First tiger - Input appreciated!

Hello! I'd really like a critique on my first tiger. I know I didn't add any white for ears, and some of the line work could have been a lot better. My little tiger client was very wiggly! I'm still new at this and waiting to hit that moment where I feel like I can start charging people for my work. Any input is appreciated!

that's a good first! great color and blending, and your stripes are a nice thin-thick-thin shape, with nice variation in size. cute nose, too, looks like you made a heart in the center?

as you mentioned, next one you could try white over or above the eyes. and you've probably seen most tigers with a white muzzle on the upper lip.

if you want to be more realistic, the whisker dots on the muzzle actually form lines on a real tiger, you can do 2-3 lines of dots, or solid lines.

and in addition to your life-like color, if you want, you can experiment with different colors, or rainbow colors, or even colored stripes

Definatly better then my first! lol

This tiger is good, but lets see how we can make it better.

First of all, we pretty much all have wiggly clients. Some times I find adults have a harder time holding still then kids (mainly because the adults don't shut up while getting painted lol). But while wiggly clients can ruin your line work, and some times rush your design along due to attention span, the design is still the frame work of the face paint and having a wiggly kid in the chair doesn't effect it that much.

One of the things that struck me was your tiger stripes. Someone has been practicing thick to thin! Very good. The placement isn't bad but it could be better.

Some tips:

~ Obviously gotta add some white here. The face feels very two toned and unfinished. Put some white above the lips, over the eyes, and maybe even some on the chin. Many different ways to go about it, but make sure it's there.

~ Watch the structure of your cat nose. Make sure that it's the right shape to get that feline look.

~ Use a smaller brush.
I can tel that for the black you used the same brush for all of it right? Try a #4 round. You can press it for thicker lines for the stripes, and also use it to better do the nose, lips, whiskers, and whisker dots.

~ Practice making a new shape with the face. Instead of covering the entire face with orange, try having the color shape the face instead of the other way around.

~ don't be shy to go bolder with your colors. They are more eye catching, and net you more business then 'life like'. I know life like can be fun and even harder to do, and more impressive to us real artists - but it goes over the heads of most people. Took me a while to learn this. So go bold!

More tips from this helpful image.


Click here for a larger photo

But MOST importantly. Start charging for your work. You are worth more then you think!
I know I know, you think you are just starting out and you feel like you need more practice and people won't pay for your beginner work. But you are dead wrong.

There is a woman in my city who charges $100/hr and does stuff like this.

That's food coloring homemade paint and craft glitter/table confetti on that girls face.

If she can run a business offering that tripe, then you can ask money for your superior work.

Other reasons to start charging:
-Your paints cost money
-your supplies cost money
-Do you have to drive to get to a gig? Your gas costs money too!
-Your time is worth something
(doesn't sound much like 'free' any more, sounds more like YOU are paying to paint others)
-By offering quality work for free you are debasing your own trade! Causing people to think it's not worth anything, and is something that 'should' be free.

Don't get me wrong, practice on your neighbors kids, your kids, family, and your kids classmates all you want for free. But don't do free gigs.

More Compelling Info Here:
Link
Link

Happy painting! Can't wait to see more of your stuff!

jlirie wrote:that's a good first! great color and blending, and your stripes are a nice thin-thick-thin shape, with nice variation in size. cute nose, too, looks like you made a heart in the center?

as you mentioned, next one you could try white over or above the eyes. and you've probably seen most tigers with a white muzzle on the upper lip.

if you want to be more realistic, the whisker dots on the muzzle actually form lines on a real tiger, you can do 2-3 lines of dots, or solid lines.

and in addition to your life-like color, if you want, you can experiment with different colors, or rainbow colors, or even colored stripes

I really like the idea about the lines of dot . Definitely trying this! Thank you so much for your feedback, I really appreciate it!

*cough* so am I like not here?

Forest-Fairy wrote:*cough* so am I like not here?

Hahah no, that wasn't it at all! I tried a few times to submit my reply and it was just not going throug . And once 11 rolled around I had to stop sitting in my car in my work parking lot and actually head into my day job sorry for the delay!

oh ok, thanks. Yeah I just thought it was a little weird, srry.

Forest-Fairy wrote:oh ok, thanks. Yeah I just thought it was a little weird, srry.

Haha and it looks like my reply still hasn't posted! Goodness.

