Edited By Emma Blistaire

A young woman once studied fine arts in Poland, carefully contemplating the diverse palettes of the great masters: Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Matisse. Now she too wields a brush, but she sweeps it across delicate skin instead of coarse-spun material. She daubs her brushes into blush creams rather than oils.

This modern day makeup master's name is Patrycja, and she has painted her way into a prominent niche, producing fine art on the finest of faces.

"This is Picasso-inspired, this is Impressionist-inspired, this is more modern art," Patrycja says, in describing photographs in which she used eyes as the focal points in her reproductions of famous paintings of the past (see our Summer Issue). "The new millennium made me look back at the past couple hundred years of paintings," she explains.

Now in New York City, this makeup maven is building an impressive portfolio. Many a famous face has served as her canvas, including Ivanka Trump, Iggy Pop, and supermodel Alek Wek. Patrycja's work has graced the pages of such magazines as Cosmopolitan, Ocean Drive, Elle, Black Book, and Shout, as well as the cover of Newsweek. Her creations have also appeared in DMX and Wu Tang Clan videos.

Let's take a closer look into Patrycja's world of photo shoots and face painting.

dt: What goes into a shoot?

p: There are lots of different people involved: the art director, the fashion stylist, the photographer, and the hair stylist. We usually meet and discuss the project, the art director explains the idea, and together we listen and shape the shoot. There are also other very important variables like the lighting and the color of the clothes.

dt: What other variables affect your work?

p: The feel of the magazine - whether it's adventurous or conservative-and the set look for the shoot.

dt: What do you mean by "the look" of the shoot?

p: For example, [a client] needed "glam-rock" makeup for a shoot, so the look would be something very 80's. My mother immediately came to mind—how she dressed, her overall style. The image of my mother inspired the makeup I did for that project.

dt: What are some makeup no-no's?

p: Heavy black liner! Too much everyday makeup, cakey foundation, or layers of blush. Also, the wrong color foundation can be really awful.

dt: Do you have any tips for newcomers to the industry?