The Cherry Blossom Reunion

Tyler Monzingo is someone longtime fans may recognize. He was the second person I ever painted, but quickly became my muse as I tried to master the art of painting the human body. He joined me on stage during my first Comic-Con appearance as Cthulhu, and was most recently Judgement in my Tarot Deck!

This is a big post, so I would visit the website to see the full thing!

The first body painting we did together, TEN YEARS AGO, was a simple Cherry Blossom Tree painted on his body. This was the first time he had modeled, but it wasn't a hard choice for him since we were also friends!

Still, it's a big deal to model nude for someone! Some of these images have never been seen before, so please don't share them. Especially platforms and people that crop my watermarks off, or use my work without credit.

As you can see, the work looks pretty... simple? And that's because this was literally my second body painting! It's wonderful how far I've come, 1,500+ paintings later.

Tyler has modeled more than most models, but others like Seth Powers and Bennett Allen Wood are pretty close. Who are some of your classic favorites?

Now that you have seen how things began, would you like to see how the painting evolved, all these years later? Of course you do!

To wet your appetite, I thought I'd start with a black and white. Though the header image is pretty darn dazzling, don't you think? I wanted to step things up with this painting, so I decided to turn the bodyart into a moonlit night.

Taking you further down the body, you can see I'm starting to create a body of water and some grass on Tyler's leg. The really cool mask is something that Tyler brought, and it really elevated the piece!

I took a pretty photo to show it off better! His eyes really pop here, right?

I'm grateful for my friendship with Tyler, and with everyone else I've worked with over the years. You bring light to my work, and I'm so thankful for that!

Ten years! Isn't that wild? I still can't get over it. Did you spot the three eyed fish? It's an homage to our first live painting together, where I turned him into a colorful aquarium! I'm always trying to add meaning to things hahaha <3

Anyway, what a journey, right? Thank you! No matter if you modeled for me, support me on here, or just like my work, I appreciate you!

I hope you enjoyed this TEN YEAR anniversary painting! Please enjoy your weekend, or whatever it is you are doing when you read this. If you enjoyed this post, I would love to read your thoughts!

Love + Art,

Brandon