Springy neons and whites for days! Some designs can seem overwhelming at a glance, but this quick little mask does much of your work for you with translucent layers and natural textures.

I used:

• a super fine round brush
• a medium round brush
• a large filbert brush
• a small-pore sponge
• Diamond FX neon magenta
• Wolfe white (Paradise white has a nice consistency for this kind of layered design, and would be a good substitute)
• Diamond FX black

Start out by sponging your bright color of choice over the bridge of your nose and on the inner corners of your eyes. Don’t worry about the shape too much, as the area under your eyes will be blended into the feathers.

With your fine brush, paint thin lines downward, curved gently in towards your chin, about a half-inch apart, starting at the inner corner of your eyes. Each line should be slightly longer than the last. These are simply reference points–it’s alright if they’re shaky.

Locate the midway point on your eyebrow. With your medium round brush, paint a teardrop shape from that point to the inner corner of your eye by releasing the pressure on your brush as you draw it inward. Repeat from the outer end of your eyebrow.

Mimic this shape from the bottom of each line, and draw the tips of your feathers to points using the same method, going in the opposite direction. Right now, the shape at the bottom is all that matters, so don’t worry about what happens on your upper cheeks.

Fill in the area above the bottom feathers by crosshatching lightly. Be sure not to overdo it–the crosshatching will give your wings a soft, organic look. I made my brush a little wetter than usual in order to draw the pink under my eyes downwards into the feathers.

Next we’ll give these wings some defined layers. Load your brush with white and your base color and follow the shape of your first line of feathers with teardrops, starting about halfway down the wing and ending at the lower lashline. Loading your white first will cause the bright color to fade with each drop and create a nice transition back into the original white. Repeat on the other cheek.

Paint another row of feathers, this time with white. Load your brush thickly for this last layer to ensure that it stands out against the previous layer, and paint tapered, parallel lines diagonally upward and inward. Repeat on the other side with the same number of feathers. Repeat.

Optional: Outline your wings, and a few feathers if you like, with a super fine brush. This will make your white really pop!

Using the same teardrop stroke, create a simple design between the wings. Keep it minimal, and accent it with black if you chose to outline your wings to tie the whole piece together.

Ta-da! You’re done