A tattoo artist waiting to give birth painted a stunning portrait of Rihanna using only Fenty Beauty products
Alena Wedderburn/TikTok
Alena Wedderburn, a New York-based tattoo artist, channeled her love for Rihanna into a TikTok video in which she painted a strikingly realistic portrait the music icon — using only Fenty Beauty products.
The 25-year-old mother of two immediately received attention for her artistic talents, and Fenty Beauty reposted the video to Instagram.
The project, Wedderburn says, was born of quarantine boredom in addition to the boredom and anticipation of being very pregnant — two weeks past her due date.
While viral fame isn't necessarily her priority, Wedderburn would like to turn the attention into something greater for her family and film more professionally-shot videos.
Tattoo artist Alena Wedderburn is a self-described Rihanna stan, inspired by the singer-turned-businesswoman's humility and "unbelievable talent in everything she does."
"In a word, she's the realest," the 25-year-old mother of two, who works at Bare Knuckle Tattoos in Watertown, New York, told Insider. "She still stays who she really is, not blinded by all the fame, power, and money."
The two actually have a history. Back when Wedderburn was an art student in the Czech Republic, she saved her money to buy Rihanna's first makeup collaborations with MAC and channeled her creative energy into drawing the music icon's outfits of the day and posting them online — and, eventually, Rihanna took notice.
"She followed me on Instagram and [sent a message] saying 'F--- you for being this talented,'" Wedderburn recalled. "She even put up one of my sketches as her Instagram profile picture."
Since then, the two have met up twice, and Wedderburn credits Rihanna with inspiring her to become a tattoo artist.
On April 1, Wedderburn paid tribute to her idol the best way she knew how: with a TikTok video demonstrating her own talents.
In the clip, she paints a spot-on interpretation of Rihanna's May cover of British Vogue — done entirely with Fenty Beauty products.
@alena_tattooart Painting @rihanna British @vogue cover using only @fentybeauty products 💄💋💁🏻♀️ ##art ##artwork ##Rihanna ##rihannaart ##makeupartist ##makeup ##fenty
♬ BELIEVE IT - PARTYNEXTDOOR & Rihanna
In just a few days, the video was viewed over 140,000 times and reposted to Twitter by a fan, where Wedderburn's masterpiece received nearly 250,000 likes.
The project came from "quarantine boredom" with a twist: at the time of filming, she was (over) nine months pregnant — two weeks past her due date and trying to pass the time while keeping up her creative pursuits.
"It helps me to keep my tattooing skills on point during the lockdown," she explained.
Making an elaborate painting video is no small task, Wedderburn says. Not only did the video require waking up before her whole family, but making a 60-second video requires three hours of painting and extra time for editing.
"In the future, I'd like to find people and shoot a professional video of the whole process," Wedderburn added.
Fenty Beauty reposted the video to Instagram, where it racked up another 80,0000 likes.
The video received nearly 1,000 comments admiring the "insane" accuracy of the portrait.
Wedderburn began painting Rihanna makeup portraits years ago, but her skills have evolved and her recent projects are more ambitious.
"The artistic level of those ones wasn't as good as [the work] I do now," she explained. "I've grown as an artist in the past few years, thanks to my job."
Her talent is evident in recent TikTok videos, where she's painted Rihanna (again, naturally) as well as Cardi B.
@alena_tattooart Loved this carnival look on @rihanna 💗@fentybeauty ##cropova ##DecadesofHair ##foryoupage ##foryou ##fyp ##shareyourplaylist ##rihanna ##fentybeauty
♬ Champion - Buju Banton
While the widespread interest in her work is flattering, Wedderburn says she has little interest in viral fame — she just hopes to use the opportunity to provide for her family.
"I can't really deal with all the recognition, you know," she said. "People take their moment and make it big, make money and stuff. I'm just here taking care of my family, it just brings a smile to my face. I wish I could do something out of it."
@alena_tattooart Love painting on my leg with make up💄💋 ##DecadesofHair ##fyp ##foryou ##foryoupage ##cardib ##makeup ##art ##makeupartist ##artist ##quarantine ##covid19
♬ Money - Cardi B
Since posting the TikTok videos, Wedderburn has been busy: she welcomed her daughter on April 3.
She returned Insider's request for an interview within 48 hours of giving birth.
Read more:
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Inside the YouTube beauty community that's turning makeup artists into millionaires
Read the original article on Insider
