This is easily the best face painting book I've ever seen. The faces included are gorgeous, sophisticated, and well-explained . . . there are many, many pictures for the various steps of each face, with written explanations and tips alongside each.
The authors begin with several pages of clear instruction on how to achieve different effects with different supplies. I appreciate the fact that they give advice on what to look for in the products you purchase, but don't push brands.
The faces are then divided into two sections: friendly and fiendish.
Friendly faces include: blue jay, bunny, butterfly, car, cat, chameleon, clown (the best clown I've ever seen), fish kiss, flower, giraffe, happy bat, jaguar, knight, lion, monkey, night sky, peacock, piglet, princess, puppy, rainbow (twisting around the face), swirl design, tiger, unicorn and zebra.
The fiendish faces include: alien, bad girl mask, beast, cyborg, Dracula, dragon, fire demon, gargoyle, goth girl, insect, jack-o-lantern, Mr. Hyde, mummy, orc, reptile, robot, skeleton (skull), t-rex, werewolf, widow spider, witch, wolf, xenomorph, yeti and zombie.
I'm not sure how well someone would do with these faces if they had never picked up a brush before. Some may able to pull it off, but others might want to start with something a little simpler (and then continue on to this book!) For anyone else, there are enough pictures and clear explanation that these amazing faces are actually paintable! I definitely recommend reading the text in addition to just following the pictures. Although you may be able to do a fine job without it, there are a surprising number of tips which makes painting faces simpler, easier and faster.