Artist Turns Famous Fictional Characters Into Real Life Paintings

Isabelle Staub/Instagram

An artist has made some arty things and we should all look at them because they’re arty and very good.

In a move that some people believe will ‘complete your childhood’ (as if it’s a level on a video game and not the basis for pretty much your entire psychological makeup, then again many of us work to get away from our childhood, so maybe the idea of ‘completing’ it might be beneficial…) artist Isabelle Staub has been recreating famous fictional (mainly) cartoon characters in realistic(ish) paintings, and they’re pretty amazing.

Staub is a Pennsylvania-based artist and illustrator, who fills her Instagram with sketches and paintings of her own versions of some of the most iconic female cartoon characters.

Belle, from Beauty and the Beast, for example:

Or Ariel from the 1989 version of The Little Mermaid:

There’s Princess Jasmine from the original Aladdin:

And Mulan:

Do you feel you childhood nearing completion? No? Need a few more?

How about Anastasia:

Or Cinderella:

Or, curveball, Debbie from The Wild Thornberrys:

Or maybe even one of the Powerpuff Girls:

Ah go on, have another Powerpuff Girl:

Ok, we can’t leave out Blossom now:

On her website, artist Isabelle describes her work as ‘a story reflecting my current vision which I enjoy sharing and connecting with my audience.’

Staub’s work, which focuses on portraiture and character design, has led her to work with some big names, such as Marvel Entertainment, Wacom and TikTok.

But anyway, back to the work, and Isabelle’s version of Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit:

Or Meg from Hercules:

How about Nani from Lilo & Stitch:

Velma from Scooby Doo:

Princess ‘Kida’ Kidagakash, from from Atlantis: The Lost Empire:

Here’s Isabelle’s interpretation of Halle Bailey, who will be playing Ariel in next year’s remake of The Little Mermaid:

Here’s Kim Possible:

And because it’s been about 24 hours since we posted anything Pennywise-related:

Childhood complete.

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Charlie Cocksedge

Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.