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The Pride Post - Part One

Added 2024-06-30 23:07:16 +0000 UTC

It's officially the end of the month, and I'm preparing for my final Pride painting for June.

What a ride though! Tonight I'm joined by first time model Alex Sherman! But first, let me break down everyone I painted this month for Pride, including the debut of multiple NEW paintings O_O

Like the very first image at the top! Surprise! It's Bennett, just in time. What's that? He was joined by a very mysterious (potentially controversial) guest!? I'll go into that later!

See, I planted a seed! Now you're curious! But we have to start with...

#1 - The Center of the Universe... It's Felix!

It all started because our Fan Fusion crew said "Let's do a Pride series" and it grew from there. Because we had just painted Felix at Fan Fusion, he was an easy yes! Below he is photographed by Eric of Bald Pirate Photography! We were also joined by Rodrigo of Regal Photography, and George Madrid, also taking photos of our models. On makeup we had Brandi, Cibola, and Toy.

I ended up playing Ringleader, and did my body art magic on each model.

The magic wasn't exclusive to that weekend though, but a dozen people in a weekend is nothing to sneeze at, right? Speaking of which, up next we have...

#2 - The Emerging Star - Dorian

We saw a lot of people go through growth, but none was more apparent than Dorian. We had such a fun time watching them become more confident, and emerge as a warrior.

#3 Atlas sets the tone for the series

I was joined by Atlas earlier this month to help me test out some ideas, and you can see the foundation laid here featured in the rest of the Pride paintings.

#4 The Queen has Arrived - Mia Inez Adams

Host of Rising Star, and 66 years young, she's a legend! She's also currently reigning Miss Kobalt. Mia was tickled pink to be picked for this project, and had such a great time having others do her makeup! She was absolutely a personality on set (in the best way).

#5 The Rockstar - Chelsey Louise of the band Fairy Bones

I had an opportunity to bring back some old friends from the years, as well as some new faces. One face I missed in particular was Chelsey, who also helped me run my Kickstarter. You can find her music on most channels under FAIRY BONES. Check them out! I did a music video with her (which I'm in) called "Notes from Wonderland". We won best music video!

#6 - The Triple Threat - Edwin Lunes

Honestly Edwin was such a steal because not only did he model for us, he also helped us with Felix's makeup when Cibola needed to dip to help at a wedding. He's walked Fashion Week as a model, works professional makeup gigs round the clock, and teaches skin care.

So please enjoy three photos with him:

#7 The Actor - Bennett Allen Wood

B is no stranger to my Patreon, and is a fan favorite.

We pulled some strings, and were able to get him just before Pride ended! In the process, Bennett and I were trying to figure out who to pair him with. We went through a few names on the shortlist, and then he mentioned one that might surprise some of you.

#8 The Ex Boyfriend!? Brandon Sharp

See I told you I had some gags and surprises! Now you have to be DEEP in the Brandon McGill lore to remember him. This was 8 years ago after all. I haven't seen him since we broke up.

Brandon's side of the story is that he didn't cheat on me, that Michael had made the move, but that he had successfully thwarted it. More tea? Michael modeled "The Vision".

To give Brandon credit, at the time, I wasn't in a listening space. I felt betrayed by both of them because I encouraged them to hang out, and the next thing I hear Michael was trying to sleep with my boyfriend. I honestly airlocked them both and didn't look back.

BUT for the sake of closure, and because I've long since moved on, I accepted Brandon's truth, and we had a nice time reconnecting and remembering. He seemed sincere, and it seems we are on better terms. Plus I thought painting him would make a fun story. MORE on that later!