It all started when a friend requested to have a painting made. Christina Hess was asked to paint Queen Elizabeth but with an unusual twist. She had to improvise a little by painting a cat’s face instead of the queen’s. It turned out that she had a lot more fun doing it than she thought she would..
She never wanted to be an illustrator who paints cats in human clothing, but after she finished Queen Elhissabeth and realized how much fun she had doing it, she decided to expand on the idea. She sourced funds to continue via Kickstarter, and she’s gone on to paint numerous interpretations of historical figures as animals.
Queen Elhissabeth
William Shakesbeared
Marie Antoinippe
Anne of Sleeves
Cleopetra
Elvis Petme
Bodhissatva Jizo
Kiddy Roosevelt
M.L. Jobs
Cata Hari
The Fitzgeralds
(via BoredPanda)
Hess has more paintings coming but this time she’ll be using other models as well aside from cats. She’s thinking of using rabbits, dogs, pit bulls, and foxes among others.