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FREE Balloon Tutorial: “Head Huggers!”

This week I came up with a fun idea for some headband balloons that I have been calling “head huggers!” These are SUPER easy and fast to make, and there are SO many possibilities to mix them up with different characters! I put together a little tutorial, and I can’t wait to see what YOU do to take this idea to the next level! Be sure to share your own creations…we love to see your work!

Since the standard heart shaped cat prints that so many twisters love to use have been hard to come by lately, I thought I’d try something different! The cat heads I used on my kitty head hugger I purchased on Amazon. They come with cardboard ears and a roll of glue dots. So for parties, what I did was cut apart pieces of the glue dot roll so I had short pieces with two dots each, stuck them in place on the ears, and then when I need to attach them at a gig, I can just peel off the backing and stick them on. I think they look pretty cute, and a great alternative to the heart shaped cats!

  • Headbands 1″ Clear – 10 pack
    Headbands 1″ Clear – 10 pack
    $5.50
  • Betallatex 260B Pastel Matte Nozzle-Up – 50ct
    Betallatex 260B Pastel Matte Nozzle-Up – 50ct
    $9.99
  • Betallatex 260B Nozzle-Up Individual Colors, 50ct
    Betallatex 260B Nozzle-Up Individual Colors, 50ct
    $8.50$9.99

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4 Speedy Snails

Today I was practicing some balloon twisting, and working on coming up with a few variations of a snail! The little orange one is just a single 160 balloon with a yellow scrap. The pink & yellow one uses two 260’s and one pink 160, while the bigger one with the chrome shell uses three 260’s and a white round!

It’s super useful to have multiple ways to make different things, not only for the ability to adjust your speed at an event, but to account for any variations in the supplies you may have packed!

It got me thinking of course of how we do this same thing with face painting. I can do a quick cheek art version of something, a more detailed half-face, or a full face, for many of my designs! So I thought I’d put together a little video of the amount of variety you can achieve JUST within the CHEEK ART category alone! Here I start with s super fast snail that is made up of one pounce of a dauber and three teardrops! I then go on to add a little more detail, stepping it up with google eyes, and finally with more shading and festival glitter! The variations are endless, but I hope you enjoy this little sampling of speedy snails!

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Step by Step Juggling Snowman!

The snowfall here in Minnesota the past couple of days has been MAGICAL! My favorite kind…the thick, fluffy kind that falls slowly like a snow globe and sticks to the branches, making everything look like a fairy land! Here are just a few pics I took in my yard:

Today felt like just the perfect photo backdrop for me to paint a little snowball juggling snowman idea that I drew in my sketchbook during my paint jam earlier this month!

Here’s a little time lapse tutorial!

  • W07 Ooh! Snowflake Wrap
    W07 Ooh! Snowflake Wrap
    $5.00
  • Wolfe Hydrocolor Makeup 45 gram
    Wolfe Hydrocolor Makeup 45 gram
    $11.00
  • Short Kabuki Stencil Brush
    Short Kabuki Stencil Brush
    $4.99
  • 12 mil Empty Body Glue Vial
    12 mil Empty Body Glue Vial
    $1.50
  • Pros-Aide II
    Pros-Aide II
    $14.70$74.50
  • BAM Copy Cat Halftone Pattern
    BAM Copy Cat Halftone Pattern
    $6.00
  • Deb's Dotters
    Deb’s Dotters
    $0.10
  • Wolfe Hydrocolor Makeup 90 gram
    Wolfe Hydrocolor Makeup 90 gram
    $19.00
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Step by Step: Google Eye Bat

I’ve been on a google eye kick lately! Here’s a fun bat design that uses “human-style” google eyes! These eyes have fun colored irises, as opposed to your typical google eyes with just a black “pupil.”

Step 1:

Load a 3/4″ angled or flat brush with a pink & purple split cake. I pulled the neon pink & purple from my Superior Sunset base blender. With purple on top, paint the outlines of the wings.

Step 2:

Use a fluffy brush to blend the pink down over the eyes, and feather the purple. I love using my Cameleon large blending brush for this!

