Tigers are very well-liked animals because of their grace, agility and strength. Children might not see tigers in this light depending on their age and degree of understanding of course. Young children see them on TV and they seem like little more that big pussy cats and older children, especially in the Developed World, almost certainly do not comprehend the terror that a stray tiger in the area can inspire.

Despite that more individuals like tigers than loathe them. This is one of the factors why the tiger face is very popular as a pattern for face painting for children’s dos. Face painting has been common with numerous cultures for thousands of years although most people would think that it is a contemporary phenomenon.

Think of ancient cultures like America’s Native Tribes and their war paint. The ancient Celts in northern Europe used woad as war paint and make-up. Aborigine Australians used face paint and so have Asians from India and Pakistan to China and Japan where the most famous wearers of face paint are the Geisha girls.

Tigers are in essence Asian animals, so it is no wonder that Asians have revered this colossal wild cat for thousands of years and started using it as a style in face painting.

If you want to try painting a tiger face onto your child’s face, make sure that the paints that you use are safe for purpose and definitely do not contain any lead. However, there are special face painting kits available that should all be trustworthy.

First of all, cleanse the face of any natural oil and perspiration and then dry it. If the child has long hair, tie it back until you are finished. Some face paints are applied with a damp sponge, so we will go with that procedure for now. First apply a white foundation around the eyes and where a man’s beard would be.

Next apply yellow to the centre of the face including the nose but not the end of the nose. Paint an orange border around the edge of your creation to separate it from the hairline and clothes. Then comes black; applying it with a brush, paint on a few stripes, the whiskers and the tip of the nose. The last step, if required, is to add a bit of yellow glitter to better catch the light.

After a little practice, a tiger face can be applied almost as quickly as the paint dries and you could work on a number of children at a time, applying say, the white, to as many kids as it takes for the first one to dry.

As stated above, there are lots of face painting kits on the market. Look out for Crayola. They supply a cheap kit for about $12 and it comes with paints, brushes, sponges and directions. There are others too. You can remove the tiger face paint with ordinary baby lotion or baby oil on a wad of cotton wool.

I have described the fundamental ‘tiger face’, but there are plenty of varieties. look at the Disney cartoon tigers for inspiration or go to the zoo to see how truthful they were at Disney.

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on various subjects but is presently involved with hello kitty face painting. If you would like to read more, please go over to our website entitled Kitten Cannon 3.

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