Tear Drops: My arch nemesis...please help :(

Okay, so I have been practicing, and practicing and practicing some more on my own face. I have always struggled with tear drops and think they are absolutely the hardest thing ever. I just can't seem to make them look perfect like all of you do. If someone doesn't mind, please look at this picture and tell me what in the world I'm doing wrong?? I would love to add some pretty tear drop designs to my board, but I think mine are terrible and could not ask someone to pay me for them.

My husband was super sweet today, and let me paint a girly design on him...so ignore all the hair

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Thanks for the help you guys

They are not bad...the bottom half is better than the top.. my suggestion is to buy a really good round #4-#6 somewhere. I have my favorite, and cannot accomplish a teardrop with any other brush.

I tried forever with a round brush and they were terrible... I couldn't get the little tail. . .either the top looked okay or the bottom, but not both. I also couldn't get them to go in the right direction.

I switched to a filbert and they seem to be a little easier, but still awful Maybe I shoule try a round again.

What a sweet hubby you have!

Your teardrops are not bad but they are thick, maybe from the filbert? What size round were you using and what kind of paint are you using? I could not get teardrops down until a lesson with Heather at SillyFarm where she showed me how to practice, practice, practice on myself (arms, thighs, face) using DFX/Wolfe white and Lowel Cornell #3 and #4 round brushes. You have to find out if your teardrop style is going thin to thick or visa verse. For me I was trying to start the teardrop thin then go thick, when what was really easiest for me was the opposite, starting thick then bringing the teardrop to a thin point. It is different for everyone and only practice will help you discern and improve.

Practice every day on your arms, try making the longest teardrops you can by starting thick then going thin and keeping that thin line as long and skinny as you can. If the paint seems too thick or watery, try adjusting the consistancy or dabbing the brush once on a paper towel before painting. Try making long lines that go from thin to thick to thin again. Make your first goal to get control of thin and thick rather than trying for a perfect teardrop. Also practice other line work such as swirls and curls and even dots of all sizes, things that help you gain small muscle control and comfort working with your brush and paints.

Make teardrops then outline them as thinly as you can, that is one of my best practice exercises for brush control. My favorite brushes are still Lowel Cornell with the yellow handles and Royal Majestic with the black plastic handles. I use #3 for almost everything since it can go thin to thick quite nicely with practice. I'm still learning and no expert by ANY means but these tips are what are helping me improve and I hope they will help you feel more comfortable and confident, too! I see pretty teardrops in the bottom of your design, you can do it!!!

Try loading your brush an one side, then rolling over so u load it on the other side. If your paint is at a creamy stage your bush will flaten out giving you a very thin side and a thick side, or as Mark Reid says, "flat and fat". then as you lay the brush down on the skin with the flat side down, give it a quarter turn to the thin side as you lift off the skin. And for the thin to thick tear drop start with only the tip, and draw a thin line as long as you wish, then lay the brush down to finish. Remember.....watch your tip.

They aren't too bad. DFX/Wolfe for tear drops, as the Sparklyone suggested, will help a lot. Also, make sure the base is dry, or it will be more likely to mix with the linework.

If you are trying thin to thick... start with your brush perpendicular to the skin. Drag the brush with just the very tippy tip touching, and as you go tilt it to more of a 45 degree angle, pushing down more. I learned this way first because it seemed easier. The trick is keeping it from looking like a club or baseball bat and making that smooth, gradual thin to thick.

If you are trying thick to thin... start by pushing the brush down, and as you pull forward, rotate the brush as you apply less pressure until you lift off the skin (like an airplane). I now prefer this way, but it's taken a long time to get them, and they still aren't fantastic when I'm painting at festivals. One day... one day they will be.

When you are painting teardrops or outlining, don't look at the brush, look just before the brush where you intend it to go. Your brush will follow.

And finally, as I say this all the time, paint with confidence! Shaky faith in your lines makes for shaky lines.

It takes a while to really get the hang of this, and all the time and effort that you put into your art is what separates professionals from the craft-paint-hookers-from-across-the-street. You'll get it! Have faith!

I'm really trying I want them to look so good...I hope they will one day. . .my arm generally looks like it took a bath in white paint! I do use Wolfe paint, but you're right JBax, I didn't let the base dry at all. My hubby wanted to put his glasses back on to see the TV. I think that will definately help to keep it from blending. You're totally right about the confident strokes too. I usually have more of a quick short stroke to my painting...so switching to confident bold strokes is well. . .difficult

I usually do thick to think because I think it looks prettier. . .some how the tail is more connected to the body if that makes sense.

Len, I'll have to try that loading on each side thing. . .I've been rolling the brush into a point when using a round, and the flat idea seems great!

Suzy, I do have a Royal Magestic, I think a 4 and 5, I'll have to check for a 3. I think you're right they are big I've seen that video by sillyheather! I'm sooooo jealous of her tear drops!

My normal tear drop practice. I usually go up to my shirt sleeve, and around the bottom of my arm. . .also legs (lol). Hopefully, it will help me seperate myself from the craft-paint-hookers-across-the-street! Love that line by the way, hilarious!!!
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Thanks so much for the tips, you guys are great!!

The challenge I find with thick to thin, is it is hardr (For me at least) to get the tail to end up where i want it.

Going think to thick, (The Drag and PLOP method I heard it called) I can get the tips in really specific places, and the round end is easier to curve and place too.

I really like the Drag and PLOP method - I think when you start the teardrop with the thin, the placement with the plop just worked so much better for me. When I went from thick to thin sometimes my thin lines ended up running over each other, since I didn't leave enough room.
Practice, Practice, Practice - I noticed that the teardrops on your arm were looking really GOOD Who is it that said - Those who practice MOST, paint BEST!

Keep it up.

They look great on your practice arm! So, I'd guess it's the confidence factor when you are doing it for someone else and the pressure is on.

There's a whole story regarding The-Craftpaint-Hooker-from-across-the-street, which is how she came by her name! I'm glad you like it!

I found this you tube vid a good one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXFv14TjRUk&feature=BFa&list=PLFDE8BE32AAD24184&index=24

How's your brush? I find when my brushes get older the tear drops are harder to do.
All I can say is practice, practice, practice. Once you think you have it, keep practicing some more. It's one of those things you'll never stop practicing.

Also try wide to thin tear drops & thin to wide tear drops... does this make sense? You need to know both.

This video is awesome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YCoO8tlRz4