![Fat Cat Art](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Fat-Cat-Art.jpg)
And that’s what Russian artist Svetlana Petrova did, using her fat ginger cat as a model. Her project, known as “Paintings Made Better With Cats” or simply “Fat Cat Art“, has since gained worldwide acclaim.
But though her painting-renovations may seem lighthearted, and it makes you want to laugh, the background behind how she got started is far from a happy one…
I lost my mother in 2008 and she left me Zarathustra. I got horrible depression after her death and for two years I was unable to do something creative. By chance a friend asked me ‘why don’t you make an art project with your cat because he’s so funny’.
![Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, True version | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, True version | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/leonardo_mona_lisa_cat_sm.jpg)
![Adriaen van Utrecht, Still Life | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces Adriaen van Utrecht, Still Life | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/adriaen-van-utrecht-still-life-cat-w.jpg)
![Botticelli, Pallas and the Cat | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces Botticelli, Pallas and the Cat | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/botticelli-pallas-and-the-centaur-cat-sm.jpg)
I’ve had cats before and included them in my work, like playing in THEATER shows and I’ve made costumes for them. But I thought, ‘What can I do with Zarathustra, because my mother spoilt him and he’s so fat’.
![Botticelli, The Birth of Venus | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces Botticelli, The Birth of Venus | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/botticelli-the-birth-of-venus-cat-sm.jpg)
![Caravaggio, Bacchus: Wine vs Catnip | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces Caravaggio, Bacchus: Wine vs Catnip | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Caravaggio-BACCHUS-cat-w.jpg)
![Paul Cézanne, The Cat Card Players | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces Paul Cézanne, The Cat Card Players | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Cezanne-Cat-Card-Players-w.jpg)
Zarathustra likes posing and is a really intelligent cat. He likes to lie on his back and make strange faces like he’s speaking with somebody, so I began to take photos of him and inserted them into paintings.
![Jacques-Louis David, Napoleon Crossing the Alps | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces Jacques-Louis David, Napoleon Crossing the Alps | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/david_-_bonaparte_franchissant_le_grand_saint-bernard_20_mai_1800-cat-w.jpg)
![Leonardo da Vinci. Lady with a Cat pretending to be an Ermine | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces Leonardo da Vinci. Lady with a Cat pretending to be an Ermine | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/leonardo-da-vinci_-lady-with-an-ermine-cat-w.jpg)
![Michelangelo, The Creation of cAt-dam | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces Michelangelo, The Creation of cAt-dam | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Michelangelo_-_Creation_of_cAt-dam-cat-w.jpg)
I liked the result so I sent it to some friends, other artists and galleries. Everyone laughed so much, so I made a website, but then forgot about it because I had another project.
![Rembrandt, Danae | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces Rembrandt, Danae | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/rembrandt_danae_cat-sm.jpg)
![Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, The Night Watch | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, The Night Watch | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/rembrandt_nghtwatch-rijks-cat-w.jpg)
After a few months, another friend saw my cat work in my albums and asked why I had it. I told him it was my cat and he said: ‘Your cat is all over the internet!’
![Diego Velazquez, Philip IV on Catback | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces Diego Velazquez, Philip IV on Catback | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/velazquez-philipiv-cat-sm.jpg)
![Johannes Vermeer, The Kitchen Maid and the Cat | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces Johannes Vermeer, The Kitchen Maid and the Cat | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/vermeer-the-milkmaid-cat.jpg)
![Vasnetsov, The Russian Hero Cat | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces Vasnetsov, The Russian Hero Cat | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Untitled-4.jpg)
![Emanuel Leutze, “Washington Crossing the Delaware in a boat piloted by the Fat Cat” | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces Emanuel Leutze, “Washington Crossing the Delaware in a boat piloted by the Fat Cat” | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Untitled-2.jpg)
![John Trumbull, Declaration of Independence | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces John Trumbull, Declaration of Independence | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Untitled-3.jpg)
![Sir Henry Raeburn, Skating Minister and Skating Cat. | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces Sir Henry Raeburn, Skating Minister and Skating Cat. | Fat Orange Ginger Cat Paintings Photobombing Famous Masterpieces](https://theendearingdesigner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Untitled-1.jpg)
It’s not the first time an artist’s pet has helped them recover from a creative slump and times of depression. Indeed, you might even say that pets and art go well together, like pizza and pasta.
If you’re an artist and you’re having a hard time getting your creative vibes back, maybe it’s time to go out, capture a wild bunny, and turn it into a pet. Who knows what masterpieces you’ll come up with…