SA aritst, Ricollin, has always used lippie as his medium of choice in painting meticulously detailed portraits of the nation’s biggest stars. However, in recent work that has gone viral online – a stunning portrait of Tyla at the Met Gala – the self-taught painter’s medium shifted, from beauty cabinet to beach.
The 22-year-old artist who hails from KwaZulu-Natal first went viral on social media last year, with paintings of South Africa’s Rugby World Cup winning champs.
The talented artist’s medium of choice – a stick of lipstick – is what set his stunning artworks apart.
Ricollin has amassed over 3.1 million likes on TikTok alone, for his remarkable ability to paint meticulously detailed portraits with a limited makeup palette and a vision.
However, in his most recent work – a stunning portrait of Tyla at her first ever Met Gala appearance – the lipstick artist branched out with his medium of choice, matching the materials from Tyla’s dress.
The Grammy-winning artist wore a Balmain dress made of sand, “a piece that you can wear once in a lifetime” wrote Olivier Rousteing, the brand’s Creative Director who helped the star meet the Met’s widely-analysed dress-code for 2024, The Garden of Time.
On Friday, the South African-based lipstick artist, Ricollin, shared his rendition of Tyla’s jaw-dropping look, featuring the new medium – sand collected from the beach.
“This painting is made with only Lipstick and Sand💄⏳️🤎@tyla What do you think of this creativity?💖”
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According to commenters on social media, Tyla reshared Ricollin’s stunning artwork to her Instagram stories – the second occasion the local artist was rightfully acknowledged by his world-renowned muse.
On Tik Tok, the artist shared a video of his process making the sand-painted portrait, which has amassed over 571, 000 views.
@ricollinart_official painting @Tyla with only LIPSTICK AND SAND 💄⏳️🇿🇦. what do you think of this creativity?💖 check out my instagram:ricollinart_official @Balmain #art #tyla #metgala #creative #southafrica #fypシ ♬ Truth or Dare – Tyla
Ricollin first started his journey in making art with unusual mediums after he learned to draw as a means to earn an income to help his family financially.
“I’m always trying unique ways to create art because I also paint with coffee and food colouring. When I came across some discarded lipsticks about a year ago, I knew it was an opportunity for me to try something with them,” said the artist, in conversation with Briefly News in 2023.
“In my mind anything can be used to make art so I wanted to see what could be done with lipsticks,” he said, adding “I want to show others that it doesn’t matter where you come from. You need to believe in yourself and you need to use what you have.”
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Feature Image: Instagram / @ricollinart_official
