Once summer hits, you’ll receive more requests for arm designs because clients are wearing short sleeves in the warm weather. This gorgeous mandala design is easy to do, but is very impressive visually, and should appeal to women and teens.

Materials

• Small split cake (Global Hobart used in example)
• Diamond FX white face paint
• 3/4-inch flat brush
• #1 Round Brush

Tutorial

Load your 3/4-inch brush from your favorite small split cake and create a circle with the darkest color at the center. For my example, I used a Global small split, but any small split will do.

Turn your 3/4-inch brush and make a second circle around the outside of the first, keeping the light colors together.

Using the 3/4-inch brush, make petal shapes around the outside of the circle by starting at the base and twisting up as you get to the point. You should have room for eight petals. In this design, I alternated turning the dark or the light color to the outside.

Fill in the outer areas between the petals by making two curves between each two petals.

Paint your white details with the Diamond FX white (or Wolfe white) and your #1 round brush, staying up on the tip of the brush. It’s best if you divide your design into fourths or eighths and repeating each portion of the design as you go.

Outline each area of the design in white. By breaking down the entire design into smaller parts, it won’t feel as overwhelming.

Experiment with patterns as you fill each small space. Henna is a great resource of ideas for internal patterns.

Work from the center out until you’ve filled each space and completed your mandala design. The beauty of mandalas is that each one will be unique when you are finished.

Beth MacKinney is the owner of and primary face painter for Face Paint Pizzazz in the NW Chicago suburbs. Stop by Clownantics.com to see other face painting tutorials by Beth. She also writes for Examiner.com as the Chicago Face Painting Examiner.