My Cat and I - DIGITAL DOWNLOAD

Digital Download of :

“My Cat and I”
miniature paintings by Heather Castles

Felix catus, is your taxonomic nomenclature... shall I continue? If you've found this art you probably know the rest of an Ode to Spot! I chose to memorialize the relationship between the characters Data and his cat Spot in this Victorian era portrait style. I painted these miniature portraits on top of vintage prints which fit perfectly in their vintage frames. The original of these paintings are now in my personal collection, as I'm rather fond of them.

Prints of Victorian era portraits were very common. Looking at history, it's interesting to remember that without cameras, drawings and painted portraits were the only way of capturing one's image. It was common to have portraits painted of family members to document their life. Painted portraits were quite expensive... which would have influenced the trend of miniature portraits, which were more affordable due to their size and materials. (Although, I'll testify as an artist that while smaller means less paint, it doesn't mean less time... and it is extremely difficult to paint tiny!) 

So with that in mind, I enjoyed creating these portraits of Data & Spot in this older portrait style. As an android incapable of human emotion, Data's past times all revolved around activities that are uniquely human to help him better understand and perhaps become more human... including painting and owning a pet cat! Even though Data did not feel emotions, he had a familiarity of the pathways to his brain regarding Spot that were clearly indicative of care and love.

Data's exploration of painting was also fascinating to watch... he explored the art of painting to unlock his own creativity, another human concept that logically was out of Data's reach. In one episode, he was obsessively painting his first ever dream... even painting with both hands two paintings at once! 

In painting these portraits, I liked imagining that Data himself painted these portraits... perhaps he broke the prime directive and was stuck in time in the Victorian Era. And to pass the time, painted a pair of miniature portraits... one of himself, and one of his true and valued friend, Spot. 

IMPORTANT NOTICE :

This is a digital product you download. You will not receive a physical product.

FILE FORMAT :

This one is extra special to me so I've made it available in different options so you can print whichever size you like! You will receive 3 PDF files and 2 PNG files. These files will enable you to print high resolution prints up to 16 x 20 inches. The size is overall paper dimensions including the white border. Please note that the original paintings were 3.25 x 4.25 inches... very small as you can see from the photos! So white I scanned them at extremely high resolution and you CAN print much larger, in my opinion they will always look best printed around this size. 

mycatandi_5x7_1x125.png - this one is set up to print 1.25 x 1 inch portraits on a 5x7 inch photo paper, suitable for ornaments

mycatandi_5x7_25x35.png - this one is set up to print 2.5 x 3.5 inch portraits on a 5x7 inch photo paper

mycatandi_heathercastles.pdf - this one is both portraits merged together into one image, printable up to 16 x 20 inches

mycatandi1_heathercastles.pdf - this is an individual portrait, able to be printed up to 16 x 20 inches.'
mycatandi2_heathercastles.pdf - this is an individual portrait, able to be printed up to 16 x 20 inches.

DOWNLOADING YOUR FILE : 

When you complete your order, you will receive an email from Shopify with a download link. You can also find your purchased files in your Shopify account.

COLOR QUALITY : 

This file has been colour corrected to match the original painting. Color variations between on-site previews, your screen and printed artwork may occur. 

TERMS OF USE :

This product is authorized for personal use only. It is prohibited to modify and/or sell this product digitally or in print.

Since the products you purchased are digital, we cannot accept returns or cancellations.