Dragon Face Paint Designs Made Easy with Kellie Burrus

Dragons are one of those requests that come up over and over again — at festivals, birthday parties, and private events. Whether it's a little one asking for a cute baby dragon or an older kid wanting something fierce and tribal, having a few solid dragon designs in your toolkit is a game changer. In this webinar, Kellie Burrus walks us through five different dragon face painting designs, each one faster and more approachable than you might expect.

About Kellie Burrus

Kellie Burrus is the artist behind Fabulous Faces and a longtime member of the face painting community. Known for her practical approach and her ability to break down designs into manageable steps, Kellie brings years of real-world experience painting at events and parties. She's the kind of painter who keeps it real — if something's tricky, she'll tell you, and then she'll show you how to make it work anyway.

Products Featured in This Webinar

Design 1: Quick Rainbow Dragon

Kellie kicked things off with a crowd favorite — a rainbow dragon. Using a 3/4" flat Blazin Brush loaded up with a rainbow cake, she laid down a colorful stroke starting right at the eyebrow and pulling it across the forehead. The trick here is placement: she kept it slightly off center to leave room for the dragon's body and wings on one side.

From there, she loaded up some yellow, orange, and pink tones and started building out a small dragon shape. For the wings, she used a drag-and-twist technique, keeping the orange on the outside edges and working in teardrop shapes toward the center. The opposite wing got the cooler tones — blues and purples — to create a nice contrast. She finished with black line work using a #3 round brush, adding big cute eyes, little horn "nubbins" (as the audience lovingly called them), and white highlights for that finishing sparkle.

This design is perfect when you want something colorful and eye-catching that doesn't take forever. The rainbow cake does a lot of the heavy lifting, and the simple line work pulls it all together.

Design 2: Rainbow Baby Dragon

Next up was an adorable front-facing baby dragon. Kellie switched to a sponge for the base, dipping it into water to dampen it and then loading it straight across a rainbow cake without moving it around — that's the key to keeping your colors clean and avoiding a muddy mess.

She sponged on circular shapes for the head and used the sponge at different angles to create the wing shapes on either side, keeping blues on one side and pinks on the other. Then she went in with the #3 round and black paint to add the dragon's face — big round cheeks, oversized eyes, cute little eyelashes, and of course those signature nubbins on top.

White highlights and teardrops brought the whole thing to life. This one is great for younger kids who want a dragon but maybe aren't ready for something scary. It's sweet, it's quick, and the sponge work makes the base come together in no time.

Design 3: Tribal Dragon

For the painters who work with older kids and adults, Kellie moved into tribal territory. She grabbed the 1/2" long angle Blazin Brush, loaded the longest bristles with black, and started laying down bold, sweeping strokes.

The key to tribal work, as the audience helped define, is thick-to-thin lines that flow using negative space for maximum impact. Kellie built up a dragon head with pointed, edgy features and then added tribal embellishments — sharp lines, scales down the back, and flowing shapes that carried around the eye area. She kept it loose and confident, noting that tribal designs are really about letting the lines breathe.

She finished by adding fire coming from the dragon's mouth using the same angled brush with black on the outside bristles and warm colors on the inside, creating a quick flame effect. A little white around the eye area gave it just enough pop. This design is a fantastic option for boys, teens, and adults who want something bold without a lot of color.

Design 4: Falkor (The NeverEnding Story Dragon)

The audience threw out a fun request — Falkor from The NeverEnding Story! Kellie jumped right in, loading white onto the 1/2" long angle brush and building out Falkor's dog-like face and body. She laid down his body shape first, then added his cute face, one little leg, and those signature floppy ears.

After letting the white base dry a bit so the line work wouldn't bleed, she went in with black to add hair markings, facial features, and flowing details that followed the curves of the face. The whole audience was loving the nostalgia factor on this one.

This design is a great reminder that not every dragon has to be fierce — sometimes the most memorable designs come from unexpected requests. And if you haven't painted Falkor before, this is a fun one to add to your repertoire.

Design 5: Dragon Eye

For the final design, Kellie went with a one-eye dragon using beautiful blue tones from the Kraze FX palette. She loaded up blue with whites and light blues toward the end of her brush, keeping the dark blue on the inside, and built the design around one eye.

The dragon started taking shape with a beak-like snout and layered scales, almost giving it a water dragon feel. She used thick, dense line work to define the features and added details that made the dragon feel like it was peering right out from the face. The cool blue color palette made this one feel fresh and different from the warmer designs earlier in the class.

This style is especially great for boys and works well when you want something impactful that's focused on one area of the face.

Tips and Takeaways

Throughout the webinar, Kellie shared some practical gems worth remembering. When loading a sponge with a rainbow cake, keep the sponge still and let the colors stay where they are — moving it around creates mud. For tribal work, confidence is everything — let your lines flow thick to thin and don't overthink it. And when you're short on time, big black eyes with a white highlight dot can make any cute dragon face painting come alive instantly.

One of the best parts of this class was seeing how versatile dragon designs can be. From rainbow cuties for little ones to tribal masks for teens, Kellie showed that dragons don't have to be complicated to be impressive. With a few good brushes, a rainbow cake, and some solid line work, you can offer a whole range of dragon face paint options at your next event.

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Dragon Face Paint Designs Made Easy with Kellie Burrus