The Queen, Donald Trump, Joe Exotic ... Boston woman wins huge online audience with newfound talent for creating celebrity portraits on her body out of make-up
A make-up artist from Boston has been winning acclaim for a new found talent of creating celebrity portraits on her body out of make-up.
Kim Stokes, 30, has been sharing the body art via social media after discovering a hidden flair for it during the Covid-19 lockdown.
One video – a portrait on her leg of The Queen – has been watched more than 30,000 times on TikTok and has received almost 6,000 ‘likes’.
There are also pieces depicting US president Donald Trump, cosmetics giant Jeffree Star, Tiger King’s Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin, and media personality Gemma Collins, formerly of The Only Way Is Essex. Taken together, these videos add another 25,000 views to Kim’s tally.
Speaking about how the body art came about, she said: “I was scrolling through TikTok and I saw a make-up artist painting animated movie scenes on her chest. It really stood out to me and I thought maybe I could do something like that.
“I had done a bit of body painting years ago at college and I’d incorporated some portraits in my designs, but never anything this detailed.
“It was late at night, I couldn’t sleep, and I just decided to give it a go. While I was doing it I kind of thought ... ‘I think this might actually be good!’ And it turned out so much better than even I expected.”
To create the pieces, Kim maps out the light and dark areas and then gradually adds detail.
“It’s easier with make-up in a way because if you go wrong you can just wipe it off!” she said.
Kim’s business is called Kim Stokes MUA; as well as being a make-up artist, she also offers hair styling and brow waxing, tinting and lamination.
Following the interest in her make-up portraits, she has been experimenting with more traditional portraits – her first was of Colonel (formerly Captain) Tom Moore, in pastel pencil, created to help mark the veteran’s 100th birthday last week.
She has now set up a Facebook page where people are able to commission pieces by her – find it under Kim Stokes Art at www.facebook.com
You can see Kim’s TikTok videos under @kimstokesmua at www.tiktok.com