Magdalena Nitla

Check out the full time-lapse video of me working on this painting:

I was inspired a while back to do a painting like this after watching a plus-size clothing try-on by the beauty blogger Passion Jonesz  (https://www.youtube.com/user/PassionJonesz).  As a plus-size woman, I love watching Passion’s videos because she has such a good attitude and confidence in her beautiful curves.  I was beguiled as I watched her try on a gold wrap dress that looked dazzling and sparkled in all the right places.  It looked comfortable yet sexy and flashy.  The image stuck in my mind and I wanted to turn it into a painting for a few months.

I didn’t reference a specific photo when I started to paint.  I began with the idea in my head and I looked at a few photos online for inspiration.  As I worked on the shape and positioning of the body, I consulted my image in the mirror.  For example: how does the arm in a certain position show the hand in relation to the hips?  How does the arm angle when holding the hair up?  I had a lot of fun with the glitter and colors of the background and the girl’s hair.

As you can probably tell in the video, I had the most trouble with the girl’s face, since I didn’t have a specific person in mind.  I didn’t want to portray Passion specifically, I just wanted the face to be somewhat generic, as though it could be anyone.  I think it finally worked out OK when I focused on the way makeup is applied and how women contour their face.  At some point I decided it was OK, since the main focus was really the dress and I didn’t want to fiddle around with it anymore.