Crown Brush: Face Painting Tutorial with Face Painter 'Kate Monroe Artistry'

Katy Groves known as 'Kate Monroe Artistry’ Is one of the most NEW ‘Creative Face Painters’ I have come across lately, again I discovered her on Instagram (my favourite place to find new talent). Kate’s work really inspires me to pick up my face painting brushes and to get back into face painting! I love how she transforms herself into different characters.

Kate is from the UK, Staffordshire who is a fully insured & qualified specialist face painting. Check out some of Kate’s designs here:

For our blog takeover I asked Kate to create an exclusive look for the Crownbrush blog this week to inspire you all and encourage you to experiment with face paints. Hope you enjoy this tutorial as much as I did! Thank you Kate for inspiring us!

Butterfly Face Painting Tutorial:

1. Start by creating a subtle base of eyeshadow in colours which will compliment the colour of the butterfly you are producing. Here I used nude shades mixed with a little gold and copper. You only want to keep the eyeshadow soft and subtle because the main focus of the design is on the butterfly wings. Then use your primary colour, (I used Superstar 'Ploppy Orange') to create the shape of your butterfly.

2. Using Superstar Copper, and Cameleon Bodypaint Plum Fairy, I blended them into the orange to create depth and add darker shades to the wings.

3. Using Superstar Pale yellow, I then added and blended a few flecks of highlights to the wing base.

4. Outline the wings. I used Cameleon Bodypaint Strong Black, however you could use liquid or gel eyeliner for this.

5. Now it's time to start adding the detail. I am creating a Monarch Butterfly in this design, so it is all about the line work and replicating a realistic wing pattern.

6. After drawing out a basic outline, I then filled in the relevant sections so they were bold and dramatic.

7. Using a dry brush, i then slightly blended in some of the edges of the line work. This is only a subtle detail, but it creates extra depth and therefore makes the design more realistic as opposed to being 'cartoony'.

8. Using the Pale Yellow again, I then add a few specks of yellow onto the bold black edges, as well as adding a few extra highlights within the wing pattern.

9. Using Cameleon Bodypaint Pure White, I then added more specks and dots to the black outline of the wings, as well as more highlights within the wings.

10. I finished by lining the eyes to make the overall look more dramatic.