Will Cotton's Cupcake Tiara series approaches the artist's signature combination of the nude and sweets though a process of repetition and variation. In this series of lithographs, the model (adorned with a three-tiered tiara of cupcakes) retains her position on the page, guiltily returning the viewer's gaze, as Cotton draws over the print in crayon, charcoal, colored chalk, gouache, oil and acrylic.
All of the images started with a series of drawings completed by the artist on lithograph plates, which were printed by Master Printer Ruth Lingen, and then returned to Cotton’s studio. In his studio, he used the printed image as a jumping-off point for further exploration of the theme, drawing and painting over the ink, executing a variety of compositions and color combinations and gauging their chromatic impact and difference.