1/2 Sisters-in-law Carola and Trudy create a portrait using the Vullow painting technique (photo: Megan Hanegraaf).
Make a portrait without painting experience. This has been possible for a few years now with Vullow: a relatively new painting technique. A photo is divided into six layers using special software. These layers are projected one by one onto a canvas, and participants paint them on top of each other until the portrait is visible. Carola, who is visually impaired, is attending a workshop in Den Bosch. “If even a half-blind person can do it, anyone can,” she says, laughing.
From holiday snapshots to images of loved ones. The workshop participants arrive with personal photos, all with their own story. Sep (23) shows an old photo of him and his grandmother Annie (80). “We have a special bond. I visit her regularly and want to give this painting to her as a gift,” he says.
69-year-old Trudy comes in with a photo of herself. She wants to make a portrait that can later be placed on her coffin during her funeral. Four years ago she was told that she was terminally ill with lung cancer. “The doctors said I only had nine months to live. At one point I was in a wheelchair and I couldn’t walk for five minutes,” she says.
Thanks to immunotherapy, she is now free of cancer. The fact that she can paint her own canvas makes it extra special. “I hope to last a long time, but if that ever happens, I think it’s great that I leave something of myself behind.”
“It’s like painting by numbers.”
One by one, the photos appear on the canvas through a projector that hangs above the canvas. Jasper van der Wurff from Vullow supervises the process. “Our software converts each photo into six layers of light. You paint the layer that is illuminated on the canvas. When you have finished, you go to the next layer,” Van der Wurff explains as he points to one of the canvases.
“It’s like painting by numbers, because you have to paint the right subjects the right color. You just don’t paint numbers, but the light that falls on your canvas.” The creative people work layer by layer. After painting six times with six different colors, the portrait is ready.
“If a half-blind person can do it, then anyone can do it.”
The technology was invented and developed in the Netherlands. It took three and a half years before the first studio opened in Den Bosch. There are now studios in the Netherlands and also locations in London, India, China and Australia.
For 60-year-old Carola, the technology has a major impact. She has poor vision, especially in her right eye. “I used to be unable to do many things because of my poor eyesight. With my left eye I can now fully concentrate on the light shining on the canvas. That gives peace to my other eye, so I can do this,” she says while painting her self-portrait. Is it really as easy as it seems? “If a half-blind person can do it, then anyone can do it.”
Vullow is not only used as a hobby. In the United States, army bases are testing the technology on soldiers. “It helps with time management, but also with processing stress disorders, such as PTSD in people who work in war zones,” says Van der Wurff.
It is also used for grieving. “Families who lost a loved one during military service can paint the portrait of their deceased relative on the army base.”
In Den Bosch, people also regularly opt for a portrait of a deceased family member or pet. “You are working on something beautiful to commemorate. That makes it extra special. At the same time, you can concentrate on the work and let go of your worries for a while.”
After a few hours of painting, the portraits slowly appear. Participants take their final brushstroke, step back and see their work. First cautiously, then with pride. A laugh, sometimes a tear, and above all amazement that they made it themselves. “Very impressive,” Carola whispers about the portrait of her sister-in-law Trudy.