By Heather Green Your Paint Pal
Holidays are special gifts for face painters because they are the best excuse to party and an abundance of gigs (typically). They are also fun because they usually have a theme that makes it interesting to work around. In the US we celebrate the 4th of July where to whole country breaks out the red, white and blue. The upside to patriotic themed face painting is we can keep it rather simple with stars, stripes and flag designs the down side is if you don’t already have an Arty or Rainbow cake 
with those colors you might want to scramble and grab one to make your life a lot easier.
Over my 17 year face painting career I have enjoyed 4th of July and Christmas painting the most. Mainly because you can spend time being creative with strokes versus having to be all around creative with a plethora of designs. 2 years ago on 4th of July I was hired to face paint at a public event, there was easily 2,000-3,000 people in attendance (free event) and I was the ONLY face painter. Needless to say I was bombarded, 
and stressing to offer great face painting with very little time. One tool that saved my life during that gig was my flag stencil. I love my stencils because they are so versatile and can be used when you are in a pinch.
6 years ago stencils only existed for airbrush tattoos, now stencils come in every theme, size, texture and purpose. I suggest adding a star themed stencil to your kit because it will definitely come in handy during the holiday season.
I love using the BAM and graffiti stencils as back grounds for my designs. They add a really cool effect without any extra effort. So when planning out your 4th of July must haves make sure to include
- stars, flags, or patriotic stencils
- White fairy dust glitter! To make those fireworks sparkle
- A 4th of July Arty or Rainbow Cake
- and a little bling wouldn’t hurt either
So what kind of designs are most requested during 4th of July?
The same ones that are popular all year long, except with a specific color theme.
So get creative and transform your orange tiger into a patriotic feline, and pimp your princesses with red, white and blue . Eye designs are also really popular amongst adult crowds and very easy to whip up with an arty cake.
Here are 2 designs you can accomplish in under 5 minutes using your 4th of July Arty Cake and some swirls and curls.
- Start off by adding a stencil as a background
- Add some fun bling as a centerpiece (optional)
- Use your arty cake to create 2 loop strokes, and 6 swirls
- Use a dark blue paint to add swirls, teardrops, and dots
- add glitter and BOOM!
You have a fast, impressive 2 minute high value face art design.
Disclaimer: You can create awesome multi colored designs without an arty or rainbow cake but why would you want to?
The Build a bling craze is taking over the internet, so naturally I made a book of red, white and blue bling clusters to impress my repeat customers and bring a new level of 4th of July fun to my events.
Another fast crowd pleaser is a lighter version (white lines instead of dark blue) in a 4th of July Princess
- Start off with a star stencil background
- Using an Arty cake create a leaf petal with 2 loops on either side
- (Optional) Add bling
- Add 3 swirls by the corners of the eyes
- Using a round brush add swirls and tear drops to accentuate your design
Whenever I am teaching classes or sharing tutorials on FABAtv and Youtube I emphasize the fact that you don’t have to be great at every design, but if you master those tear drops and swirls there is truly no limit to what you can create. These designs support my argument. Once you get good using your rainbow and arty cakes you can bust out multi colored designs that wow the crowd and save lots of time!
Stay tuned for a new tutorial that will be posted this weekend on my channel, with some fast easy tips and ideas for more 4th of July design inspiration. In the meantime, if you have designs you’d like to share tag us in them #sillyfarm #paintpal so we can add your talent and skill to our gallery.
Happy Painting friends <3
Heather
