My First Tigers!

So I'm pretty new to face painting but have really fallen in love with it. Unfortunately, I can't get my hands on any actual faces... It's mostly me, my face and what my son calls "Mommy's head in a box" (can't wait to be asked about THAT one at his daycare). This weekend I was FINALLY going to get my hands on my 3 nieces but then Friday night I received a call that something came up... again No Faces! My husband seeing my very mature reaction volunteered his face... muahahahah! I've been wanting to try this tiger from my Wolfe Brothers book and I've been reading lots on the forum about stripes and noses and everything and so finally at around midnight I got up my nerve and went to work!

This was my first time painting my husband (except maybe some clowns a number of Halloweens ago). Unfortunately I forgot about my husband's medical condition that makes him a bit of a challenging model. He takes some medication that makes him sweat a LOT. I did not think about this until half-way into the orange when his forehead went into overtime. I had to keep mopping him up (losing paint each time sigh) but I did finally get on an acceptable coat I think. He also started having some back spasms which made it interesting putting the stripes on... He was very sweet and determined for me to finish, though I don't think I'll put him through another face that shows every stray mark. I'm pretty happy with it though would have liked to work on the forehead stripes more.


Then this afternoon my 2yr old son who has NEVER let me use my new facepaints on his face (only stuff on hands) not even his cheek said he wanted me to paint his face. Oh boy did I move quick! I've heard this line before but then as soon as I actually try to put the paint on his face I get "Nooooo". This time... woo hoo I got face! However... he is 2 and kept flipping his head backwards, forewards, trying to lick all the paint around his mouth (Mommy, I eat paint!) and poking me most of the time I painted (I paint Mommy). Oh, and about 20 mins before the painting, my darling smacked his head into something and I had to avoid parts of the forehead. I'm pretty happy with it and so excited that he actually let me paint his face! And I tried to put fangs on but well... after repeated licking attempts I wiped them off since they became a blurry mess.


Sorry about the insanely long post but it was an exciting 24hrs and I'm very happy my 2 guys decided to become tigers for me! I'm looking forward to many more faces!

-Erica

I can definitely say that they are far better than any of my first tigers!

That being said, there's always room for improvement, right?
Yourstripe placement is very nice, try to work on your thin to thick to thin lines (you can practice that on your arms and legs while you watch tv). Try to get the ends down to REALLY thin little tips.
I would also move the sides of your muzzle in so that it stays at the edge of the white. It looks odd being on the orange and it can stay near the little creases we naturally have between the sides of our nose and the sides of our mouth (is there a technical name for that? It's not frenulum....). Anyway, as I said these are already better than anything I did my first six to eight months of painting!

Great Job, I know the honor, and hesitation you feel when painting the hubby- supportive of crazy transformations- for the first time. Way to go, he looks great! I love the pink under the nose!

Perry Noia wrote:I can definitely say that they are far better than any of my first tigers!

stay near the little creases we naturally have between the sides of our nose and the sides of our mouth (is there a technical name for that? It's not frenulum....). Anyway, as I said these are already better than anything I did my first six to eight months of painting!

Nasolabial fold - I didn't know that one till makeup classes

And I totally agree on the amazing tigers! congrats and here's hoping you have many extra faces to paint

awesome job!! serisously awesome! my forth(?) tiger was on a kid my mom babysits and was supposed to be specifically for pictures.. but oh my gosh that boy would not sit still! I have never painted a kid that moved that much! and i had to re do his mouth ten times becuase before i could pick up my camera he had licked the entire white part off! (and most likely smudge the rest of his face) it ened up be the the worst tiger i have done...I so would have liked my first "fantasy" tiger to be cute.. oh well.. atleast he was happy...

Great job! I've been painting since 2005 & still have never been permitted to paint my hubby... maybe I'll sneak up on one of his nap times
My youngest son has only been painted 3 times....

Thanks for all the comments I keep hoping to get to post an updated tiger but alas I have not had a chance to work on it yet.

