Rouge, watercolour on Bristol paper, edited to red in Photoshop

Allison Vince creates paintings and illustrations in a sketchy, ethereal style, utilizing both narrow, frenetic lines and drippy diffusions of watercolour. The artist also uses unusual media – makeup – to create works in a similar style.

My what smooth skin you have., mascara, blush, foundation, lipstick and eyeshadow mixed with linseed on canvas

The way that Allison combines translucent, pooling and dripping watercolour with quick, controlled line art makes for a really cool visual effect. Her illustration gallery is where Allison’s expertise with line art really shines. Creatures both real and fantastic are drawn with elongated, sharpened teeth and eyes layered over eyes, creating the feeling that the drawing is vibrating with energy.

The front page of Allison's website

Allison makes interesting use of makeup in her series of cosmetic paintings. Where other artists such as Amarie Bergman have used cosmetics to achieve an abstract colouration, Allison creates portraits of women and other representational images using a variety of makeup staples such as mascara, blush and lipstick. Sometimes she combines these media with oil paints to create a subtly intriguing look.

Graveyard Smash, pencil in Moleskine