I wanted to try something different this week for all my clown friends out there who work so hard to bring happy smiles to kids week after week, so this funny cheek art with animation potential is to honor them for all the happiness they bring children at parties and events.
Materials
• TAG light blue
• TAG orange
• Paradise red
• TAG light green
• TAG yellow
• TAG royal blue
• Paradise dark pink
• Diamond FX or Wolfe white
• Diamond FX or Wolfe black
• #5 round brush
• #2 or #1 round brush
• Small filbert brush
Tutorial
Begin by painting the white face of the clown just below the outer half of the eye with a small filbert or a #5 round brush. It needs to be fairly high on the cheek so the body of the clown will fit below it and the juggling balls will arch over the eye in a natural arc, so the clown’s head should begin about 3/8 of an inch below the eye.
The #5 round brush (or a smaller round brush) is best for adding a yellow bowtie and suspenders below the clowns face. The #5 round brush is fine as long as you stay on the tip.
I used a small filbert to create the blue shirt, but again, a #5 round would work just as well. Add orange pants with your filbert. The red clown shoes are best created with a round brush, and are teardrop in shape with the small end making the clown’s heel. I also used a dark blue and some pink to make a hat and flower for my clown, too.
To add the facial details, switch to your #2 round brush. The nose and mouth will be red, and the circles around the eyes will be the same light blue you used for the shirt. Don’t forget the orange hair fluffing out on each side of the head.
Add red dots with your #5 round to make the pants a little more whimsical.
Place one juggling ball right in the center of the arc between the clown’s hands. It’s easiest if you place this one first, because it will allow you to evenly place the others on either side as you move down toward the hands.
Place two more yellow balls, and then place the green balls between them. It doesn’t matter how many juggling balls you choose to use in your design, but if possible, it’s good to place them equidistant from each other.
Use your #1 or #2 round brush (or whatever brush you have available to make fine lines), and a good lining black to outline the clown and add motion lines by his hands and the balls.
Use the same small brush and white to add a few highlights. (You could also add lowlights to the balls, although I didn’t for this design.)
If you’d like it to make your clown extra sparkly, add glitter and some dots and starbursts, but otherwise, you’re finished. To animate your juggling clown, raise your eyebrows up and down and let your friends enjoy the show.
Beth MacKinney is the owner of and primary face painter for Face Paint Pizzazz in Elgin, Illinois, and her artwork has appeared in The Colored Palette and SkinMarkz magazines. 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.