Building A God - Cole (Patreon)

Hey loves! You've told me that you enjoy in-depth posts that explore the body painting process, so I thought I'd take a few minutes to talk about Cole. First, the before:

Some years have passed since I first worked with him, but he still has a gorgeous body and is an amazing creative spirit. He's a trained actor, opera singer, can cut and sew together leather costumes, and so much more. He's also one of the few people who has painted me.

During our first painting together, I wanted to explore his love of nature:

I'm not really sure what was going on with the painting that we did with his husband. It was kind of a beautiful hot mess. But Cole looks like he's having fun, yeah?

Cole has always been special to me though, and he's a genuine friend. 

Which is why I later did his engagement photos in the middle of the forest!

Moving back to the painting though! I hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane. Here is Cole looking magnificent as I start to construct a very complicated piece. It required lots of wire, paper, latex, metallic paints, neon paint, and other wizardry.

I think his eyes really stand out here:

The creation didn't really call for a benevolent smile, but I caught this radiant smirk:

As the piece started to come together, over the course of nearly 8 hours, I was struck by how special this original creation was. In fact, this was the last time we worked together before he permanently moved to England very recently.

Once I got to the editing stage, I brought in some diffused lighting and warmed up some of the tones to give it a sense of grandeur. Did I nail that?

The official piece, which is hanging in Exposed Gallery in Phoenix is this beauty:

I hope you enjoyed the visuals and the memories of Cole Brackney. I miss him and his husband Klay terribly. They were a big part of my work, spanning Duality, Contact, Neon City, Gods and Monsters, and more! I appreciate their time, friendship, and canvas.

Thank you for supporting my Patreon!

Love,

Brandon