Spring Floral Face Painting Designs with Claire Huskisson

Spring Floral Face Painting Designs with Claire Huskisson Webinar

Spring is in the air, and what better way to celebrate than with gorgeous floral face painting designs? In this webinar, UK-based artist Claire Huskisson walks us through four stunning spring-inspired looks — from elegant roses to cheerful daffodils to an adorable bee and flower combo. Whether you're gearing up for Easter events, spring festivals, or just want to add some fresh florals to your face painting menu, Claire breaks it all down in a way that's practical, fun, and totally doable on the job.

About Claire Huskisson

Claire Huskisson is a face painter based in London, originally from Newcastle in the northeast of England. She's been painting for twelve years and also works as a part-time secondary school drama teacher — so you know she's got the teaching chops to match her painting skills. Claire is known for her love of symmetry, her efficient on-the-job techniques, and her knack for creating designs that look stunning without taking forever. She's also part of the London Jam face painting community in the UK. You can follow her work on Instagram for more of her beautiful floral and character designs.

Design 1: The Classic Rose

Claire kicked things off by showing us her approach to painting roses using an angled glaze brush. She prefers a half-inch brush over a three-quarter because it gives more control for intricate rose work, especially on smaller faces. Her method starts with loading up a pink one stroke from the Fusion Candy Palette, then dipping just the very tip into DFX white for that crisp highlight edge.

The technique begins with a pointed outer petal, then a smaller rounded bud in the center, followed by a curling petal underneath that becomes the heart of the rose. From there, you just keep adding petals to make the rose as big or as small as you'd like. Claire's biggest tip here: keep the lightest color on the tip of your angled brush and the darker shade on the shorter end. And don't stress about dipping back into the white as many times as you need — a strong white edge is what really makes the rose pop.

Design 2: Sunrise Rose — Full Face Design

Next, Claire turned that single rose into a full face painting design she calls "Sunrise Flowers." She started with a base using Fusion Beach Baby applied with a petal sponge, keeping to the lighter colors in the split cake for a soft, spring-like feel. A key tip she shared: spray your sponge, not the paint cake, to avoid puddling and muddying.

Claire placed her main rose in the center as the focal point, then added smaller budding roses on either side — these ones she kept intentionally smaller and less finished, almost like they're still opening up. For the leaves, she loaded the green from the same Fusion Candy Palette with white on the outside edge to keep that light, airy spring feeling.

She then used a Blazin Brushes Floralia Small with a double-dip technique — white first, then just the tip into a dark color — to add delicate trailing details that hide any messy edges and connect the design. Finishing touches included press-and-lift dot work and fine swirl lines to frame the eyes. Claire pointed out that this entire design can realistically be done in two to three minutes if you skip the base, making it a solid option for busy event queues.

A great symmetry tip from Claire: if you struggle with symmetry, start on your weaker side first. She's left-handed, so she begins on the right side and then mirrors it on the left where she has more control.

Design 3: Daffodil Design

For something a little different, Claire tackled daffodils — a flower that doesn't get nearly enough love in face painting. And here's the best part: no one stroke required. She loaded her entire half-inch angled brush with yellow (Cameleon Kale, which she says looks orange in the palette but comes out as a beautiful dark yellow) and then dipped just the tip in white.

Daffodils have five petals, so unlike roses where you can keep adding, you want to be intentional about your count. The magic that makes it look like a daffodil and not just any flower is the trumpet-shaped center — Claire used an orange-to-yellow one stroke from the Fusion Candy Palette to create a C-shape in the middle, then closed it off into a full circle.

For this design, Claire worked a bit backwards by painting the long, grass-like leaves first using a thin dagger brush loaded with light green and a dark green double dip on the corner. This helped her map out where the daffodils would sit on the face. She then added the flower heads at the tips of the greenery, with one larger daffodil angled downward and a smaller one still reaching upward. Fine liner work in dark green filled out the grassy foliage around the stems.

Claire noted this is a fantastic design for spring and Easter events — it's fresh, it's different from what every other painter is offering, and it holds up beautifully without needing a sponge base.

Design 4: Buzz Buzz Flower — Flower and Bee Combo

For the final design, Claire created an adorable flower-and-bee combination that's equal parts charming and practical. She started the flower with a simple round center dot in pink using a flora brush, then used a double-dip technique (white first, then just the tip into a dark color) to press petals around it. Her key advice: resist the urge to lay the brush flat. Keep it perpendicular to the face and press — that's what gives you the teardrop petal shape. She also mentioned this technique works much better on skin than on practice boards, so don't be discouraged if it looks a bit off on a board.

The leaves for this one featured the darker green on the outside for a different look compared to the daffodil design — proving that just switching your color placement completely changes the vibe.

Then came the bee — two circles (one bigger than the other) for the body, big swooping wings almost the same size as the bee itself, black stripes, and a little Winnie-the-Pooh-style flight trail connecting the bee to the flower. Claire emphasized that once you introduce black in one part of the design, you want to carry it through the rest so everything feels connected. She outlined select petals and leaves — not every single one — for a natural, not-too-heavy look.

An interesting note from Claire: she prefers to use dark blue or dark green instead of black when she can, but the bee definitely called for true black. White highlights to finish gave the bee a shiny, cartoon quality that kids and adults both love.

Products Used

• Fusion Body Art Candy Palette
• DFX White
• Cameleon Yellow
• Fusion Body Art Beach Baby Split Cake
• Blazin Brushes Floralia Small
• Sparkling Faces Practice Boards
  

Tips and Takeaways

• Spray your sponge, not your paint cake, to avoid puddling
• For roses, keep the lightest color on the long tip of your angled brush
• Start on your weaker side first for better symmetry
• If an area is still wet, move on to a different part of the design and come back
• Double dipping is your best friend for floral work — white first, then a touch of dark on the tip
• Don't outline every petal; pick a few for a more natural, less heavy look
• If you introduce black in one area, carry it through the whole design to keep it cohesive
• These designs all work without a sponge base if you're short on time

Claire made every single one of these designs feel achievable, whether you're just starting out or you've been painting for years. Her teaching background really shines through in how she breaks down each step, and her honest, practical approach to what actually works on the job is exactly the kind of advice we all need heading into spring event season.

Happy painting, and we hope these spring florals inspire your next gig!