Painting Dawn

Face Painting Techniques and Tips – How To Paint The Tiger Design

Face painting has become one of the most popular activities especially in children birthday parties today. Plenty of new creative designs have emerged in recent years. However, there are what I called evergreen designs that remain popular in carnivals and parties.

Here are some techniques on how to paint a Tiger.

Face Painting Tools needed:

• Water based face paint that is FDA approved. Snazaroo is a good choice
• One fine brush, preferably number 2
• One medium brush, preferably number 4
• One large brush, preferably number 8
• One jug of warm water
• One form makeup sponge
• One towel and some wet wipes

Step 1: The Base Coat

Begin by applying white color base coat over the eyes. We want to create a tear drop shape over each eye, starting from above the eyebrows and tapering off under the lower eye. Try to make it as uniform as possible for both eyes. Then, use the sponge again to dab between the upper lips and the nose as part of the Tiger's mouth.

Step 2: Apply The Colors

Select a red and a lighter orange face paint. First apply the orange paint around the eyes using the brush, blending it with the white base coat. Move the brush strokes up to the mid-forehead, and paint over the cheeks and the nose. Next apply the darker red around the edge of the face, and up to the hairline. Blend the red with the lighter orange so you get a more uniform appearance. Take note that color blending works best before the first color, in this case, orange dries up, so you will need to move the brush swiftly.

Step 3: Add The Details

We will use the medium brush and black paint to create the stripes. All of the stripes should be angled toward the bridge of the nose. Start from the top of the face and paint the stripes from above the eyebrows down to each side of both eyes. Next color the base of the nose with the same black paint all the way down the center of the upper lips. From the corners of the mouth, draw a stripe to the base of the nose. Next, apply more stripes on both sides of the cheeks, all angled toward the bridge. Lastly, paint some whiskers.

You should get a pretty decent Tiger design following the steps above.

About the Author

Dawn Anderson is a pre-school teacher who teaches Art & Craft. She is also the author of Simple Face Painting, a website resource where she offers FREE face painting ideas to those who share the same passion and interest. You can access the FREE resources here: www.SimpleFacePainting.com

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