These striking portraits are painted by Charmaine Olivia. Charmaine’s work is both soft and stunning, as she turns the idea of sexiness on its head. She shows us her wide range of styles, though Charmaine is a self-taught artist. At first she started making mini masterpieces using soy sauce on napkins when she was about 5. Later she upgraded to oil paints but she didn’t start taking it seriously until her last year of high school.

Charmaine’s illustrations and paintings are very different from each other. “I think there are two sides of me as an artist: one part loves making little whimsical and harmless illustrations and the other part loves the intensity and discipline on an oil painting,” she says. Oil paints are artist’s preferred medium, but she also enjoys using watercolors and ink.

Currently Charmaine lives and works in San Francisco.

charmaineolivia.com