About 10 years ago, Alexander Gustave Tollen picked up an artist’s brush for the first time. Having been in the financial world his entire life with no known artistic abilities, the challenge of trying to recreate a painting he saw and liked was a monumental task, the results of which… “Turned out pretty terrible,” he says of his copycat efforts. “I mean it wasn’t that bad, but it wasn't great, either.” What he lacked in ability he more than made up for with tenacity. He subsequently took a few classes and began painting as much as possible. After enjoying painting various projects for family/friends, about five years ago he started working with spray paint and stencils, inspired by graffiti artists. It took about three years, but he eventually perfected a process with spectacular results. Now he specializes in dog portraits. Working under the name Gustave, his portraits are known simply as Gustave’s Dogs.
Gustave enjoys the process of creating an artist’s rendition, but also insist that the paintings are very accurate. “They’re very representative of the dog,” he says of the portraits. “Your dog has a certain look and expression that you know well — that’s what I’m trying to capture.” From certain angles, a Gustave’s Dog can take on an almost photographic quality.
To start the process, he puts a base layer of several coats of acrylic paint on the canvas and then he cuts stencils to create the image of the dog. To date, all of the commission work Gustave has painted has been dog portraits. But he also makes art for himself and family/friends, stencils based on photographs of architecture, train platforms and flowers, among other subject matter. He sometimes hangs his artwork in Times Ten Cellars, whose owners are friends.
Gustave's vision of the future? To hang a Gustave's Dog painting in the white house! And in yours......
