Fast Mystical Face Painting Designs with Leanne Courtney Webinar

Mystical Face Painting Designs with Leanne Courtney

If you've ever stared at a long line of wiggly kids and wondered how the pros pump out gorgeous fairies, mermaids, dragons, and unicorns in just a couple of minutes each, this webinar is for you. Leanne Courtney joined us live from Australia (before her morning coffee, no less!) to share the fast, fancy, and endlessly transferable designs that have built her reputation. Her whole philosophy boils down to one idea: work smarter, not harder. Load your brush well, manipulate it instead of "drawing," and turn a handful of simple strokes into designs you can confidently charge real money for.

About Leanne Courtney

Leanne Courtney is the creative force behind many beloved Fusion Body Art palettes and the designer of the Leanne's Rainbow brush range. An accountant by trade, she put herself through university with face painting and approached the craft the way she approaches everything else: figuring out how to make the most money in the least time without sacrificing quality. After years of practice (she famously drew dragons every weekend for two years to perfect her signature fast dragon), Leanne developed a style built around speed, color harmony, and designs that flow effortlessly from one face shape to another. You can follow her work on Instagram and YouTube at Leanne's Rainbow, and join her community in the Leanne's Collection Facebook group.

Products Featured in This Webinar

• Fusion Body Art Princess Palette
• Fusion Body Art Rainbow Bliss
• Fusion Body Art Mermaid Shimmer split cake
• Fusion Body Art Pretty Rainbow Palette 
• Fusion Body Art Festive Palette 
• Fusion Body Art Secret Garden 
• Leanne's Rainbow brushes (flower brush, ¾ angle, ⅝ angle, ¼ angle, #2 round, #4 round)

Load Your Brush Like a Pro

Before a single design goes on the skin, Leanne stresses the one habit that instantly upgrades your work: careful loading. Wet your brush, wipe off the excess on the side, and load your colors in clean, straight lines. That small bit of discipline makes a massive difference in how crisp and professional your strokes look. The same goes for sponging — keep your sponge dry, work the paint in until it really grabs, and you'll get clean, even coverage every time.

She also reminds painters to practice on the best possible surface: your own arm. Skin teaches you the drag of the brush in a way paper and practice boards can't. Once you've got the feel, move to colored art paper and boards to plan your designs spatially.

The Fairy: Easy to Dress Up

Leanne starts every busy day with fairies because they're so easy to vary and adapt. Using the Pretty Rainbow Palette, she chooses her rainbow to suit the child — stronger rainbows for darker hair and bold outfits, softer pastels to bring out lighter coloring and bright eyes. Working from focal points around the eye, she drags her loaded angle brush down and around without ever dragging back over itself (the secret to keeping colors clean instead of muddy).

From there it's all about value-adding: a stencil for decorative detail, fancy double-loaded fairy wings, and a flower brush worked in with plenty of creamy white to make petals pop. A few well-placed dots finish the whole thing. The best part? If a child has a high forehead, simply move the fairy down to the cheek, add a flower and a sweep of rainbow, and you've got the same beautiful design with no extra effort.

The Mermaid: Sophisticated and Transferable

For something more elegant, Leanne reaches for Mermaid Shimmer, a palette of sea-and-ocean tones designed to pair perfectly with Rainbow Bliss. She sponges a base from between the eyebrows, pivots like a compass to build a clean shape, and adds stencil work around the eyes while there's still wet paint to use up.

Her mermaid-tail effect comes from feathering the brush in and out to suggest scales and the whoosh of a tail — she paints the feeling of a mermaid rather than a literal one. Layering the blue edge of Rainbow Bliss first, then the yellow edge, gives lovely contrast, and the colors built into the ends of her cakes mean the outline and double-dip flower shades are always right there when she needs them. Because the design is circular, it transfers beautifully to a cheek or an arm.

The Dragon: 45 Seconds of Magic

The Festive Palette holds Leanne's strongest colors, making it ideal for dragons, dinosaurs, and sharks. Rather than drawing a dragon, she manipulates her ⅝ angle brush through a series of simple wiggles and angled strokes — flicking in the snout, sweeping up over the head, and bringing the jaw around to a focal point. A small tail, a fierce red eye and mouth with her #2 round, and one big tooth bring him to life.

Her tip for selling it: offer kids a color choice — red, green, or blue dragon — so you're painting the same fast design while it feels custom every time. Keep these in the $10 range and you'll out-earn a single elaborate full-face design several times over.

The Unicorn: Fast and Fancy Versions

Leanne closes with two unicorns using Rainbow Bliss. The fast version is a one-color design with simple flower-petal ears that you can complete in about a minute. The fancier version starts with a sponged base (same pivot technique as the mermaid), a stenciled unicorn horn dusted with glitter while the stencil is still in place, and a cluster of pretty flowers and dots to finish.

Her advice for newer painters: always use a unicorn horn stencil until your brush control is solid. It keeps your horns looking sharp instead of lopsided — and it keeps your line moving fast.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

The thread running through every design is efficiency without cutting corners. Leanne's designs are intentionally convertible: a circular mermaid becomes a cheek or arm piece, a fairy slides down to accommodate a big forehead, and a dragon changes color in seconds. Add small finishing touches — dots, glitter, a flower — while the customer watches, and you give them something they could never buy off a shelf. That's the difference between owning a palette and being an artist worth hiring.

Whether you're brand new or building your speed for busy events, these mystical designs are a brilliant addition to your menu. Want more pro techniques like these? Explore our face painting classes and webinars to keep leveling up your skills.