Louis - Best Cat Painter Ever!

So my new favorite craft is actually one I used to do a whole bunch, cross-stitch!  This was a logical choice for summer crafting because I had a lot of leftover supplies from before and didn't have to spend a lot of money getting new ones.  I love following cute patterns, but I realize if I am ever going to take them to a craft fair, or sell something on etsy, it is going to have to be my own design!  I started by just seeing if I could convert a picture into a pattern.  The first experiment involved a painting that is one of three cat paintings that I picked up at the Geary Street Goodwill back in like 2000 for $.99 each.  Each one is signed by artist named Louis with the date 1995.  Louis is an enigma that has fascinated me and my friends ever since.  We love Louis!  What I did was trace the painting first with tracing paper, then I traced it onto graph paper and then used that to make a cross-stitch.  Not bad huh? I know I'm going to have to make two because I got two girls in mind that this will make a great Christmas gift for!

 This is my bathroom where the Louis paintings live.

 Tracing the original tracing onto graph paper to make a cross-stitch pattern.

 Comparison of cross-stitch to original.

Finished product!  Now I'm working on the other two.