Today I have something fun to share. This is a cat portrait done in the Pet's in Costume series. For this commission the client chose the Postman from Vincent Van Gogh and I just loved how the overall painting has turned out. I think Van Gogh must be one of the most recognized artist in the world, but in case you like to have a refresher course in art history, here is a bit of background into before I show you how I painted the cat portrait all Van Gogh style.
Vincent Van Gogh was a genius when it came to paint application. He had freed himself from the confines of Classical painting that required plenty of layering of paints and just went to town with globs of paint.
Now to the fun part. Thanks to today's technology, I was able to use modern tools, like a computer, a tablet and a stylus and recreate Van Gogh's "Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin" but with a twist.
This is the photo that my client send me. First I had to lighten up and sharpen the photo. Then I removed the entire background and gave some thought as to how much of the neck to show. Once I had that figured out I ran the idea by my client and showed her a mock up. Discussing what the painting might look like before putting hours of work into a project is always a good idea and makes sure that the client is well aware of the next step. Once that stage was approved I started the painting process as you can see in the video. Every stroke was made using colors that were in the background go Van Gogh's painting to transform the cat's face to something he might have painted. This also meant that I had to make sure to apply thick brush strokes to simulate thick paint. Here is a little video where you can see the process.
View the entire collection of Pets in costume. If you like to order a similar portrait of your pet click below.
