Decades ago, women who put on makeup were said to be “painting” their faces. This makes sense, as paint and makeup have a lot of the same characteristics, such as texture, variety of colors, and weight (thick or thin). Both are also considered art forms, each to different extents, however. And both can transform something not so exciting into something extremely beautiful.

However, beauty isn’t always perfect.

Beauty isn’t always about clean and simple lines that most makeup artists and many painters use. Beauty can also be about making a mess, and having fun in the process. Jackson Pollock, for example, made his art with splattered paint, and today some people consider his work beautiful and a work of art. This kind of beauty can show a different side of someone, a bit of their personality, as well – do they go all out and make a huge mess? or do they make only enough mess to qualify as “messy” before hastily cleaning it all up?

During this shoot, I told the models to paint their faces. The only limit was that they couldn’t paint anything symbolic on their faces – who knew how many hearts or stars would appear on someone’s cheek? One guy even wanted to paint a Mexican flag across his entire face. Abstract was their only option, and the resulting faces ended up showing a bit of each person’s personality unintentionally.