Pretty On The Outside

Danell Leyva.

I've got Olympic fever............................

...... and US gymnast Danell Leyva is the cause.

And I'm not looking for a cure. :)

Above is the original artwork created with ink and pen on 14" x 18" arches paper.  First illustration finished with digital color.  Go Team! And please go to my facebook page.

Me body painting at the LA IMATS

I just googled the LA IMATS hoping to see some of the other body paints at that event and I found this video someone took of me while painting the sunday model.  Actually the guy recording is very focused on the model (rightfully so) but you can see me doing some line work on his legs.  

Side of a building needed.

I have a question...... For a long time I've been planning on painting large murals of my OC Housewives somewhere in the OC. Picture it---- you're driving down PCH in Laguna and on the side of a building is a caricature mural of Alexis Bellino...... You'd be touched by an angel. :) The thing is, I'm not going to jail for illegally painting something on the side of a building. So if any of you or any of your friends own a building in the OC and want a mural of Alexis or Vicki on your building, please contact me. If you own a building in Beverly Hills, I'd love to paint Camille. :) And I'd be up for an NYC trip to paint Ramona as well. Please let me know. Thanks!

A giant thanks to the awesome Starcasm for this amazing posting in response.

David Gilmore + MAC Cosmetics + body painting.

The end of last month I had the honor of body painting for MAC Cosmetics at the IMATS in Pasadena.  (Click on that link to see the final looks.)  What I designed for the first day was a series of faces that cover the body.  The same face actually just in different color combinations.  I wanted to try out that look a few times to work out any kinks.  So this is how it played out.........  

First test run.  I painted my friend Khalif's upper body and that's his real hair.  It's magical... it's perfect... it's a thing of beauty.  I used MAC's acrylics to achieve this.  Over his face, some eyeshadow was added for shimmer.

Not a fan of the large watermark but my stuff keeps getting posted on other sites without credit so it's a necessary thing.  Made a black and white version of one of the images as well.

This took about five hours.  Thanks Khalif!

Second test run I painted my new friend Jose.  I painted him head to toe again with the MAC acrylics using a more restrained color combination.  Each face including: hair, features, and skin is one singular color.  

As with last time, I made a b&w version too.

This took about 7 hours.  Thanks Jose!

Third test I painted my new friend John.  This was another full body paint and I used MAC's water-activated chromacakes as well as their acrylics.  This version was more painterly and I opted to leave the face uncovered.  He's wearing a small undergarment in this that I went right over with the body paint.

And a b&w version..........

This took over eight hours to create.  Thanks John!  

It's simply a nightmare having to paint such nice and handsome guys.  :)

So happy that I tested the makeup three times as each session absolutely informed the direction I took for the event.

Hope you enjoyed my show and tell.

Madonna and her face fuller of filler.

Let me start with this...... I've been a Madonna fan for decades: have a lot of her records, seen her in concert four times, held my breath during her superbowl appearance out of fear she'd fall.........  Say what you will about her, she's left an indelible mark on pop culture.  Lately though, she's fallen into the trap that a lot of women (and some men) have where their face looks like an overly-inflated balloon.  Fillers!  Frickin filers man.  It's that jiffy pop face phenomena. I recently saw a photo of her with the most extremely swollen chipmunk cheeks and it took a moment to figure out it was her.  Thought at first it was Kylie, then maybe Ashley Judd, or perhaps even a newly blond Sharon Osbourne, but no.... sadly it was Madonna.  Easy up girl.

Aside from the filler-face, I personally think it would be more interesting at this stage in her life and career if she kept her cloths on.  That's just me.  But a boob and ass flash at 54 and her legs constantly spread seems more sad than provocative.  I'm not being agist, far from it.  Of course you can be extremely attractive and desirable in your 50s and 60s but I believe that's accomplished tastefully. 

I will continue to appreciate Madonna for the mark she's made thus far, but I hope the next stage in her career will be one that's blazing a trail of aging gracefully and not acting like a teenager seeking a hookup.

Illustration completed with ink, gouache, and watercolor on paper with a pinch of digital color.  Please have a look at my facebook page too.

The Real Housewives of NYC. Painted.

Hello again!  I know I've been away for a bit, but hopefully like a good friend who you haven't spoken with in a while--- the love is still there and we can pick up where we left off.  :)  I fortunately got busy with a number of body paint jobs and being summer..... outdoor fun won out over on-line fun.  So what's new?  Are you liking the new NYC gals?  I wasn't so sure at first but I'm definitely warming to them and enjoy the way they make the returning women behave.  

Ramona is crazier than ever.  Seriously.  Her crazy is multiplying and I love that new cast member Heather is driving her over a crazy cliff (a short ride actually.)  I love that Heather's Larry King-ish smile causes Ramona's eyes to triple in size and her body to spastically twitch like she's being stung by bees.  It's my favorite part of this new season.  Hey, maybe Ramona's allergic to Heather?  I think that makes sense!  She's so freaked out by Heather that it's actually making her befriend Luann.  Oh good stuff.  Good good stuff!  

Gonna keep this short as I'm out of practice but I hope you'll enjoy my painting of Aviva, Ramona, and Heather (and her smile).  It's ink, pen, and gouache on 12" x 9" paper and it's available for purchase if interested.

xoxo