Unicorn Face Painting Tutorial: Festival-Ready Designs & Pro Tips by Georgiana Ciocan

Unicorns have officially taken the crown as the most popular face painting design of 2024—right alongside everyone’s beloved Stitch. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just diving into the world of face painting, mastering unicorn designs is a must-have skill for your festival toolkit.

In this blog, we’ll walk you through pro techniques, product recommendations, and step-by-step instructions straight from UK face painting artist Georgiana, as presented in our exclusive Facepaint.com webinar. You’ll learn how to paint a beautiful unicorn in minutes, perfect for high-volume festival settings while keeping your designs elegant and magical.

And yes—we’ll sprinkle in a little glitter ✨ along the way.

Watch the Full Tutorial:

Video Title: Georgiana Ciocan (Festival Unicorns) Webinar

🎨 Why Unicorn Face Painting Is a Festival Essential

If you’ve ever painted at a busy festival, you know there’s one request you’ll hear over and over:

“Can I have a unicorn, please?”

It’s no surprise. Unicorns are bright, whimsical, and loved by kids of all ages. They work on small cheek designs, half-face styles, or bold full-face creations. As Georgiana pointed out during the webinar, no party is truly complete without a unicorn face painting option.

And the best part? Once you master a few basic shapes and flow techniques, unicorns are fast to paint—meaning you can keep those festival lines moving without sacrificing quality.

🖌 Basic Unicorn Face Painting Technique: The Core Shapes

At the heart of every unicorn design are fluid hand movements and smart placement. Here’s Georgiana’s go-to sequence for a balanced, professional unicorn face:

1. Circle for the face – Start with a smooth, rounded shape using a round brush. This is the unicorn’s main face base.

2. Ears – Flow directly into the ears from the circle, no lifting your brush unnecessarily.

3. Number 9 shape – A looping motion that forms part of the head and leads into the horn placement.

4. Horn – Keep it centered and proportionate to the head.

Pro tip: The magic word is continuity. Try to keep your brush on the board/skin as long as possible to save time and keep your design fluid.

👃 Mastering the Nose and Mouth

Two of the most common beginner mistakes? Oversized noses and dinosaur mouths.

• Nose placement: Stop at the middle of the circle and create a small triangular shape. Too big, and your unicorn starts looking like a hippo.

• Mouth technique: Use an elegant S-curve instead of a straight line. Keep a gap between the nose and mouth for a cleaner, more stylized look.

• Upper lip tip: Aim for a square-like shape above the mouth for more structure.

And remember—don’t be afraid to wipe and adjust. Even pros refine their designs mid-process.

💇 Unicorn Hair & Horn Design Variations

One of the easiest ways to make your unicorn designs stand out is customizing the mane and horn.

Horn ideas:

• Classic spiral lines

• Decorative S-shapes

• Mini hearts and stars

Hair styles:

• Straight lines for a sleek look

• Bubble braids (large-to-small circle progression) for a playful festival vibe

• Wind-blown waves for dynamic movement

If your model has curly hair in real life, mimic that in your painted mane for a personalized touch.

👁 Eye Designs: Three Popular Options

Georgiana broke down three unicorn eye styles to fit any mood:

1. Closed with lashes – A single curved line with bold lashes and a sweep of eyeshadow.

2. Open cartoon eyes – Large, rounded with a pupil and two white highlight dots.

3. Eyeshadow style – Elegant closed-eye look with colorful shading and lashes.

Brush picks:

• Leo Cornell #6 for filling

• Leo Cornell #4 for details

🎪 The Festival Unicorn: Full-Face Design for Speed

When you’re painting at festivals, speed is everything. Georgiana’s full-face unicorn design is perfect for high-volume events.

Key features:

• Sponge base on the forehead for quick coverage

• Triangle horn with decorative patterns

• Leaf-shaped ears painted with single brush strokes

• Eye corner accents for extra sparkle

• Glitter finish for that magical wow factor

🖌 Live Demo: Step-by-Step Basic Unicorn

During the webinar, Georgiana used Diamond FX white paint to demo her core unicorn technique:

1. Draw the main circle for the head.

2. Add ears and horn without breaking your stroke.

3. Create nose and mouth with proper proportions.

4. Paint the mane with Chameleon’s Bollywood color for bold hair strands.

5. Add bubble braid hair for a fun, textured look.

🎨 Choosing the Right Colors & Brushes

Favorite outline color:

• Chameleon Bollywood – Warm and vibrant for outlines.

Alternative outlines:

• Teal

• Purple

• Dark brown

• Burgundy

Detail brushes:

• Svetlana #0 or #1

• GTX Fairy (Squishy Doodle collab)

🌈 Festival Base Colors & Sponge Work

Festival bases are all about color payoff and shimmer.

Top picks from the webinar:

• Diamond FX Happy Birthday rainbow base

• Tag Sunset + Amy Greek blends

• Petal sponge technique for shimmer and soft edges

🦋 Wings & One-Stroke Magic

One of the prettiest unicorn variations is the fairy unicorn, combining a unicorn face with butterfly wings:

• 45° brush angle for sweeping wing shapes

• N-shape pattern for dynamic wing edges

• Finger-wipe technique to manage eyebrow gaps

Time to complete? Three minutes flat once you’ve practiced.

✨ Final Touches That Make a Unicorn Pop

Georgiana’s signature finishing details include:

• Wiggle lines for playful accents

• Fairy dots (big-to-small pattern)

• Four-point stars with a center dot

• Glitter Envy spray for festival sparkle

Pro tip: Hold your brush perpendicular for perfect thin–thick–thin strokes.

⚡ The Two-Minute Speed Unicorn

For ultra-busy events, Georgiana showed her two-minute full-face unicorn:

• Quick sponge forehead base

• One-stroke ear technique with a brush twist

• Flower Dance (Tag paint) for ear colors

• Triple-dip flowers for fast floral accents

🏆 Webinar Takeaways

• Unicorns are timeless festival winners—learn them, love them, live them.

• Keep your movements fluid to save time without losing quality.

• Practice nose/mouth proportions to avoid awkward designs.

• Customize hair and horn styles for individuality.

• Glitter is not optional—it’s essential.

🎥 Watch & Learn in Our Next Webinar

Want to paint along live with our next featured artist? Facepaint.com webinars bring you step-by-step guidance from pros around the world, covering everything from festival favorites to advanced realism techniques.

Stay tuned for our next magical session—and don’t forget to stock up on your KrazeFX, Diamond FX, Chameleon, and Tag paints at Facepaint.com before the event.