The Bedroom Original Artwork

Based on the homonymous painting by Vincent, the inspiration for this project came to me while reading his biography and letters. Often depicted as a mad genius, I wanted to show a different side of him. Through color, lighting, and camera work, this project shows the ups and downs the artist went through while living in Arles. And especially, what the painting The Bedroom meant to him.

Hand-Painted 3D version of Vincent’s bedroom

As if embodying his ghost, the camera drifts through the painting, capturing the idyllic vision Vincent dreamed of—a painter's colony in the south of France. Suddenly, as if jolted awake from a dream, the camera pulls back, revealing reality. It’s still warm and full of promise, but undeniably lonely.

The shot concludes with a high-angle perspective, looking down on the moment of the painting's creation. Gradually, the colors lose their saturation, and the frame freezes. Vincent and his bedroom fade into a memory.

From the beginning, I wanted to get the textures right. I wanted people to want to touch the screen, especially for the painted version. By the time, during production, I tested digital brushes on the assets that I considered to be the main ones, like the bed and the chair, but didn’t get the results I was aiming for. So, I decided to do like Vincent did: to paint with real oil!

After all the 3D assets were modeled and their UVs done, I’d print the UVs, measure and draw them onto a canvas. Then, following the original painting as reference, I’d start painting, hoping that the end result would look something like the original. After that, I would take a high-resolution picture of the painted UV, and using Mari and Photoshop, apply them digitally into the 3D asset.

Printed and measured out UVs