Butterflies are a common face painting on girls.
Cheek and face painting is a craft that is used at many events to entertain children and adults alike, as well as to display an interesting plethora of face painting art. Depending on the experience of the artist, the paintings can range from basic and simple to very detailed and intricate works. There are several ideas that can be used for both boys and girls depending on what they want. For beginners, it is best to stick to simple ideas until you get used to painting on faces.
Preperation and Supplies
Preparing the face for paint is crucial if the paint is to stick for any length of time. You can use a baby wipe to remove the grime or any makeup that may be on the face. You will need a variety of brushes from 1/2 inch brush down to the smallest brush available. You will need to use soft brushes to paint with a cosmetic grade paint. You will also need a few application sponges. Cut them up as needed to blend or make dramatic lines as needed.
Butterflies
Butterflies are a common and a flexible design for cheeks or faces. You can paint a butterfly on one cheek or across the cheeks, eyes, and forehead. Butterflies can be simple or extremely detailed. Paint two to four wings, making sure that each wing matches its opposite wing. For example, you can have a solid color wing or a wing with a design inside. Look at real butterflies, some are rather plain while others are extremely intricate. Draw the outline of the wings in black.
Hearts
Hearts can be just as versatile as butterflies for little girls. They can be basic or hold a lot of detail. Choose a cheek to begin. Color a heart using a base color. You can make the heart as large or as small as you like. Outline the heart in black before adding any extra detail. You can add decorative lines or text to the heart to personalize it. If you make a small heart and you have a lot of room, you can draw patterns or objects extending from the heart such as an arrow or a few wavy lines.
Spiders
Spiders and other creepy crawly insects are one type of face painting that boys love. Spiders are one of the easier insects to draw because they, just like butterflies and hearts, can be simple or intricate. Draw a large oval for the body and a small circle for the head. Make bended legs, four on each side of the spider. Outline the spider with black if you did not use black to paint it. Spiders are typically painted in black, but you can also use brighter colors like a dark purple, orange, green, or red to paint the spiders.
Sports Symbols
Boys love playing sports and like to cheer for their team, so you can paint any symbol that represents the sports team such as a football, soccer ball, basketball, or baseball. For each ball you will need to draw the seams and sections correctly. Add a bit of text by writing a team name above or below the symbol. For example, if you were painting the face of a boy who was a huge Atlanta Braves fan, you would begin with a white circle, and then draw the seams of the ball with red stitching. Outline the baseball in red or black. Above or below the baseball you can draw out the word "Braves" similar to the Atlanta Braves font.
