It takes a little longer to do a personalized name on someone’s arm compared to most cheek art designs, but names are a unique item to offer for festivals and fairs when you are trying to attract customers to your booth in the summer. By offering several popular themes, you’re likely to have at least one which appeals to people who are passing by. Today’s design is an easy steampunk personalized name design.

Materials

• TAG pearl gold
• TAG pearl copper
• #2 Round brush
• #1 Round brush
• Diamond FX black
• Paradise brilliant silver
• Sponge

Tutorial

1. Load your sponge with TAG pearl gold and TAG pearl copper. Dab this on the arm, starting with the top letter and making your way down so that the bottom letters overlap the top letters. I chose the name MIKE for my example, so I tried to make sure my letters were the size and shape they would need to be in the finished product. If necessary, you can clean up the edges a little with a wet wipe before continuing. On each letter, the lighter pearl gold will be on the top and the darker pearl copper will be on the bottom.

2. Next I used my #2 round and Diamond FX black to outline my letters, always keeping in mind that the bottom letters would overlap the upper letters. It’s easier to do this if you start from the bottom. For long names or names with unusual spelling, you can paint the name on your hand for reference so you don’t make a spelling mistake as you work.

3. Use your #2 round brush and Paradise brilliant silver to create some gear shapes here and there, jutting out from behind the name. Try to keep your overall balance in mind. You don’t want too many extra shapes, and they should vary in size slightly.

4. Using your #1 round brush, put in a few tiny details on the inside of the gears. Go around the entire shape and the letters again with the #2 round brush to make them more bold so they stand out.

5. At this point, you’re almost through. Again, use the #2 round brush and the Paradise brilliant silver, which is a beautifully opaque silver, and create some highlights on the top and right side of each letter, making them appear more metallic.

6. As one last detail, use the #1 round brush and Diamond FX black to add a few rivets. You can experiment with this a little, but I found that I liked to just run them on the left side of each letter so that they were opposite from the highlight.

I hope you enjoyed this arm tutorial, and that you’re able to use it at your festival events this summer. Stop by in the next few weeks for more personalized arm designs which you can add to your design boards.

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.