Step-by-step Sea Dragon Face Painting - by Bethany McLean!

Hey Guys! 

It feels so good to post again! 
We are excited to start this new tradition of step-by-step blog post of face art created by our friends, colleagues and customers! We are so excited for the opportunity to feature your art!

The following Octopus design was created by Bethany McLean

Bethany McLean is an award-winning face painter and body artist, working professionally in the Atlanta area for 13+ years. Starting with children's parties and local events, she has grown her business into a full time career with her work appearing in numerous film and television shows. Her clientele includes Cartoon Network, the Georgia Aquarium, Smirnoff, Q100, 11Alive, The Weather Channel, AMC, Bacardi, 99X, and many more. She continues hone her skills, staying on top of pop culture, makeup trends, and new products to keep providing her clients the highest level of service. 


Step1: Using your favorite fire colors one stroke (pictured here is Global Mexico) and a 3/4" angle brush, make the scalloped edge for the frills on the head, then a hump shaped stroke that overlaps the frill for back of the head. Another smaller hump shaped stroke with the dark side facing away from the frill to make the nose. Make one long sweep starting at the bottom of the head that goes along the person's jaw and up beside their eye, turning the brush as you go. Add two leaflike shapes that are connected to form the tail. Extra fins go along the side wherever it best fits the person's face.

Step 2: Using white (Wolfe white pictured here) and a small round, add a teardrop shape for the eye, some white along the belly of the dragon, and a highlight on the fins and tail. Be sure not to overlap the bottom fin, so it stays "in front" of the rest. 

Step 3: Outline your design with black or a very dark red (Wolfe black shown here), separating the belly from the rest of the dragon and use small lines to make it look segmented. Add lines radiating from the narrowest points of the fin and tail, and from the points on the frill. An angled eyebrow gives it a fierce look.

Step 4: For that wow factor, add scales to the length of the body. You can do it by hand with a liner brush, making a series of M shaped rows, or use a scale stencil and a black or dark red paint. I really like BAM 1004-Lizard skin, because it's detailed enough to show the pattern even in a small space like this design.  A little extra highlight on the eye and brow, and he's ready for the ocean!