@Perry - I completely agree with the muzzle. I've had such a hard time getting those upwards curves looking right I didn't think enough about placement hehe. Also, my stripes when practicing... looked so much better. Really! That's why I need more practice on moving targets. My husband's turned out better (he wasn't flipping his head backwards) but I definitely want them pointier. My son's stripes kinda make me cringe but I know I have to start somewhere. Thanks for the pointers. I'll keep practicing!

@FairyFox - Thanks! I really like the under nose pink too (Thanks Wolfe Brothers) though my husband isn't so sure. I'm still playing with noses to see what I like best.

@Noella - Thanks and I always enjoy new vocab! Wonder what look my husband will give me when I work it into conversation... I've heard another promise of faces this weekend... Here's hoping!

@Tracy - Sorry about your difficult munchkin. I would have been so disappointed to not get a picture of my son's first tiger. I did have to wipe off his fangs (blurry mess with that tongue of his) but I didn't get to do redos. Once he's out... he's on the run. I was lucky he didn't lick too much of the muzzle off (not that he didn't try).

@Psalm - Normally my husband would not be one to be painted. However, he is SUPER caring and I believe he had a weak moment seeing me so down about another opportunity for live faces falling through. It was also almost midnight so he may have been suffering from sleep deprivation... I'm not picky. I did make sure he was aware that I would be posting his pictures before I started (which he was surprised by at first...?). You could have pushed me over with a feather when my husband volunteered.

Hi Erica.

I think you are doing great!! Tigers are so popular and worth working to perfect. I do agree with Perry that practicing the thin-thick-thin is so valuable and worth your while. I have a few other ideas.

First, I am a Bob Ross instructor in wildlife and came to realize that there is really no bright white on animals, even if they look like there is, so I created my container of an off white that looks right to me, and it is white with a tiny bit of yellow and brown. The color looks like cream, but with a bit more yellow. I carry a wonderful book from Barnes and Noble with me when I paint and it is called SPIRIT OF THE WILD CAT and it has stunning photographs. It is great for reference RE: jaguars have a black nose and leopards have a pink one. Tigers have pink noses too!
All cats have white long whiskers and that brings me to another tip a special brush that I use only for creating long white whiskers. It is 18/0 Loew Cornell 1700 long liner. I dip it in thin white and drag it across where I want a whisker. I store it in a drinking straw while not in use to protect it.

Also Becky Anthony has a neat tiger on YOUTUBE under becxstar123 It is theatrical in appearance, and is worth seeing.

Get reference material, mix colors to suit, and get your husband to let you paint again. My 6 year old grandson tries to evade me painting him,but gives in sometimes.

You are doing so well, keep it up.

God bless you and family
Evelyn

Hi Evenlyn,

Thanks for the tips. I've been looking at lots of people's tigers trying to see what I like. I've also been looking at lots of pictures of tigers and find myself conflicted between accuracy and what people expect somewhat. I would love to see your tigers (and any other cats you have) to see your ivory white in action. What paint did you use to create your color? I'm ok mixing small amounts at the time of a design but haven't tried mixing a special color in a large batch and am not sure how hard that is to do.

That brush sounds great! I've been trying out lots of new brushes and some I really hate and some seem ok but not as fine tipped or long as I would like. I have a few pricier brushes arriving soon and I see another trip to Michael's in my future.

Thanks again for your tips!

-Erica

Oh boy, I would NEVER be brave enough to post my FIRST tigers! They did not even look like part of the animal kingdom!!

I am VERY impressed you are this good, this quick!!

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Beautiful work and yay for unexpected painting pleasure!

Better than my first tigers too!! I'm never going to post those ... really. I might use them without giving myself credit someday in a book or something, but I will never admit to them!!!

I find the best way to get a tiger "right" is to look at photos of real tigers...

I blogged with photos about Tigers on this post http://shannonfennell.wordpress.com/2009/06/20/tigers/ I have several variations that I do now.