Meghan Markle And Prince Harry Get A Dirty Royal Portrait Painting
A creative pop culture portrait artist used an unusual method to paint a picture of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Most people would consider a white carpet covered with dark stains an eyesore, but Nathan Wyburn managed to turn a heavily soiled rug into a royal work of art.
As reported by People, Nathan Wyburn is a Welsh artist who is known for using bizarre media to pay tribute to the royals; he’s cooked up a pizza portrait of the queen, and he’s used pieces of burnt toast to recreate a photo of Prince William and Kate Middleton. For his first painting of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, he also used a few ingredients commonly found in kitchens to create his own unique media. However, his paint was an inedible mixture that consisted of coffee, wine, and mud. Markle would likely approve of the wine, but not the coffee; she loves red wine so much that she named her lifestyle website, The Tig, after the Tignanello Super Tuscan blend. When it comes to coffee, Markle told Shape that she’d rather get an energy boost by downing a glass of green juice.
Speaking of energy, Nathan Wyburn definitely needed plenty of it to complete his larger-than-life portrait of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle; a 20-foot piece of white carpet was his canvas.
You Will Never Believe How This 'Strange-Smelling' Harry and Meghan Portrait Was Made https://t.co/zqFJruarvo
— People (@people) January 5, 2018
While he’s no stranger to using strange media to create his artwork, Wyburn actually didn’t come up with the idea to create a Harry and Meghan carpet himself. His latest royal portrait was commissioned by Dr. Beckmann, a brand of stain remover. To help the company prove that its products are the real deal, Wyburn was asked to soil the white carpet with his messy mixture. He then used Dr. Breckmann’s carpet stain remover to scrub an image of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle onto the massive canvas. The artist titled his work “Love Cleans Up.”
It appears that the photo Nathan Wyburn used as a reference for his painting was one of the snapshots taken shortly after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced their engagement on November 27. As reported by Us Weekly, their first photo call as an engaged couple took place in the Sunken Gardens at Kensington Palace.
Getting Meghan Markle’s face right was a challenge for Wyburn because her teeth were visible in the photo he chose to recreate. However, he scrubbed until he managed to remove all the wine, mud, and coffee stains from her pearly whites.
“Little things like teeth were difficult to get too,” said Wyburn. “Meghan was smiling in the photo, so I made sure her teeth were really, really white and that they stand out quite a lot.”
.@NathanWyburnArt created a celebrity artwork of Harry & Meghan?, using @DrBeckmannUK Carpet Stain Remover! He used our award-winning product to clean a stained carpet to reveal a portrait of the glamorous royal couple ?
RT+F to #win this amazing product and try it yourself! pic.twitter.com/aiM6GrJm2a
— Dr Beckmann (@DrBeckmannUK) January 5, 2018
The artist said that he was “pleased” with how the portrait turned out, but the mixture of carpet cleaner and staining substances gave his finished work a rather “strange smell.” Wyburn revealed that he doesn’t plan on sending the giant portrait to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, but he believes that the royal couple would appreciate it for its “quirkiness.”
This isn’t the first time a company has used a portrait of a royal couple to promote its products. As reported by the Mirror, the Swizzels Matlow candy company commissioned a portrait of Prince William and Kate Middleton made out of thousands of sugary Love Hearts ahead of their 2011 wedding. According to Business Insider, Papa John’s also celebrated their marriage with edible artwork; a pizza portrait of Will and Kate commissioned by the fast food chain was made out of mushrooms, cheese, salami, black olives, and other pizza toppings.
