So imagine you're at a pirate-themed event and more children show up than the hostess had originally planned for. You need to close the line quickly so you can leave for your next event, however. In a case like this, the best thing to do is offer just two choices (usually one boys are more likely to pick and one girls are more likely to pick) to speed things up. Let kids know that those are the only designs available for the rest of the time you are there, and quickly finish your line.
Last week we used a pirate stencil and teardrops to make a fast pirate eye design which girls might prefer (using a metallic split cake with some purples and pinks in it). This week I created a version with bright primary colors which would appeal to both boys and girls.
Materials
• Split cake with yellow, orange, and red
• Small split cake with light and medium/dark blue
• White face paint
• Black face paint
• #2 or #3 round brush
• 1/2 inch filbert brush
• Sponge
• Pirate stencil
Tutorial
Sponge the background sunset around the eye using your large yellow, orange, and red split cake. I used a handmade split for this, but any brand would work well.
Load the 1/2-inch filbert (or flat) brush from the blue small split cake and pull swishing strokes across the bottom of the yellow. It's okay if it picks up a little of the yellow color, because that simply makes it look like a sea-green for your ocean waves.
Choose a pirate stencil with a skull and cross bones and sponge black over the red/orange area.
Use your small round brush to add a pirate ship and swirling waves below.
It's an optional step, but you can add some highlights to the water as well as dots and starbursts in the sky. I did this in the example because of the visual appeal, but if I was in a hurry, I'd leave these out so I could finish each design more quickly.
Beth MacKinney is the owner of and primary face painter for Face Paint Pizzazz in Elgin, Illinois, and her artwork has appeared in The Colored Palette and SkinMarkz magazines. She services Elgin, Illinois, the NW Chicago suburbs, and northern Chicago, as well as the eastern suburbs of Rockford. Stop by Facepaint.com to check out her other face painting blog posts and tutorials.