Does heartbreak birth great art?

An hour before my client's appointment, Best broke up with me during a short phone call from Colorado. This was not the first time a stressful interaction took place moments before a client was seen. Nor will it be the last. I try hard to not let my personal baggage impact their session, but I usually wear my heart on my sleeve. I just try to be open about it, and let the person know that I'll still do a great job.

Thankfully I had Dylan Riggs on hand during much of the session. He's been assisting me since Best's departure a few weeks ago, while I interview potential candidates for the Assistant spot. I'm trying to get a LOT done!

While I put together the painting, I had Dylan help with filling in geometry or providing color blocking.  He even did a cute design on the ear, which you can kind of see below!

Dani requested the pink tones, as I wanted to incorporate the model's preferences into the painting. He also suggested that I use warm tones, but I ended up throwing in blue anyway as the painting needed a contrast. The eye? A happy accident. I spilled some black on his hand and made a design. Then we realized it was too much fun and we HAD to use it. The same actually happened with the other arm. It's hard to correct UV paint, so the best solution is to usually make more art.

Speaking of Best, I've been working through a lot of emotions since the breakup, and watching the relationship I've built up for years slowly crumble is pretty rough. I was often his advocate, his defender, and his set up for funny punch lines. We had a great rhythm, and both of us grew so much over the years. He was one of the few that saw me for ME. He was also a writer, so he knew how to talk to me.

Everyone that saw us marveled at how connected we were, until the day that we weren't. Which was 06/21/2021 at 12:34pm.

I've spoken to the client since this painting on Monday, and he loved the artwork and the experience. Since I've known him for 17 years, and we were briefly in a band together, he also listened while I processed the breakup. 

You may actually recognize him...

That's right... He ALSO portrayed artwork from one of my favorite Nintendo Franchises. Check out Majora's Mask and Skull Kid, from the Legend of Zelda!

Really cool to see him return, as that was the last body painting we did together! Our first... way back in 2013 was this:

This painting had a first! It featured his poetry on his body, which was only done one other time afterward....on Dylan! Who assisted with this painting, but none of us coordinated this beforehand. It was super last minute that Dylan was able to help!  Weird coincidence, or fate, I'll let you decide. Check out the collaboration between us below:

This one was such a challenge, but I was mostly happy with the results! I would love to paint Dylan again some day. Maybe even in Supernova! <3 The neat thing about supporting my artwork on Patreon, is you get to see the journey it has taken over the years, as well as learning about everyone involved.

So there you have it! I hope you have the opportunity to be painted some day (if you haven't already)! Thank you for taking the time to read, and I hope you have an amazing week! I'm working on having a better one myself. It's about the journey, right?

Love and Art,

Brandon