Professor? - original upcycled vintage art

This painting is a nod to  Professor Lupin, and that moment after his transformation when the look in his eye changes from man to beast. 

“You know the man you truly are, Remus. This flesh is only flesh. This heart is where you truly live. This heart! Here!” —Sirius

This is the second of my transformation paintings… capturing each moment of transformation a werewolf goes through each full moon. Bones break, hair changes, teeth grow, cartilage stretches… it’s a painful process! 

I painted it starting from the human form, and then painted right over top of each stage to gradually morph it into the primal werewolf, completely unaware of his human heart and soul. 

The original portrait print of Johann Van Beethoven (Beethoven's youngest brother) may or may not have been cut out of a book! (I also used other old portraits from the same book of Beethoven as the bases for my transformation paintings featuring the four friends, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot & Prongs) 

A note on colour : This is a very good example of how light can change how a painting looks. You may have watched the process on Instagram... The original print was quite dark. But when I filmed painting it, I was painting under a soft white light... which reflects on the surface, creating the illusion of it being lighter than it is. But in natural lighting, which is the way it will be displayed mostly, the painting has much darker tones. The paint also has depth, and depending on the light, more blues or warm tones will stand out. So paintings do not have "one" way of looking, the light can bring out different colours in the paint. As an artist, when I create prints and digitals, I have to choose which version of lighting best captures my original painting. So with this digital download, I chose to match it with the actual painted artwork, capturing its depth and darker tones. I hope you enjoy it! 

Magical Map : To tie the series together of the portraits of the four schoolfriends, I used their magical map as backing on each of the framed paintings. The map connects when you put them all together. You might be able to spot me walking around the halls as well! 

"Professor?"
altered painting by Heather Castles

26 x 20 cm painting on vintage print
40 x 35 cm antique frame
Black matte, non-glare glass.