Tonya Kay Pin-Up

Whew! It's been a busy day with me juggling three different client projects but I wanted to put up a blog post before I called it a day and went to bed.

I am going to call this pin-up finished!

This is actually a piece I've wanted to do for years. Well, not this piece exactly but Tonya Kay, the wonderful woman who modeled for this piece, is someone I've wanted to draw since the moment I met her.

She first came to my attention during the first season of Stan Lee's reality show, Who Wants to Be A Superhero. She has been a cast member in Stomp, a dancer for Panic At The Disco, and has shown up on more TV shows in the last year than I can count. She spins fire, stilt dances, and can crack a whip like no one I've ever seen. She's a wonderful, down to Earth, creative and positive woman.

And the hair. Wow, I mean, the hair! How could I not want to draw a woman so beautiful who has such great hair?

And that she was gracious enough to send me photos to use as reference on this piece shows so much faith in my ability as an artist that I don't know what to say. I loved doing this piece and it was an honor as much as a pleasure.

And, what did Tonya herself have to say about this piece?

"This process is mesmerizing, Sean! And the final(s) are equally! Holy shit, is that me? I mean, is that how you see me? Is that how you create me?

NO ONE has ever gotten my dread locks as alive as you have. To me, they really are not just fancy things hanging from my head, but creatures with lives of their own, breathing my ideas, dreams, experiences and philosophy. But alive alone themselves all the same. Your work is the only work that seems to understand that. Thank you, Sean.

And how can I thank you for including an apple in my rendering? Again, the life in the living food is important to me as well.

Wow - to watch you put shadows in, like blocks of color. Then turn a pixelated line into a smooth, detail. Now I see you get to have some fun choosing favored backgrounds (I like the splash marks!) and placing your signature, which always looks like more art to me. I really like the shadow on the green wallpaper looming over me like my Shadow Self is bigger than I, though less potent and easily visible with the right eyes.

Her smile is so cute. Am I cute?"

Yes, Miss Tonya Kay, you are cute. Thank you for letting me draw you. I hope I did you justice.

To see the uncensored versions of the illustrations above you can take a look HERE and HERE.