For some months now I have been part of Instagram's Surreal Harmony Art Collective community. In December there was an auction themed Winter Wonders. This time we decided on a Tim Burton movies theme. It took a while before I decided which character to portray, but eventually I decided on creating a portrait of Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman from Batman Returns.

Tim Burton movies as a source of inspiration

Tim Burton movies have always had a special place in my heart. Most of his movies I've seen more than once. I like his quirky and very distinctive style. His usage of dark colors, the dark humor in his stories...

Some of my favorite Tim Burton movies are Nightmare before Christmas, Corpse Bride and Batman Returns.

It took a while for me to decide which Tim Burton character to paint. After all, he has created such a wide collection of quirky characters through the years. But one of his most iconic characters to me is Catwoman in Batman Returns, played magnificently by Michelle Pfeiffer.

Painting Catwoman

As soon as I decided, the Catwoman portrait soon became reality. All and all I worked about four hours on this acrylic painting. As you can see it did not become a photo realistic portrait. I tried combining Michelle Pfeiffer's facial characteristics with my big eyes.

By placing her hand partly in front of her face the image becomes less static. Also by the fact that I turned the panel 45 degrees. By placing the hand and the whip in the image, this creates a sort of depth.

Catwoman color pallet

For the portrait of Catwoman I made use of a limited color pallet. I used the following colors:

• Titanium White
• Black
• Ultramarine
• Alizarine
• Carmine
• Yellow ochre
• Lemon yellow
• Phtalo green

One of the most fun parts of painting to me is mixing the colors for the skintone. It's always a small challenge, especially with acrylic paint. Because acrylics tend to darken somewhat when it dries up. When the paint is wet and you put it on the canvas, the colors are lighter.

Tim Burton movies auction

The Surreal Harmony Art Collective auction runs from March 1st until the 4th on Instagram. Purchase information can be found on their page.

Would you like to keep posted on my artwork? I regularly post updates on Instagram. You will find my work through @saskiafrankensaers