A 16-year-old did his father's makeup - and their photos are going viral

On Mother's Day, 16-year-old high school student and budding makeup artist Spencer Claus gifted his mom with a makeover.

Doing his dad's makeup was, of course, the next logical step.

The photoset, a father-son look with matching dark lipstick and sharp contouring, has since been retweeted over 10,000 times.

"It was so funny trying to direct him," he said of the photoshoot. "It was like, 'No, no, put your finger closer to the corner of your mouth."

From his home in Scottsdale, AZ, Claus creates dramatic makeup looks and shares them with followers across Twitter and Instagram. He said he got into makeup through his love of acting onstage.

"Theater led me into makeup because I spent so much time backstage," he said. "I always thought it was so cool the way foundation and rouge and contouring could seriously transform the way someone looks. You can turn a 6 into 9. You can alter someone's appearance, which I just thought was magical."

Claus, who identifies as genderqueer, said that reactions to the father-son photoset have been mostly positive, commending his father for "parenting done right," but that he does receive hateful messages.

"Most of the responses I get if it has to do with men wearing makeup are 'It's not natural for men to wear makeup.' Well, it's not natural for anyone. No woman is born with mascara and matte liquid lipstick on. It's a series of chemicals and pigments that you're applying on your face to enhance features that you have."

Claus' artistry also inspires others to shatter stereotypes about makeup and who can wear it. He often receives messages from boys who try putting it on for the first time.

"If it's a movement, I didn't create it, because boys have been wearing makeup long before me. But if I can make one boy feel better about wearing makeup then I've been fantastically successful."