Comic book enthusiasts have been transforming themselves into their favorite characters for decades using mass-produced costumes or custom outfits. This dress-up, known as “cosplay,” has become a celebrated part of fandom. But Kay Pike, 28, is a comic book fan with a different approach: Call it cospaint.

Ms. Pike painstakingly turns herself into an array of characters with a paintbrush, bold colors and a steady hand. Thanks to a keen eye for lighting and shading, her metamorphosis into heroes and villains — male and female, human and alien — eerily resembles two-dimensional comic book art.

Her self-taught body painting has garnered a devoted following on Facebook, YouTube and the streaming video site Twitch, where she paints herself live every Wednesday and Saturday. “I’m very lucky to have found a niche,” she said.

Her admirers include fanboys turned professionals like Bryan Singer, the director of several films starring the X-Men, who posted “Love this artist!” on Instagram when she painted herself as the mutant villainess Dark Phoenix. When Ms. Pike became the alien Nebula, James Gunn, one of the screenwriters of “Guardians of the Galaxy,” channeled his inner Keanu Reeves with a tweet: “Whoa. Amazing.”