Beachy Belly Painting

Today I had the opportunity to do one of my favorite parts of my job...belly painting!  It was a gorgeous day so I was able to paint out on our deck, and the whole family came along to play outside and watch Mommy's belly transform!

Above is the hand drawing of the design to be done.  I always Photoshop together images for the mom-to-be when I do a belly painting, so that she knows exactly what she'll be getting that day.  We did a little back and fourth to tweak this one, which is packed with all kinds of great personal meaning for Mom and Dad!

Progress Shots! I start with a Mehron Pro Pencil to draw the design first while mom stands, then I have her sit while I paint the rest in.  This ensures that the design won't look distorted when she stands afterwards for photos

I used my new Wolfe black and white which were awesome.  The black is SO black, and the white worked great on top of it for lettering, which I did with a Wolfe #1 brush. 

The other colors are done with Kryolan Aquacolor paints. I painted the sand using the metallic gold paint in my Wolfe FX Metallix palette, and then topped it off with some yellow glitter.  I love the effects you can get by being intentional about where you put the glitter.  Laying down the glittery sand first and then painting the foreground made it nice and crisp and added to the sandy beach look.

Mom can finally see her design right-side-up!

This little cutie just couldn't stop kissing Mommy's tummy all afternoon!  So sweet! He left with a glittery forehead! ;-)

I have had this cool oval frame for a while now, waiting for a belly painting to use it for a prop.  Now I just need to get the hang of how to position it, but it was fun to play with!

Another close-up

Such a sweet couple!! Now the question is, who had more fun...them or ME?!

If you're interested in booking a belly painting for yourself or as a gift to a friend who's expecting, be sure to visit my belly painting page for more examples and lots of FAQ's!

Thanks for stopping by!