Month: March 2016

We took our boys to see Zootopia this week during spring break, so of course I had to do a little experimenting with some design ideas! There are so many more I could come up with but here’s what I did in the little time I had today.

On the left are a few I did on my PainterTemplates practice sheets…hopefully I can snag a kid later to try them on skin! Judy the bunny I painted on my leg, and my youngest let me try Nick the fox (holding “pawpsicles” of course) on his face! Here are the tools I used:

I love my Alex Hansen pawprint CD stencil and it was great for adding a little texture to the background.  I really like that stencil because it is super sturdy, and I don’t have to worry about my dauber catching on any delicate points and bending it up! I just used a little Mehron INtense Pro powder for the pawprints.

Lowe-Cornell’s 7000C series are my go-to brushes for everything detailed.  Most of the paints here were Paradise, with a little bit of Kryolan and of course some Wolfe black and white.

It’s so fun when new animated movies come out!! I find that I get much more creative ideas for movie themed designs when I’m able to actually attend them, versus just Googling the characters.

 

I am thrilled to announce that I am now taking registrations for my May workshops in New Jersey! I’ve always had a drive to help my fellow face painters, which is why I’ve published countless blog posts, free e-newsletters and learning resources, and am currently working on my 8th book.  But for the first time in over 20 years of face and body painting I am emerging from my basement studio, and taking my teaching on the road!! 😉  I am so excited to meet some new painty friends in NJ!  On May 4th I will be speaking at the Northern New Jersey Face and Body Art Guild‘s monthly meeting, sharing some fun boy designs!  The next day I have a full day of hands-on learning planned for you.  Read on for descriptions of each class, and links to reserve your spot.  Hope to see you there!

Detail and speed CAN exist within the same design when you learn to apply the techniques, tricks and tips taught in this hands-on workshop!

For decades my peers have been asking me, “how can you create such clean, intricate designs so FAST?!” I finally decided to really study myself, comparing how I paint to how others paint, in order to answer this question. After several years of doing so, I have been able to identify many invaluable yet teachable tips, tricks, and techniques that can be applied to any size design.

Attendees of this workshop will be getting an exclusive sneak peek at some of the material that will be published in my next book. Learn how to achieve a great level of detail in your designs without slowing down by getting the most out of your tools, timing and techniques. Use your new super powers to either increase your speed or get more elaborate in your creations!

In this half day workshop I won’t be trying to sell you on gimmicky tools that are good for only a handful of specific designs. Rather, we will be unlocking the massive hidden potential that some of your most common tools posess. Combined with invaluable tips and techniques, you will be amazed at how much they can do for your speed that you never realized!

Space is limited; register TODAY!

SESSION 2: “Realism: Raised vs Recessed”

This week is spring break, so I took my boys to the local surplus store to get parts to make cardboard robots! We declared it “robot day,” so of course I had to try out a couple more robots on their faces!

 This one I really had fun trying out the new HAS “Networx” stencil set for a background that wrapped around the eyes:

 …these were all done with a red Starblend and the rest with Mehron INtense Pro powders, applied with lollipop blenders.

My other little guy picked this green and silver robot:

He was extra excited when he saw how the uv green glowed under blacklight!!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy painting!!  🙂

We’ve just added a few more new BAM stencils to our assortment!

 These are especially great for those of you who are interested in creating graffiti eye designs, but aren’t able to invest $28 in Lea’s Graffiti Eyes sets just yet.  At just $4 each, you can purchase some of the most popular graffiti style patterns individually.

 These dot patterns are especially great for adding that comic book effect to your pop art and super hero designs!

Remember, the folks at BadAss Stencils are no longer making their original “complete sets” and “expansion sets!”  They now are manufacturing them in 5 “BAM Pro” sets of 25 stencils each for $59.00 each.  We have all of these new sets in stock now, but if you are interested in any of the old sets, grab them while you can! As of the writing of this blog post, we have just one of each of the original sets left in stock!

Have a happy Easter, and happy painting!

I’ve been so busy working on my upcoming classes, I haven’t posted a lot of paintings lately! On Monday I held my first “Achieving Detail with Speed” class and it went great! I thought I’d give myself a little break from my future class preparations today and do a little painting.

This afternoon I did this fun honeybee design, for Illusion’s latest contest titled “Spring is Here!”  This spring I am excited to have a chance to learn about beekeeping from my dad, so I thought I’d do something related to honeybees!

Here is a list of some of the tools I used:

I love the little honeycomb stencil that is a part of the new HAS “Mixer” set!  First I laid down a layer of yellow INtense Pro powders, and then added the honeycomb pattern using brown and orange INTense Pro powders with a lollipop blender. I also used a halftone pattern stencil from the new HAS “Networx” set to help fade the green areas. 

I’ve been brainstorming some more fun boy designs that I can teach during my upcoming visit to the Northern New Jersey Face and Body Art Guild meeting in May!  After seeing the pages of robots I had drawn in my sketchbook, I was pleasantly surprised that my boys actually both wanted to be painted!  (I was afraid they may be painted out after each being painted 12 times for my “Painting Boys” book!)  Here’s what they picked:

I’m seriously loving my new BAM 1220 stencil that looks like a circuit board for robots!! Metallic paints are a MUST for robots, and boys are all for adding glitter when it is carefully placed where things “glow,” like on the robots’ eyes and mouth!

Not only did they wish they could keep these on for another day, but they were already picking out which one they’d like next! Win-win!

Me with Star Walker (right)  & Alyssa Kluver (left) of Stumbling Star Stilt Performers!

