When I was in my early twenties, fresh out of art college, I decided to copy Rembrandt’s Old Man in a Soldier’s Uniform. Back then, in the pre-internet and pre-computer era, I had no idea about the tradition of making master copies, but it just felt like a natural way to learn. I loved the challenge, and even though I’d only used oils a handful of times, I was completely hooked. Sadly, that was the last chance I had to paint with oils for a long time, but the experience stayed with me.
Fast forward thirty-plus years, and I decided to revisit this masterpiece. Old Man in a Soldier’s Uniform has always held a special meaning for me, so this time, I approached it using modern tools: my Wacom tablet and Photoshop. In many ways, it felt like coming full circle.
A few years after leaving art college, I went back into education to study computing, with the goal of pursuing a career in computer graphics. At the time, though, computer graphics was in its infancy, and breaking into the field was incredibly tough. It was far easier to find a job in general computing, which is where my career eventually led. Revisiting Rembrandt’s work digitally now feels like a perfect fusion of my artistic beginnings and the path my career eventually took.
