Introduction: Sugar Skull Face Paint (2 Ways)

About: I am a conceptual artist, and my DIY projects are mostly inspired by pop culture (movies, music, sports, TV). I mostly specialize in painting, graphic design, drawing, digital photography, performance art, and…

British face painter Ashlea Henson created two versions of the classic sugar skull face paint: one for Snazaroo and one for Party Delights (the U.K. version of Party City). You can see the credits below to find out where I got the inspiration from!

Credits

Snazaroo Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihZtHGt54JU

Party Delights Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7an9I8wvTh8

Step 1: Purple Sugar Skull

The first one is more of a basic sugar skull for beginners, and mostly with Snazaroo products. However, here, I am using more than just that: I also used Mehron Paradise paints and shadows from Urban Decay to make it a little more realistic.

Top Row: First, I outlined my face with white, and filled it in. Then, I used a light purple (Mauve by Mehron Paradise) to sponge in highlights on the sides of the face.

Middle Row: Then, I continued to use Mauve for other features like the droplet on the chin, dots around the eyes, and a heart on the forehead. Then, I painted my lips in a bright light pink, and darkened them a bit with Savage from Urban Decay Electric Shadows. Then, I dived into my black to start adding in the outlines on the mouth, and coloring in the eye sockets.

Bottom Row: From there, I continued with more black to add some details on the forehead, and finished off with a bit of a darker purple shadow to add some definition to the lighter purple areas. For this one, I used Urban from Urban Decay.

Step 2: Hot Sugar Skull

This next sugar skull is a little bit more complicated, but it does have some nice, hot, spicy shades of pink, orange, and yellow!

Top Row: First, I began with white all over the face, then, I sponged in pink and orange on the top and sides of the face, while blending in the two colors.

Middle Row: Next, I used black to draw outlines around the eyes, and filled them in with pink and orange.

Bottom Row: Then, I used a mix of pink and yellow to add alternating dots around the eyes, and completed the look with black outlines and details. Then, I used darker shadows, like Slowburn and Savage from Urban Decay to add some definition to the lightly colored areas.

Step 3: Done!

You can try using different colors next time to add some spiritual fun and colorful excitement to these beautiful calaveras!

Halloween Contest 2017

Participated in the
Halloween Contest 2017