Last weekend I had the pleasure of painting two lovely models at a floral/fashion show through the wonderful folks at My FAB Events! The models I painted were Star Walker and Alyssa Kluver of “Stumbling Star Stilt Performers!”  These ladies have so many talents…stilt walking, fire dancing, and more…and Star Walker actually made these amazing flower costumes for this event as well!

My work began a few days ahead when I had received photos of the dresses and told which flower they represented.  So, I set to work sketching some ideas for purple roses and red poppies! Below are a few shots from my sketchbook, along with the face designs which I actually practiced on my own leg first…

Pics from my sketchbook, and practice face designs done on my leg!

Pics from my sketchbook, and practice face designs done on my leg!

Here are a couple pics of the setup I used…we were given a conference room to work in:

Painting, in action… I had 2 hours to spend on each model. Read on to find out more about what I did and what tools & paints were used…

 

Star Walker as the purple rose

Alyssa Kluver as the Poppy

How I did it:

Here are some of the products that I used! Scroll down for descriptions of what I used where, as well as links to find them in the shop…

I started with a pearly white base of FAB White Shimmer (A), applied with a Kabuki brush (B).  Kabuki brushes are a great way to apply a fast, even base if you’re like me and are not a fan of sponges.

With only 2 hours to paint each model, I utilized my stencils to make quick work of the backgrounds and textures, so I could focus more attention on making amazing flowers.  I used my BAM 2027 stencil (C) with a little Wolfe white on both of their foreheads to add an element of lace to the background, applied with finger daubers (G), before moving into the flowers.

Now if this were to be seen from a distance on a stage, I would have done more large, exaggerated flowers.  However, since these models were to be seen up close by the customers, I paid more attention to detail. 

For the roses, my TAG Black Iris cake (I) came in handy, and I applied it with my favorite one stroke brush, TAG’s #12 Flat (K).  I then went over everything with brighter purples, blending highlights and deeper shadows with my Loew Cornell #5 round brush (M).

This was the first time I have used my BAM 1031 stencil (D), and it worked great for creating bunches of greenery baby’s breath to fill in around the roses and wind around and up the neck.  Using finger daubers (G) and some dark green paint, I laid down a layer of greenery.  I then was able to quickly create little baby’s breath blossoms using one of my small wood daubers (F) and some Wolfe white.  Just load, press and twist! I finished them off with a little dot of green in the centers using my #1 Loew-Cornell round brush (N).  Later I added a few highlights to the leaves, as well as some dots and “ribbons.”

For the poppies, I used a lot of Paradise Beach Berry (H) for the base of the flowers.  What really made them pop was the little bit of shading I added with Paradise black, and highlights using Paradise Brilliant Orange.  I love using the metallic colors for highlighting, because they catch real light and add to the depth and realism! My Global Deep Merlot was also great for adding more depth to the poppies!  The yellow centers really popped with a little yellow glitter and bling (O)!

The leaves were done using my TAG Snake cake (J), applied with a 1/2″ Loew-Cornell brush (L).  I like using Tag Snake for my leaves as opposed to their leaf yellow or leaf white, because of the extra strip of black.  It adds more depth and helps to outline itself! I didn’t do baby’s breath around the poppies, so instead I used my BAM 2028 stencil (E) with a little Wolfe white, applied with finger daubers (G) for some extra texture and detail.

Both of the ladies’ designs really popped when I added a touch of Liquid Bling (O), especially in the sparkling halogen lights of the retail floor!  After being painted, the models spent the next couple hours having their photos taken with customers in a fun photo booth! 🙂

Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy painting!! 🙂

Follow us on Facebook!
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel!
Shop for supplies!
Get FREE learning resources!

We have an assortment of the latest and greatest BAM stencil additions now in stock! Check them out…

BAM PAX
We have a couple great new “BAM-PAX” sets, great for making jewels and sugar skulls! Check them out here.

HAS Stencils
We have 3 new “HAS (Half Ass Stencils)” sets, including many of the newest BAM stencils, shrunk down to half size! I personally love all of my HAS stencils…they are the perfect size for little faces.  Check out our assortment here.

BAM Stencil Pro Sets
The old “complete set” and “expansion sets” are now discontinued…if you want one, we only have one of each left!  In their place, there are now 5 new “pro sets!”  Each set includes 25 BAM stencils for just $59.00! Check them out, here!

Thanks so much for stopping by…happy painting! 🙂

We have a bunch of new items just added to the shop in the past week or so! Check them out!

Brushes:

There are a few new filberts and a new flat brush available, increasing our range of sizes….

Loew-Cornell Flat #8 Brush, which is about 5/16″ wide…fills in the missing piece we had between a 1/4″ and 1/2″.

 Loew-Cornell Filbert Brushes, #4, #6, and #8 are now available!  These and the flat above are great brushes with acrylic handles and golden taklon bristles.

Makeup:

The array of colors available in our assortment of FAB shimmer colors grew by three this week, with the addition of Magenta Shimmer, Ploppy Orange, and Yellow Shimmer!

We’ve been waiting a while for these colors to come back in stock with the manufacturer, and are happy to have these added to the mix!  Stay tuned as we have a few more of the “standard” colors coming in the next couple weeks.

Stencils:

There are some really fun new stencils available now, especially great for you steampunk fans! There are a couple new ones that are long and narrow, which are great for designs that wrap around the arms.  Check them all out here.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Keep an eye on our blog and Facebook page for some more new additions coming soon.  Happy painting! 🙂