The idea of this kitty cat evolved gradually. My initial thought was making a cat design as part of my final exam. I see a lot of cat designs, but there are only a few that really resemble a cat. Therefore, as a former vet, I decided to try to make one myself. So, my first idea was to come up with a cat design that looked like an actual cat. I started to sketch on my practice board, I looked at the features of a cat face and tried to incorporate them into a nice face painting design. The high forehead, the big cat ears and the small tight muzzle. But, I didn’t want it to be a realistic design. It had to be one that I could perform “on-the-job”. So I sketched and sketched and tried one on a real face. I knew that not everything that looks good on a sketch or practice board also looks good on the face. Some things I had drawn on the sketch were difficult to translate to the face.Keeping in mind that it had to be a design I could do relatively fast, I had to also simplify it and chose to do a simple base, giving it some color by the use of one-strokes (which I love) and embellishing it with some girly additions like lashes and flower petals. It made the design quite different than I intended, but I liked it and used it for my exam. But not as my “animal” design, instead as my “girly” design.
How To: Cat Face Painting Tutorial (courtesy of Painted Parrot Face Painting)
At the June 1, 2019 Edmonton International Cat Festival, our sponsor Painted Parrot Face Painting will be making some meowgical cat face paint creations for attendees! This face painting is included with your festival admission (but be prepared for line-ups! Face paint is always a popular CATivity at our event). We encourage you to stop by and visit Andrea and her team at Painted Parrot Face Painting, but if you also want to come decked out with your own cat face paint design, try the steps below to recreate Andrea’s design!
How to: Cat Face Paint Tutorial
First off I really want to stress the importance that PROFESSIONAL COSMETIC GRADE paint is used, that (if possible) we include a disclaimer that even though acrylics say “non-toxic,” they are not FDA approved or ever safe to be used on the face or skin as they can cause horrible horrible allergic reactions. Same goes for glitter needing to be cosmetic grade, as craft glitter can scratch the face from its rough dense texture during removal or even worse get in the eye and cause serious damage or blindness since it is sharp enough to cut.
At Painted Parrot Face Painting, we use professional paints, however for home DIY painters, an economic recommendation would be the brand Snazaroo, which is cheaper lower pigmented face paint that can be obtained at Michaels or Deserres.
Cat Face Paint Step-by-Step:
1. Sponge your colour of choice above your mouth, along your nose, and over the eye lids: White and light greys work nicely!
2.Using a sponge load up a dark colour of choice and fill in the cheeks, forehead, and extend two triangles for ears at the top of your design
3. Using a (round) brush fill the inside of the ears white
4. Using Black paint and a brush make an upside down triangle on the nose tip for a cute kitty nose! Finish it up with a thin line down the philtrum (middle area above your lip)
5. GLAM IT UP! This is where you can give your cat some dots, muzzle outline, eye lashes, or even strips if you wanted
6. Outline the design with your brushing using black paint. This will give your cat face its shape by showing off the ears, and adding fur like texture to the top of the design and cheeks
7. Add whiskers with a fine brush
8. Using white face paint and a fine brush, add some highlights around the whiskers, nose, and top of the design. Feel free to add more dots and swirls too for extra effect.
9. Apply cosmetic glitter and chunky glitter
Step 1: Easy Kitty Cat Face Paint Basic Shape
With a mix of metallic white and glycerin white, I sponged the basic shape of my kitty cat. I added some glycerin light blue to the ears, nose and muzzle and a metallic soft green on the outer sides of the cheeks and forehead.
Next, to create this easy kitty cat face paint, I added some contrast with darker blue stars on the ears and muzzle using a BAM star cluster stencil.
Step 2: Defining the Ideal Shape
After putting on the base, I outlined the ears with a blue and white split cake (any blue and white split cake will do) using a small angle brush (⅜ inch). I tried to pay attention to the shape of the strokes and the shape of the outline in total. It is more beautiful when the strokes are not all the same size and the outline is not simply straight.
Using a 1-inch flat brush, I then outlined the forehead and cheeks with a beautiful green split cake combination from Silly Farm’s Arty Brush line, called “Aussie Mermaid”. Again, I watched the size of my strokes, trying to gradually diminish the size of the strokes from the center to the sides of the forehead and from the top of the cheeks to the nose on the cheek area.
Symmetry is extremely important in these types of designs, our article “7 Steps for Symmetrical Face Painting Designs” will help you achieve a flawless result.
Step 3 Adding Some Flower Petals to My Halloween Cat Face Paint
Now it is time to paint some double-dip flower petals on the forehead of my Halloween cat face paint.
With a very small brush, I accentuated the base of the petals with some darker blue stripes and added a gem cluster above the petals.
After that, I added a cluster of white dots on the cheeks, a row of white dots next to the petals and a few white hairs between the “crown” and the ears.
