Recreating famous paintings

This lovely customer, Dennis, in California has discovered how much fun it can be to recreate some famous paintings - he started a Girl with a Pearl Earring kit, and I think he's hooked on this mindful and soothing hobby. Scroll down to see his lovely comments on Painted by You. 

His next project was this version of The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius. this painting kit includes a tube of metalic gold paint for the gold flash on the birds wing. Dennis has done a really nice job of the painting.

He then wanted to recreate a Caravagio - St. Francis in Ecstasy. This was a big challenge for me and I decided I needed to use a limited colour palette in earth tones, rather than try to accurately reproduce the full colour palette.

There’s a subtle shift from the lighter tones having yellow ochre tints and then through mid tones with burnt sienna then more burnt umber is introduced in the darker areas. This is his work in progress, he has more touching up to do.

I'm looking forward to seeing the other kits Dennis has ordered. I'm very excited to see his version of Night Hawks by Edward Hopper. This iconic painting has an amazing range of colours and it took hours to mix the bespoke greens but it was an enjoyable challenge. Here is the artwork and some of the paint colours - I'll post the finished painting when Dennis sends me a photo.

He has also ordered this Black and White version of American Gothic by Grant Wood, which must be one of the most famous American paintings of the 20th Century. 

Below is the latest project Dennis has ordered. It's a painting called Moonlight Wolf by Frederic Remington. This will be an interesting one to see how Dennis will try to recreate the brush work in the sky - I've sent him a spare painting template to practice on and the paint I provided is slightly transparent. Very much looking forward to seeing it!

Above is the original painting and below is the artwork that i created for the paint by numbers kit

Here is Dennis's review of Painted by You:

Review:
These are fantastic oil painting kits, produced by an amazing company. Their customer service has been great. I'm dealing from 8 time zones away with no problems. 
Lorna's understanding of art, and what will work, given their process, has been exciting for me. Currently have several kits waiting to start. 
The ability to work with oil paints vs the standard acrylic kits is really no comparison. Oil gives you so much more ability to blend and smooth edges which produce great results.
If you've  decided to invest the time it takes to do a painting kit, you really want to end up with a finish product that reflects that time investment, which only oil paint can do. 
I would suggest you order a frame for your new pictures, because you're going to want to display it. 
Dennis
Coronado, California.

Thank you Dennis for sending your photos, and such interesting orders and your thoughtful review.

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