An artist and graphic designer in the US has been giving Barbies the RuPaul’s Drag Race treatment, turning ordinary dolls into iconic queens such as Valentina, Bob the Drag Queen and Violet Chachki.
Mark Jonathan uses a variety of materials—including water colour pencils, soft pastels and acrylic paints—to add voluminous lashes, striking brows and expert contouring to the Barbie’s faces.
“They’re such an iconic doll,” he explained. “There’s so much history behind the Barbie doll.”
“Changing the visualisation and what it actually looks like and the meaning behind the Barbie doll is kind of what drew me to it.”
Jonathan posts videos to his to show exactly how he transforms the dolls into runway ready queens and he's even got his mother helping out.
“She’s always, like, loved drag queens and stuff but I think the more that I’ve gotten her working with these she’s been watching the show,” he said.
Jonathan has previously Trixie Mattel with her own doll and gained the approval of Ru Paul, who a photo of the artist’s impression of Naomi Smalls.
Smalls said of the creation on Instagram: "@mark_jonathan_repaints is a f***ing mastermind! I'm so in love with this and so flattered!"
The artist has also tackled the infamous Emma Watson Beauty and the Beast doll that was for bearing no resemblance to the actor.
Jonathan—who has gained popularity on Instagram with nearly 30,000 followers—is now receiving requests from fans about which Drag Race contestant to paint next.
