove them with water. Use baby-wipes for the stronger colors.