Vector illustration collection and 2D animation personal project dedicated to three of the most iconic muses in art history: Frida Kahlo (we all know she was her own muse, as she often confessed), The Girl with a pearl earring (Johannes Vermeer’s muse) and Mona Lisa (La Gioconda, Leonardo da Vinci’s muse). My aim was to redesign in a personal manner these famous portraits, mixing vintage and modern aesthetics: grain textures, flat colours, block shading, elegant inking, grain textures, realistic and stylized shapes, and a vibrant color palette.

For my interpretation of Frida’s masterpiece, Me and my parrots, I felt inspired by the Mexican culture, with its bold and joyful colours and decorative elements. I chose to depict the subject and her excentric birds on a tropical landscape, as you can see banana leaves behind them. The sun is one of the most beloved symbols I like to use in my illustrations, and it was suited to highlight this bright and bold composition. The original masterpiece was painted in 1941 and is kept in the Harold Stream collection, in New Orleans, U.S.A.

For my vision of The Girl with a pearl earring, the notorious masterpiece painted by Johannes Vermeer, I chose to depict the main character in a picturesque Dutch landscape, so familiar to Vermeer: a view towards the traditional windmills from Zaanse Schans, Holland. The original masterpiece painted by Vermeer around 1665, is kept in the Mauritshuis collection, in The Hague, Netherlands.

Famous for her mysterious smile, Mona Lisa (La Gioconda) portrays Lisa Gherardini, an Italian noblewoman who was painted by Leonardo da Vinci around 1503-1506. In my interpretation, I chose to highlight Mona Lisa’s decorative elements, including the veil which is almost invisible in the original masterpiece. Because this portrait has a background in the original reference, I kept the main original elements but stylized them in a contemporary manner. The original masterpiece is kept in the Louvre Museum, in Paris, France.

This personal project was featured on Adobe Live Re-Work it 1/2 and Re-work it 2/2

Vector illustrations created in Adobe Illustrator, on Wacom Cintiq 16, and animated in Adobe After Effects.