This design is inspired by the iconic heart with wings, but because I’ve been exploring the possibilities of graffiti arm designs, I wanted to try the concept on a name design that would appeal to girls. I used the name Angel for my design, since I have a friend by that name, but you could replace it with the customer’s name to personalize it for her.

Materials

• Kryvaline Sweet Kiss large split cake
• Diamond FX white
• TAG pearl white face paint
• #2 round brush
• Paradise Makeup AQ Bold Round Face Painting Brush #815
• 1/4 round sponge
• White glitter gel
• Iridescent white glitter

Tutorial

1. Use the lighter end of a Kryvaline Sweet Kiss large split cake and a quarter of a round sponge to form the letters. First load the flat side of the quarter sponge with the white at the curved top and the pink at the flat bottom. Try to overlap the shapes so the lower letter shapes will be in front when you’re finished.

2. Near the top of the first letter of the name, make two curved shapes on either side for the top of the wings. Use your Diamond FX white, mixed with a little TAG pearl white for extra shimmer, and a large round brush. In my case I used a Paradise Makeup AQ Bold Round Face Painting Brush #815. This brush is absolutely fabulous for making feathers on wings, because it’s a generous 1/4 inch round brush. You won’t have to worry about the feathers being too slender and leaving gaps you’ll want filled in.

With this first feather, it’s easiest to control the shape of the wings if you start near the letters to make the wing shapes, rather than coming in from the outer end of the feather. This is where practice in making tear drops in both directions comes in handy. Stay up on the tip of the brush, and as you near the end of the feather, you can press harder to make it wider.

3. Start just below your first feather and make each successive feather with one sweep towards the leading edge of the wing. Each feather shape will be slightly shorter than the one before it, so they are short by the time you get to the feathers which are next to the letters.

4. Do the same thing to create the second wing, and add some glitter for extra shine.

5. Use your #2 round brush and the pink from the Kryvaline Sweet Kiss cake to outline your letters. I didn’t want to use black for this, because I felt it would be a little heavy for the design, although extra shading on the bottom and left with a fine brush would have been okay.

6. Using the light blue on the Kryvaline Sweet Kiss cake, add some outlines to your wings, using the same sweeping motions as you outline the feathers slightly.

7. Finally, use your Diamond FX white to add a halo tilted at a slight angle over the first letter. Place your highlights on the letters as well as dots and starbursts with the white at this time.

7. Just to add some extra glisten to my wings and halo, I chose the white glitter gel for some outlining. You could go with silver or gold instead, depending on your preference.

And that’s your completed angelic graffiti design for arms. I hope you have some fun trying it out on your design board this summer!

Beth MacKinney is the owner of and primary face painter for Face Paint Pizzazz in the NW Chicago suburbs. She also writes for Examiner.com as the Chicago Face Painting Examiner.