Step 3:

Paint some pink for the insides of the ears. I left a couple little tears in the edges of his ears!

Step 4:

Add a little texture to the inside of the wings. I used my mini stencil kabuki brush and purple with a HAS 5701 stencil (from the “Alive” set) to create a little texture, and wrapped it around and under my eyes a bit.

Step 5:

Using your favorite round brush and black, paint the bat’s head, tuft of hair, and wings.

Step 6:

Using a small round black loaded with white, add a smile, fangs and highlights. I also used a halftone stencil to fade the head onto the bridge of my nose. Finish it off with google eyes applied with Pros-Aide II, and some fun chunky glitter! I used “Valley Girl” Pixie Paint!

  • Short Kabuki Stencil Brush
    Short Kabuki Stencil Brush
    $4.99
  • Human Style Google Eyes - 90 pc
    Human Style Google Eyes – 90 pc
    $3.99
  • Pros-Aide II
    Pros-Aide II
    $14.70$74.50
  • Amerikan Body Art Pixie Paint
    Amerikan Body Art Pixie Paint
    $7.50
  • HAS Alive Set
    HAS Alive Set
    $22.00
  • Wolfe Hydrocolor Makeup 90 gram
    Wolfe Hydrocolor Makeup 90 gram
    $19.00
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Step by Step: Google Eye Jack-o-Lantern

It’s OCTOBER! We face painters LOVE October for obvious reasons! I’ve been getting my usual flood of requests for painters at events this month and am doing my best to fill them, but if you happen to be looking for a face painter for YOUR event, make sure to plan ahead! We start booking Halloween events up to a YEAR in advance! So, if you think you may be having a Halloween party even next year, make a note in your calendar at least as early as June if you’d like to book the BEST before their schedules book up!

Now that my public service announcement is aside, I thought I’d share this fun and simple pumpkin design with you! I LOVE to play with google eyes, and they look especially fun when you mismatch the colors and/or sizes.

Step 1:

Load up a 1/2″ flat brush with a red/orange/yellow split cake. I used my TAG Dragon cake, and only loaded the yellow-to-red section. Paint the curved outer edges of your pumpkin, then repeat the strokes working your way towards the center. Make sure that you are consistent with which side is your shaded side (darker red) and lighter side (yellow) to get the best dimensional effect! I am assuming my light is coming from the upper right side here.

Step 2:

Use the lighter yellow corner of your brush to fill in the center area of the pumpkin.

Step 3:

Using a mini kabuki brush and an Ooh! fall leaf wrap stencil, surround your pumpkin with a variety of fall leaves! A mix of yellows, oranges, red and brown add some fun variety.

Step 4:

Load a small round brush with yellow and add a smiley mouth. I like to dab on a little yellow glitter here. Don’t worry about outlining teeth, you’ll whip those out in seconds in the next step!

Step 5:

For the teeth, just load a small 1/4″ flat brush with orange, and paint on three short strokes over the top of your mouth!

Step 6:

Outline the pumpkin with black and add a few highlights. I love Wolfe black and white for all of my outlines and highlights! Use a face wipe, Q-tip or clean dauber to remove paint on a couple spots where the eyes will stick. Apply some Pros-Aide II to these spots, and the back of your google eyes, let dry clear and stick. I use Pros-Aide II for gem clusters (original formula for glitter tattoos) because it is designed to break down easier for removal! Top. it all off with some sparkly Vivid Gleam glitter cream…I used “Trick-or-Treat!”Harvest!”

