Fun Boy Face Painting Designs: Snake Monster, Dragon & Shark with Hayley Watkin

If you've ever had a kid sit down in your chair and say, "Surprise me — do anything," you know that moment can be both exciting and a little nerve-wracking. In this webinar, UK-based face painter Hayley Watkin shares three fresh, fun boy designs that are perfect for exactly that moment — and for those older kids who think they're "too cool" for face painting until they see something that catches their eye.

Meet the Artist: Hayley Watkin

Hayley Watkin is a UK-based face painter, TikToker, and Instagram creator known for her fun, approachable teaching style. She recently hosted a wildly successful face painting conference in the UK and has built a reputation for creating original designs that are both eye-catching and practical for working events. Hayley is passionate about encouraging painters to think outside the box and develop their own unique style rather than simply replicating what's already out there. Her focus on keeping designs job-friendly — fast, fun, and achievable — makes her a favorite among face painters of all skill levels.

Design 1: The Snake Monster

Hayley kicks things off with what she calls a "snake stroke monster hybrid" — a playful mashup that combines the popular snake request with a cartoon monster vibe. She breaks the design down into simple shapes to make it approachable, starting with a one-stroke base using an angled brush to lay down the snake's face and body in one fluid motion.

The face is built from basic shapes: two circles for the eyes (one bigger than the other), small triangles above the brow, and gentle curves for the jawline. Hayley emphasizes filling negative space with the heel of the brush, keeping things neat without overcomplicating it. For the body, she runs the one stroke down over the nose and around the eye area, sharing a great tip for painting over the eyelid — use a stippling motion and press gently over the eyebrow for a seamless flow.

Green one-stroke markings wrap around the body to give it some life, and she flips her hand as she paints to keep the darker color consistently on the outer edge. Bright green circles become the monster's eyeballs, followed by white teeth — and here's the fun part: the more crooked the teeth, the better this design looks.

A bubble stencil from Superstar adds a cool background texture with orange finger-dabbed through the holes, filling negative space and making the whole design pop. Hayley shares a smart lesson she learned the hard way: lay stencil work down before your black outlines so you don't have to redo them. Black line work with Wolfe Black on a Superstar Round 3 finishes everything off, and optional white highlights take it to the next level if you have the time.

This is a great design to have in your back pocket for kids who want something "different" — it sparks their imagination and shows them face painting can go beyond the usual options.

Design 2: The Minty Dragon

Dragons are always a massive request at events, and Hayley delivers a gorgeous one using her favorite color from the Essentials one-stroke range — a shade called Minty. She breaks the dragon down into manageable elements: head, ear, wing, body, and a swirly tail, building each piece step by step.

The head starts with small U-shapes that create an almost trumpet-like face. A leaf-shaped ear sits beside the brow, and the wing curves up from the jawline. Hayley shares a helpful tip for anyone who struggles with dragon heads: think of it like a grumpy angular unicorn. The tail gets special attention with an F-shape that loops back on itself, and textured bumps along the edge give it dimension and character.

For the chest, she switches to an angled brush loaded with yellow on the longer side and creates curved lines that twist as she paints. White teeth and horns come next, and Hayley mentions a time-saving trick — using white for the eye instead of bright yellow when you know the design might run a bit longer on the job.

The black detail work is where this dragon really comes alive. Hayley's line work creates a sketchy, characterful look — triangles with flicks that don't quite meet, giving it personality rather than rigid perfection. She also shows how to create the illusion of a looping tail using fat-to-thin line variation. Optional black blobs add detail without needing a stencil, which is great for painters who prefer working freehand.

At about five to six minutes on an actual face, this is a solid event design that looks way more complex than it actually is.

Design 3: The Grumpy Shark

For the final design, Hayley introduces a new tool — the Swoosh Brush from the Essentials range. It's essentially a large dagger-style brush designed to help painters who struggle with certain shapes like mermaid tails, princess crowns, or in this case, a shark head. One push and sweep of this brush and you've got the entire body of a shark laid down in seconds.

While the one-stroke base dries, Hayley reuses the bubble stencil — this time with a lighter blue to contrast the dark blue shark body. The key order-of-operations tip carries over from the snake monster: lay the stencil down first so the bubbles appear to sit behind the shark when you add your black outlines.

Grumpy teeth stick out at angles, giving this shark serious attitude. The black outline follows the one-stroke placement, and Hayley shows how to create a nice curve where the fin meets the back. Light pressure with the tip of the brush lets you outline the teeth for extra definition — though she notes this step is optional for wiggly little ones.

White highlights along the nose and back finish things off, and you've got a fast, characterful shark design that's perfect for events.

Tips and Takeaways

Throughout the class, Hayley shares practical wisdom that working face painters will appreciate. She recommends a two-pot cleaning system — brush bath in one, clean water in the other — so you can reuse the same brush across multiple steps without grabbing new ones. She also encourages painters to challenge themselves to create original designs rather than always replicating others, noting that the last twelve months of developing her own style has been incredibly rewarding.

Finding the right brush matters too. Hayley recommends trying lots of different brushes until you find what works for your painting style. She personally loves the Superstar Round 3 for its glide and paint-holding ability, but she's quick to acknowledge that every painter has their own preference.

Building muscle memory through practice is a recurring theme — these designs look impressive, but they're built from simple, repeatable shapes that get faster every time you paint them.

Products Used in This Webinar

• Superstar Round Number 3 Brush
• Mehron White Face Paint
• Wolfe Black Face Paint
• Superstar Bubble Stencil
• Silly Farm Swirl Number 4 Round Brush
• Samantha Helen Essentials One Stroke Palette
• Essentials Swoosh Brush
• Falcon L1 Script Liner Brush