Streamer and painter is living the dream painting Renaissance pokémon (Picture: van der Woude)
A Twitch streamer who paints pokémon as if they’re from the Renaissance era tells GameCentral how his hobby could be life-changing.
Less than a month ago Jochum van der Woude proudly showed off his Bulbasaur and Pikachu paintings on Reddit, saying, ‘I am working on 151 renaissance Pokémon paintings and haven’t seen my girlfriend since.’ In the meantime he’s been bombarded with requests from people who want to see their favourite pokémon done in the same style.
Van der Woude started offering the paintings for €151 (£130) – symbolic of the 151 original pokémon – but quickly realised he could double his price.
With a backlog of over 100 requests for his very niche paintings, his Reddit post could turn out to be life-changing, as he’s now also contemplating going full-time.
‘Oof, I got swarmed,’ he told GameCentral. ‘I’m currently doing two paintings a week, and my house is filled with pokémon!’
What started as a fun challenge to paint all 151 original pokémon has turned into a lucrative hobby, and the interest doesn’t seem to be fading.
‘It’s been great. I just took an order for five paintings from one customer. I earn the same as my entry level job in a call centre. So, in a few months I’ll have a look and see if I can quit my job – all because of Reddit.’
van der Woude during a streaming session on Twitch (Picture: van der Woude)
The Reddit post in question has now grown to over 19,000 upvotes and, understandably, it’s sparked huge interest in the paintings.
Van der Woude tells us that his initial asking price of £130 has now almost doubled to £205-250, as a result of the interest and people telling him he’s undervaluing his art.
He’s taken on 10 commissions so far, but another 25 people have accepted his terms and he has a backlog of over 100 other interested buyers. Considering this, he could probably raise his price even more.
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At the moment he’s working on paintings of Chansey, Lapras, Alakazam, Dugtrio, and two Psyducks. He reveals that Pikachu, Charmander, and, surprisingly, Gengar are the most sought-after pokémon.
van der Woude’s has his hands full (Picture: van der Woude)
All isn’t going smoothly, however, as van der Woude says he’s having issues with people stealing his art and offering printed versions to his potential customers. He’s clearly found a lucrative corner of the art world, and people are taking notice with good and bad intentions.
Van der Woude’s plan for now is to dish out as many paintings as he can and look into how he can make money producing prints of his art as well. If it all goes to plan, it’s safe to say he won’t be working at the call centre for long.
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A Twitch streamer who paints pokémon as if they’re from the Renaissance era tells GameCentral how his hobby could be life-changing.Â
