Those of you who know my work from before, know I have a soft spot for eye designs. With the new Jurassic World movie being released, I wanted to create a super cool eye design with some added effects to create that wow-factor. This will be a hit with the boys for sure!

Supplies

Cameleon Colour Block Gypsy (sub Arty Brush Cake Cupcake)

Silly Farm One Stroke Bright Leaf

Diamond FX Black

Diamond FX White

BAM Snakeskin Stencil

Sponge Dauber

Cameleon Blending Brush

Silly Farm Paint Pal Angled Brush 1/2"

Loew-Cornell American Painter #2 Round Brush

Step 1: sketch out the design

When I create a new design, I often start by drawing it on top of a photo of the model - in this case myself. As you can see the drawing is not very accurate or detailed, but it does give me an idea of how I need to place the elements for it to work. The sketch often saves me from having to repaint a design as well, as I can see straight away if it will work or if I need to make adjustments.

Step 2: the shape of the head

Using a 1/2" angled brush and picking up the darker colors of the green one stroke, I paint the shape of the head. I make sure to keep the dark color on the outside in order to create a sense of depth to the design.



Step 3: fill in the gaps

I then move on to filling in the head with the lighter color on my brush and I also go over the shape and make small adjustments to the shape. You don't have to be too accurate at this stage, as you will paint the outlines later. 

 
 
Step 4: creating the cracked skin

Loading the brush with my absolute favorite one stroke - Gypsy from Cameleon - I then move on to painting the torn edge around the design. This particular edge is an element in a Spiderman design we teach at The International Face Painting School. It is so versatile and cool and can be used in so many different ways!
 

Step 5: stencil

For this, I was going to use a reptile pattern, but I had misplaced my stencil so I used a snakeskin stencil instead which worked out fine as well. I usually use a finger dauber for stenciling details like this - it allows me to be very precise. As you can see, I also added a bit of color on the bottom to give the idea of a body.

Step 6: black and white

With a round brush no. 2 I paint white highlights and teeth first. I don't want the highlights to be too prominent, so I use my finger to smooth them out a little where necessary. I then move on to painting the outline and add a bit more black in the areas where I feel its needed, like for example around the eye, in the mouth area and around some of the stenciled pattern.

Step 6: the wow factor!

You can leave your design like in the previous step, or you can move on to adding a bit more details. Here, I have added more black around the edge to give a stronger sense of depth, and I have painted a few cracks here and there. I have also added a soft shading of red and some white highlights around the edge - you can leave these details out but as you can see, these little extras really make your design pop!

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial - can't wait to see your version of this!

Tip: Want more? Check out this detailed Face Painting Guide for Beginners. 
 

Kristin Olsson has her background from the art and design world and has been working as a professional face painter since 2016.

She is an instructor at Olga Murasev's International Face Painting School (www.facebodyart.com), has won numerous face painting competitions and has been published in various face and body painting magazines.

You can see more of her work here:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KristinKrusedull/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristin_krusedull/

Take a Class with Cristin Olsson at the International Face Painting School!