  • Vivid Gleam Glitter Cream – 30g Jars
    Vivid Gleam Glitter Cream – 30g Jars
    $14.99
  • Ooh! Fall Leaf Wrap
    Ooh! Fall Leaf Wrap
    $5.00
  • Short Kabuki Stencil Brush
    Short Kabuki Stencil Brush
    $4.99
  • Huge Pack of 500 Google Eyes
    Huge Pack of 500 Google Eyes
    $9.99
  • Human Style Google Eyes - 90 pc
    Human Style Google Eyes – 90 pc
    $3.99
  • Neon Google Eyes - 160 pieces
    Neon Google Eyes – 160 pieces
    $2.00
  • Pros-Aide II
    Pros-Aide II
    $14.70$74.50
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Step by Step Easter Bunny Eye

The lake outside of my studio may still be frozen, but spring is technically here, haha! As I wait for those elusive 50 and 60 degree days in the extended forecast to reach me, I’ve decided to do a little Easter and springtime painting! Not only to get into the springy mood myself, but to warm myself up for my Easter gigs which start this weekend! In honor of spring’s inevitable return, today I wanted to share this simple little eye design…a bunny peeking around some eggs!

First, do a quick “sketch” outline of the eggs and bunny. I used a small, round brush with a little white.

Next, fill in the eggs with whatever springy colors and patterns you like! Try stripes, polka dots, zig zags, or just solid color! Experiment with metallic paints if you wish! I used my Cameleon small blending brush to blend the colors of the egg over to my eyelid.

With a round brush, fill in the white of the bunny. Add a few pink details inside the ears and the nose. I like to use a little light blue to add shading to white objects…it gives them a little dimension and a bit more color!

Outline the design with a fine, round brush and your favorite black. I like Wolfe black for my outlines. I also used some tiny dotters to add polka dots to my eggs here!

Add some fun flourishes around the design! I used my new Topaz Fleur Mirror eye stencil, combined with my Topaz Tiny Bubbles stencil. I then used a Deb’s Dotter to add a few more colorful dots to tie it all together.

I finished off the design with some “Capricorn” glitter creme by Amerikan Body Art…one of my favorites for the bright, cheery colors, and it blended perfectly with my colorful polka dots!

I have another fun Easter design that I will share soon, and hopefully some more as my schedule allows over the coming week! Stay tuned! Thanks so much for stopping by, and happy painting!

  • Topaz Stencils - Fleur Mirror Eye
    Topaz Stencils – Fleur Mirror Eye
    $6.00
  • Topaz Stencil - Tiny Bubbles
    Topaz Stencil – Tiny Bubbles
    $2.00
  • Amerikan Body Art Glitter Cremes
    Amerikan Body Art Glitter Cremes
    $10.99
  • Deb's Dotters
    Deb’s Dotters
    $0.10
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Christmas Body Paint 2020

For the past few years I’ve been doing a Christmas themed body paint on my oldest son for my business holiday cards! Yesterday I had the chance to paint Sam again for this year’s cards! He is always such a willing and awesome model! Here is a little collage of the past years…

This year I did a little time lapse video of the painting which you can find on my YouTube channel or on our learn page of tutorials!

Here’s a collage of the progress as well:

I have to say it felt really good to get my paints out again. I haven’t been doing much face painting since Covid, but have kept very busy lately on my newest project, which I’ll share with you here very soon!! In the meantime, enjoy the time lapse and start thinking about Christmas, winter and the holidays!! We are currently taking submissions for winter/holiday themed designs for the next issue of Wet Paint Magazine, so be sure to get those in asap for a chance to see your work in print!

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Easy, On-the-Job Minion Tutorials

Are you a purple minion or yellow? Well, either way you’re in luck! I’ve just finished two really simple, on-the-job minion designs, both yellow and purple! You can leave them as-is, or you can get creative and add some 3D google eyes! Check out the videos below, or you can hop on over to our YouTube channel to watch these and more!

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How to Paint a Fun Camping Scene

Camping season is upon us, something my family and I love to do all summer long! Right now all the campgrounds are closed due to Covid, but we didn’t let that stop us! We took our camper down to my in-laws’ house last weekend and camped in their driveway, for a socially distant, outdoor visit! It was good for all of us to get out beyond the grocery store, and see some humans we know in 3-D! So, since we’ve had camping on the brain, I thought I’d put together a tutorial for you! Watch the video below, or right here on YouTube. Don’t forget to subscribe to my channel for more tutorials to come! Thanks for stopping by, and happy painting!