I’m back in the Inspiration to Paint daily challenge, at least for January, so I needed to come up with a boy design for last week. My default setting is usually something with aliens, and that was where I was intending to go with this design, but when I began to paint it on my husband, I realized it looked a lot like a Venus flytrap, so that’s what it turned into. I can’t take credit for the Venus “eye” trap joke, however. My husband came up with that!
Materials
• TAG light green
• TAG medium green
• TAG orange
• Paradise red
• Diamond FX or Wolfe black
• Diamond FX or Wolfe white
• Reptile or textured stencil of choice
• BAM 2031 “Dotty” dot stencil
• Sponge or dauber
• #2 round brush
• #5 round brush
• Filbert brush
Tutorial
Load your filbert brush with TAG light green and create a C-shape around the eye, filling in the “head” of the Venus flytrap. The inner edge, which is the mouth, will be jagged, so be sure to leave enough space for the red/orange combination you will add with your #5 round brush. Double load your filbert with TAG light green and TAG medium green, and go around the outer edge of the head to give it a little shading. Use the same double loaded filbert to create the stem and leaves for the flytrap.
Use a small or medium round brush in TAG medium green to add extra tendrils coming out of the base of the flytrap. With a sponge and the stencil of choice, add a texture with medium green to the head of the flytrap. Reptile stencils, which have organic shapes, are an excellent choice for this.
Load your #2 round brush with black and outline the head, stem, and leaves. Also add dots if you like for extra texture.
As a final step, add white highlights and dots wherever you feel they are necessary.
To add extra visual interest or give the design a graffiti flair, use a sponge or dauber and the BAM stencil “Dotty” on the temple and at the base of the flytrap in a couple of places. Don’t overdo the dots, because you only want to complement the design rather than detract from it.
Your design is finished, and I hope you enjoy creating Venus “eye” traps of your own this year.
Beth MacKinney is the owner of and primary face painter for Face Paint Pizzazz, and she services Elgin, Illinois, the NW Chicago suburbs, and northern Chicago, as well as the eastern suburbs of Rockford. Stop by Facepaint.com to check out her other face painting blog posts and tutorials.