This weekend I had a request for a dragon which was different than the ones which I offered in my idea book. I liked the new design, but it was a little complicated for a quick design at a party, so after experimenting, I came up with this golden dragon which is similar, but quicker to do. I hope you enjoy trying it out on your own.
Materials
• Paradise gold face paint
• Mehron gold powder
• Diamond FX black
• #5 round brush
• #3 round brush
• Cosmetic gold holographic glitter
Tutorial
1. Begin by spraying your gold face paint with some water so the cake is wet. Then sprinkle a small amount of Mehron gold powder on it. A little goes a long way with the metallic powders, so watch out that you don’t end up with it all over the place. Using your #5 round brush, mix the powder with the gold face paint and apply four curved shapes to the arm.
2. Dip the end of your paint brush in your cosmetic gold glitter and roll it onto the wet design. This will allow you to apply the glitter to specific areas of your design without getting it on the entire arm.
3. Using the #3 round brush (I was using a Majestic for this), load with Diamond FX black and begin to make the outline of the dragon, leaving the interior gold. Practice this a bit first, and try to visualize what your dragon will look like before you begin so you know where you plan to place your strokes in the design.
Keep the sections disconnected from each other. The shape provides the continuity, and it’s not necessary that they touch each other.
Most of your dragon design is complete at this point, but we’re going to add a few more details.
4. Using the same #3 brush, make some small curves along the belly of the dragon.
5. Finally, add the golden flame from the dragon’s mouth. The reason I leave this until the end is that I don’t know exactly where the dragon’s mouth will be until I finish the black outline. Also, I can make sure there is balance compared to the rest of the design.
Beth MacKinney is the owner of and primary face painter for Face Paint Pizzazz in the NW Chicago suburbs. She also writes for Examiner.com as the Chicago Face Painting Examiner.
