I have one client in particular who loves fall designs, but not the scary stuff, so as I was mulling over possibilities for this autumn, I thought I’d feature this Sneakadoodle Scarecrow face paint design with his perky crow friend for fall fun with no fright.

Materials

• TAG skin tone palette
• Paradise light green face paint
• Paradise yellow face paint
• Paradise orange face paint
• Paradise red face paint
• Paradise light brown face paint
• Paradise dark green face paint
• Diamond FX black
• Diamond FX white
• #5 round brush
• #2 round brush
• #1 round brush

Tutorial

1. For Sneakadoodle designs, I generally begin by sketching out my design with Diamond FX white. This helps me get an idea of exactly where I’d like to put it before I start adding color. In this case, I wanted not only the scarecrow’s head to show, but also part of his body and one complete arm.

On the opposite cheek, I put my single corn stalk and a crow outline on top.

2. Load your #5 round from the TAG skin tone palette. (I felt the light brown was still too dark for this design, so the TAG skin tone palette was the perfect solution.) Fill in your circular scarecrow’s head. Use just a touch of light brown blended in under it’s jawline to create a shadow. Use the Paradise light brown or dark brown for the hat, with a dark green band. For the scarecrow’s shirt, I used orange with red lines. For the scarecrow’s hair, flick the brush out to make it look like straw, and do the same thing for the end of the sleeves.

On the other side of the face, use light green to make your cornstalk. I also mixed in some yellow with this. (If you grew up in corn country, you know that in the fall, the corn dries in the field, changing from a lush green to a golden yellow color. My corn is part way between, but it’s definitely on it’s way to being dry enough to harvest.) For the crow, begin by making two white ovals for the eyes, and then fill in the rest of the body.

3. Use your Diamond FX black and #1 round to outline the details of the scarecrow, the cornstalk, and the little crow.

4. Finally, add those white highlights with your Diamond FX white and #1 round brush. Personally, I’ve been working at placing my highlights more carefully. It’s easy to get a little sloppy when you’re moving fast at events and are under pressure, but taking a few extra seconds to place your highlights carefully will really make the difference in a great design.

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.