So hopefully I get the general jist of everything I wrote out an hour ag . But thank you so much for the thoughtful reply! I definitely agree about the white... I just need to not be so indecisive with color placement and just go for it. I had originally placed some white around the mouth but it ended up being blended into the yellow. And I think I did only use one brush! Good eye haha. Thank you SO much for what you said about charging for my work! I'm really sort of at a loss with starting that whole process, which I know a lot of people are at first. I feel so empowered though after reading all of your feedback! I really admire your work and you've definitely inspired me to get the ball rolling on this. I'm going to start working on some marketing things asap so I can try to line up a few gigs

Yeah that reply is long gone lol. I wouldn't wait around for it. :p

totally just go for it, that' the only way ya learn what looks best. Don't forget to take photos too! Even if it's something you really don't think you did that well on, take a photo so you can study it later and see how you can improve. I know you just want to forget about those ones and pretend they never happened, but nothing is better to learn from.

Remember it's totally ok to go over something again with white. What brand of paints are you using? Because if you are using a glycerin base like Snaz or Merhon for example your white isn't going to give you the opaque coverage you want. Luckily you can buy a white and black in a wax base brand like, Wolfe, TAG, DFX, Global, etc and you can better put it over top of other colors without worries about the color underneath showing through as much. If you are using a glycerin base paint, stick with it for your base colors for now and don't worry about switching over to a wax base brand. Glycerin base is great for beginners because it's easier to blend and doesn't dry as fast as wax based, so IMO it's a better place to start.

lol thanks at the 'good eye' comment. I find I have a knack for that; the muzzle gave it away :p . Again try it out with a smaller brush like a #4 or #3 even (brand depending) You'll find you get more control, and can get smaller dots and details. Highly recommend Lowe Cornell Gold Grip brand.

As for charging, start out at $75/hr and build up from there. My mistake was that i started out WAY too low.

Your best marketing will be your business cards and a smile. Invest in some really spiffy looking ones, have your name phone number, email, and include a link to a face book fan page until you can get a website setup later down the line.

Always post photos and content on the page, and it will act like your online gallery (which is all people really use it for lol)

Good luck!

Forest-Fairy wrote:Yeah that reply is long gone lol. I wouldn't wait around for it. :p

totally just go for it, that' the only way ya learn what looks best. Don't forget to take photos too! Even if it's something you really don't think you did that well on, take a photo so you can study it later and see how you can improve. I know you just want to forget about those ones and pretend they never happened, but nothing is better to learn from.

Remember it's totally ok to go over something again with white. What brand of paints are you using? Because if you are using a glycerin base like Snaz or Merhon for example your white isn't going to give you the opaque coverage you want. Luckily you can buy a white and black in a wax base brand like, Wolfe, TAG, DFX, Global, etc and you can better put it over top of other colors without worries about the color underneath showing through as much. If you are using a glycerin base paint, stick with it for your base colors for now and don't worry about switching over to a wax base brand. Glycerin base is great for beginners because it's easier to blend and doesn't dry as fast as wax based, so IMO it's a better place to start.

lol thanks at the 'good eye' comment. I find I have a knack for that; the muzzle gave it away :p . Again try it out with a smaller brush like a #4 or #3 even (brand depending) You'll find you get more control, and can get smaller dots and details. Highly recommend Lowe Cornell Gold Grip brand.

As for charging, start out at $75/hr and build up from there. My mistake was that i started out WAY too low.

Your best marketing will be your business cards and a smile. Invest in some really spiffy looking ones, have your name phone number, email, and include a link to a face book fan page until you can get a website setup later down the line.

Always post photos and content on the page, and it will act like your online gallery (which is all people really use it for lol)

Good luck!

Right? I don't think the forum likes me being on my phone much. I'm using FAB paints. I haven't experimented with going over the white but I'll be sure to do that tonight. For some reason I didn't even think to do that. And I'm not sure what the base is on those.

I'm so hesitant to charge a high price like that because I'm not terribly fast at full faces yet. I can definitely bust out some flowers and rainbows in a couple of minutes but the full faces I haven't practices as much so I hesitate with color placement and think about it too much, so it adds time.

And I don't think I have any brushes in a size 3 actually... I know I have 2 and 4 and 6 though. I'll have to go through them and see what will work.

you'll get more comfortable doing your different designs with practice.

when i first started out, i was basically trying to copy any good face painting design i could find on google images. the operative word being "copy".

but as i learned the different elements that go into a design, for example, tiger stripes, teardrops, dots, blending black into the edge of a butterfly wing, etc, i found myself being able to paint designs more from scratch without an image to refer to, and in my own style.

and i still have quite a ways to go!