Making a photo look and feel like an oil painting - possible?

[kasperbergholt]

Clever people,


I'm working on a project titled Flora Excursoria Hafniensis where I'd like to transform giclée printed large-format photos into looking like oil paintings from around 1848 - towards the end of the Romantic period.

Perhaps using acid, chlorine, natural or synhetic wax, shellac, other types of varnish, linseed oil, bees' wax, etc.

I think the protective layer of the print needs to be removed gently and if possible non-intrusively to the colour pigments of the print, but a certain blur might be okay and perhaps also add to the illusion.

After that I'm thinking of adding layers of varnish, perhaps some formula that was used in the 1850s.

I've tried having oil paitings made based on digital files in China by companies specialized in copying e.g. some of the big French painters - e.g. Monét. It never turned out very well, sadly.

Looking forward to getting your inputs.

Thanks