Boys love angry sharks! But they don't like sitting in your chair for ages 😄. In this tutorial I will show you a quick, one-stroke shark design, that you can use either use as just an eye-design or, when time permits, expand to the other side.
The placement just above the eye gives this design the angry look boys love, and also makes it possible for them to also 'play' with it when moving their eyebrows. The only thing they need is a mirror 😉.
Supplies:
Regular sponge
Ultimate Graffiti Eyes Stencil Kit
Short bristles angle brush 5/8" (Facepaintstuff.com)
Step 1: Making a sketch
The position of the shark in this design is not randomly chosen.
I wanted the shark to look his 'opponent' right in the eye to create a nice flow. I also wanted this design to have a bit of an angry or cool look. That's why I placed the fins under a slight angle, creating a kind of 'evil brow'.
The effect of the evil brow would have been greater if I placed the shark a bit lower. But, I decided not to do that for the following reason. The shark being a cartoon image, I wanted my lines to be as crisp as possible, so I chose to place the shark entirely above the brow, where there were no hairs to interfere with my linework.
For the sketch I used a round brush #3 and some regular (watery) white. I am left-handed, so for me it is more easy to place the shark on the left side (the clients right side) of the face. If you are right-handed I would advise you to mirror the image, to make it easier 😉.
After sketching the shark I loaded my sponge with light blue on one side and lagoon blue on the other side and added a blotchy blue background (the 'sea) on the other cheek and next to the eye to balance the placement of the shark.
Step 2: Filling in the shark and adding some splatter
For this step I loaded a short-bristled 5/8# angle brush with a blue split cake. Keeping the lightest color on top I filled in most of the shark with just a few strokes.
Next I added some splatter on both sides to give the design a bit of movement. I used the same sponge and colors I used earlier and Lea Selley's splatter stencil. I directed the splatter on the side of the shark towards the chin focal point and the splatter on the other side towards the top focal point. I think the design would have been nicer if there was a bit more splatter on both sides. So, if you try this design, please don't hesitate to add some extra splatter 🙂!
Step 3: Adding teeth, fish and black lines
After adding the splatter I loaded a round brush #3 with regular white and filled in the space for the teeth.
With the same brush, loaded with regular black I then painted all the black outlines and details on the shark. For some thinner lines I changed to a round brush #2.
Because I like funny and playful designs for boys, I painted a big fish skeleton on the other side, looking startled. I tried to keep the eyes of the fish and shark on the same imaginary line, as if they were really looking at each other. I also tried to align the fish bones with the shape of the cheek, making them point in the direction of the chin focal point.
Next I added a few very simple fish, varying in size, behind and next to the fish skeleton, still keeping the direction of the splatter and flow in mind.
Step 4: Adding highlights
By this time I had to choose the color for the iris (eye). I left it open at first, because I wasn't entirely sure which color I wanted the iris to be. One of my ideas was making it (blood)red and adding some red blood splatter on the fish skeleton (for balance). The older boys would really love that. But for this tutorial I decided to keep the design a bit more friendly. So I only added a bit of light blue in the iris with a round brush #3.
Next I loaded the same round brush with regular white and added a white eye in the fish skeleton and some highlights on the shark and fish.
As a final step I took the round brush #2 and loaded it with black to paint a little half moon shaped pupil in the eye of the fish skeleton. As an alternative for drawing the little half moon shaped pupil, you can also paint a black dot and a smaller white dot on top of that.
All finished 😃! Now it's time to give the boys a mirror and let the play begin 😁!
Additional info:
This design isn't very difficult to copy.
You don not need a lot of materials and once you have practiced painting the shark with a split cake, you will be able to paint this design rather quick. Especially when you know how to place the different elements and why.
In the picture below I added a few visual reminders:
- the imaginary line through the sharks dorsal and left fin is placed under the well-known 45 degree angle
- the splatter on the left side and the sharks tail are directed towards the chin focal point, the splatter on the right side and the little black fish are directed towards the top focal point
- the eyes of the shark and the fish skeleton are aligned to keep a good flow
Want to have Annabel as your personal instructor? Take a Class at the International Face Painting School.
Annabel Hoogeveen is the owner and founder of 'Blije-Snoetjes Kinderschmink', a Facepainting company and school in the Netherlands. She is painting for about 10 years and is passionate about teaching others how to facepaint, 'because the more face painters there are, the more kids we can make happy'.
Annabel likes colorful and easy 'on-the-job' designs. But, as a former vet, she also has a passion for painting realistic 3D animals.
She is an instructor at Olga Murasev's International Face Painting School (www.facebodyart.com), has written several Facepainting blogs and recently won the 'Black Panther' competition here at Facepaint.com.
You can see more of her work on her Instagram and Facebook pages.
