All of my work starts with a pencil and a sketchbook. When I’m ready to paint, my first layer is acrylic gouache, a matte opaque water-based paint traditionally used by illustrators and animators. I love it for the saturated color, velvety matte finish, and the way it brings a little midcentury flavor to the way I paint light and shadow. Once I’m done painting, I layer on glitter, sequins, rhinestones, and resin in order to add some textural contrast to my already high-contrast work and to explore the idea of color maximalism in a mixed media way. Also, I just really love sparkle.