The Essentials for Eye Designs???

Okay folks help a total newbie out.

I want to do pretty colorful eye designs with lots of swirls and curls and dots!
I currently only have that "Face Painting" book with red, blue, green, yellow, black, and white with only one brush and one sponge. I like making the rainbows with the sponge, but it seems to take a long time to paint all the colors on the sponge. I want to learn designs that are quick and simple to start--any suggestions are helpful--*hint, hint* haha

What brushes/sponges do you depend on mostly?
Do your recommend split cakes of regular paints for these types?
What brand do you like best?
What colors are your GO-TOs?
Do you use the "Dotter" or a brush to embellish? --that thing looks cool!
Also do you use any of the "butterfly brushes"? If so any good tips for that?

I'm overwhelmed. I recently bought tons of glitter tattoo supplies for our biz so I can't go too crazy on the face paint supply list or my husband just might steal my debit card. haha

A lot of those questions have been answered already if you just search through the threads.

That book is great, btw. Jodi and Alison did a really nice job with it.

To speed up applying the colors, try using one color per brush.. that way you don't have to keep rinsing out the color to get a new one. Save a bunch of time. You could also cut out a small sliver of each cake and make a small split cake to swipe.. or just buy one.

I think it mentions in the book that you can mix colors... so just lay down some white with the sponge, then lay down some red.. and then pat them toward each other til they mix and you've got a gradation from white to pink to red. Then add some swirls and dots in a color and then some highlight dots in another color.

What brushes/sponges do you depend on mostly? - lowe cornell #2
Do your recommend split cakes of regular paints for these types? - Sure, splits just add a bit more to the design but are not neccassary
What brand do you like best? - wolfe / DFX
What colors are your GO-TOs? - metallice pink, metallic white, metallic gold, black and white
Do you use the "Dotter" or a brush to embellish? - brush - but a tip would be to take a thin linner brush and cut it almost down to the ferral and use that as a dotter.
Also do you use any of the "butterfly brushes"? If so any good tips for that? - i do but it's not my perference, I can make pretty quick butterflys without it so I dont bother. tip would be to use them with a split cake, it adds more demension to the design without you having to wait for the paint to dry to add more colors.

What "book" are we talking about?

I have this one
http://www.klutz.com/activity-books/Face-Paintinghttp://www.klutz.com/activity-books/Face-Painting

For rainbows, split cakes are essential for me. You're right it takes way to long to paint all the colors separate.

My essential brush is a pointed round, some brands call it an ultra round and it helps me tremendously for making sharp points at the ends of swirls.

Dotters are cool, but not necessary.

I have a butterfly brush that I made and love, but that type of design is not highly requested for some reason.

I use Snaz when I work on little ones since it washes off sooo easily, but prefer Paradise colors by Mehron and DFX for line work.

When I started I used only the rounds. They make great thin & fat lines depending on the pressure you use & w/ practice can do all your dots.

I started w/ the inexpensive snaz kits(they are like $16ea). I cut the colors in 1/2 & made simple splits. This made easy 2 color butterflies, masks & princess faces. I used the sponge to do the back ground & then black & white for the linework. If you go to sillyfarm.com you can watch their tutorials & it'll show how to execute sponge & linework(I still don't work well w/ a sponge & prefer to use a 3/4 filbert brush).

I also use a lot of Starblend powders for my backgrounds.

I love the look of metallics & neons & on the little girls I love the pastels.

This is a simple eye design butterfly that I do. This one is done with TAG and DFX . I've used metalics here, but have done it with the basic colours and edged it with black with white dots on outline . A good idea is to use your arm to practise swirls and dots on. Also good for practising bases then doing dots and swirls over.

Peachymango wrote:This is a simple eye design butterfly that I do. This one is done with TAG and DFX . I've used metalics here, but have done it with the basic colours and edged it with black with white dots on outline . A good idea is to use your arm to practise swirls and dots on. Also good for practising bases then doing dots and swirls over.

This is absolutely adorable. Thank you all for sharing.

...so my husband asks me "are you still thinking about trying to get into face painting too?" and of course I say "yeah, I think it would do really well along with our bouncy castles"...and then he says "so how much does it cost?" hahahaha "My response was it could cost very little or a very lot, just depends what I buy."---he didn't say anything else after that haha.

I'm going to try to narrow down my wants vs. needs tonight and place an order tomorrow. I can't wait to try out some rainbow cakes.

Glitter makes a design pop! The puff bottles are best & you must apply to the wet paint before your line work(I always forget to do it before my line work & then my paints to dry for the glitter to stick). The white shimmery glitter works w/ all colors of paint & is my favorite.

haha I've got about 300lbs of glitter at arms reach

I forgot, you got into glitter tats 1st didn't you?

I can't wait to see pics once you get all you paints!

Yep, glitter has my heart, but face paint is stealing me away.

Brushes: Round #6, Round #1 and 1/4" Flat (I use Daler and Rowney Artist brushes)
Splits or Solid: I love Splits for rainbows or cheek art, but solids have their place... I like to use two colour splits, 'cause they can be used as solid or split...
Brand: DFX... And Snaz in emergencies...
Colours: Black, White (Lots of them), Red, Yellow, Blue (They can be mixed to make anything else)
Dotter or Brush: It depends, if it needs to be a need little circular dot like berries for holly I use a Smudge Sponge by ELF Makeup (http://eyeslipsface.co.uk/product~prodID~48.htm) Otherwise I just use a #6 round.
Butterfly Brushes: I only have one that I made myself using Metina's youtube tutorial, I really like it if I'm in a rush, there's a thread somewhere on here about using a butterfly brush...

I know this is an old thread... But there we are...

You have Wolfe FX paint and you will be amazed at how far that little palette will take you. Add in some lighter colors pink, purple, or simply get their neon/metallix palette - so what you are using to learn with has the same feel. Get another 2 brushes, try a longer, soft bristle like loew-cornell corneille or a Mehron Mark Reid, or Kryolan say a #4 as a happy medium and get a stiffer brush like a loew cornell white nylon bristle or a loew-cornell comfort handle. See which works for you. Add in a few open cell wolfe fx type sponges and practice.

I do use Wolfe brand, along with Kryolan and Mehron's Paradise. Having run a successful inflatable business you may want to check brands for the ease of washability out of your inflatables. Some wash off much easier.