Learning About Face Painting Color Application

Face painting is easy if you know where to start. Most importantly, get to know the consistency of the face paint, and which colors to apply first so they blend into beautiful bright hues, not muddy browns and grays. When colors are applied next to each other, take into consideration the good old Color Wheel. Remember that thing from grade school?  (Honestly I hardly remember it, and had to Google it just now :-) shhh, don't tell anyone!)

Let's go deep into the subconscious mind and bring back our grade school color wheel experiences together, or shall we say "color wheel post-traumatic stress."

So, the Primary colors are Red, Yellow and Blue.  These 3 Primary colors can make just about any other color you can think of if mixed properly.  If the 3 primary colors are mixed together, they make black or gray.  That's why it helps to plan ahead before applying color, like working with a color by number.  Know which colors are ok to place next to eachother in face painting so that you don't get an ugly grayish color when they blend.  Unless of course you're creating a shark face with a ton of gray, now that's a different story.

Remember that when painting, mixing colors opposite eachother will
create dark muddy grays.  Plan out how you will apply the colors on the face before you start.  Try applying lighter colors first.

Let's begin our facepainting color tutorial with a Butterfly. I love painting the butterfly because it looks so complicated but it really isn't, as long as you know how to start with the color.

 

-Begin with a light color on the eyelids, extending just above the outer corner of the eyes, above the eyebrows.  Bring the yellow below the undereyes. Taper the yellow to a point at the ends. 

-Since blue and yellow make green, we'll apply blue next to the yellow. When the blue and yellow blend together, you'll see a hint of green. If we were to use green and red instead, the middle would blend to gray, and might not look as bright and beautiful. 

-Moving outward from the eyes, now apply pink next to the blue. Since pink and blue make purple, they are safe to apply next to each other. 

-Finish with outlines using your brush, and voila, a Rainbow butterfly with perfectly blended colors!

Hopefully this helped you get to know more about using face painting colors, and where to place them. For more info about how to apply colors with your face paint, just email me with your questions. Also feel free to visit my site for more pictures.