Will Cotton's oil-painted sugary scenes are insanely beautiful

I’m known for my sweet tooth and ability to consume an obscene amount of cakes, sweets and biscuits in one sitting, so it’ll come as no surprise that I was instantly drawn to Will Cotton’s sugary scenes of candy-laced lands.

I’m so blown away by the surreal, fantastical, hunger-inducing nature of these pieces. Created using only oil paints on linen canvases, it’s the depth and hyperreal detail Will has managed to convey in these paintings that astounds me – so much so I first thought they were film sets from a forgotten movie.

With an impressive body of work spanning 16 years, Will’s sweet creations have led to his involvement in several candy based projects, most notably as artistic director for Katy Perry’s deliciously fun California Gurls where his paintings were the central visual reference for the video.

Will’s style is wonderful, as his wild imagination take us to molten chocolate rivers, tumbling donut boulders dripping with glaze and curling globules of thick icing and cream draping everything. The hazy pastel tones add to the dreaminess and distantly remind me of 70s and 80s food photography. Insanely intricate and beautiful, I’m so glad to have come across Will’s work, if only to satisfy my sugar cravings in between trips to Greggs.