Van Gogh for Breakfast

Van Gogh for Breakfast
This Instructable will teach you how to re-create van Gogh’s iconic painting Starry Night with nothing but bacon. Buckle up! It’s gonna be a delicious, post-impressionistic ride!

First of all, you’ll need to find a clear image of Starry Night. Just pull up google images and print out the best one you can find! You’ll use this as a reference for proper bacon placement.

Gather the following supplies: x-acto knife or other sharp knife, small cutting board, large cutting board or cookie sheet that will accommodate an 11” x 15” picture, ruler, 1 package of turkey bacon, and 2 packages of regular bacon.

Factoid: raw bacon is an excellent moisturizer.
 
 
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Step 11) Slice

1) Slice
Like all foods that can be classified as delicious, bacon melts when it gets warm. To keep everything as solid as possible only work with one package of meat at a time. Let the rest chill in the fridge.

Open your first bag-o-bacon and, using the sharp knife, gently slice the individual pieces into long strips of white, pink, and red. Keep each strip as long as possible. When you have finished separating the entire first bag, move on to the turkey bacon. Slice up only half of the turkey bacon. Leave the rest of the turkey and the second bag of regular bacon whole. When all is said and done, you will have five piles of color –light turkey bacon, dark turkey bacon, red bacon, pink bacon, and white bacon fat.   

(sliced turkey bacon not pictured)
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32 comments
Jan 11, 2012. 11:26 AMedwardstreams says:
this is not their work.
Jan 5, 2012. 4:44 PMgodbacon says:
There must be a way to cook it assembled and video it cooking.
Oct 7, 2011. 7:42 AMKlayton Kress says:
I love your bacon work and this Van Gogh is my favorite but I read something that causes me to convulsively twitch every time i see it. You said, "This is a picture of layers, so start first with the swirling cloud, and then move onto the sun and the stars." The Sun is in fact the Moon. I'd suggest changing this one particular word, at least for my sake :), so I can stop these convulsive twitches.
Oct 9, 2011. 9:03 AMKlayton Kress says:
Also, you mentioned you didn't know how to transfer it from the cutting board to the baking sheet to bake it. If you could get a large enough baking sheet you could transfer it first to another cutting board then to the baking sheet. To do this get the same size cutting board you already have and place it on top of the one you have the bacon on. Then press them together, I'd advise c clamps cause they'll hold it together better and wont slip, and then flip the boards. Now you'll have the bottom of the bacon picture on top. Place the larger baking sheet over that and do another flip. I would suggest maybe coating it in water first and freezing as this will hold the image together better and keep it from slipping around. then bake and post pics.
May 15, 2011. 11:34 PMKentuckySam says:
BACON STRIPS &
BACON STRIPS &
BACON STRIPS &
BACON STRIPS
May 16, 2011. 12:10 PMJumpin Jehosaphat says:
aaaaaaaah
next time, we eat a tiger!
May 16, 2011. 11:45 AMslaitch says:
Disassemble? No way! Do this same thing, but in a baking dish. Then bake it. Possibly incorporate cheese in some way. Maybe use a clear dish and a layer of cornbread batter across the top...
May 16, 2011. 10:49 AMEv says:
How about "The Scream"? Figure in bacon, the rest of the painting in vegan food?
May 16, 2011. 7:40 AMlpkid1057 says:
Seriously, this bacon pandemic has gotten out of hand. I understand this could really be considered art, but.... it was only created because it was going to be made out of bacon. I would argue it wasn't created just for the art.

Its getting old. It's wasteful. You have too much time on your hands.
May 16, 2011. 8:20 AMlpkid1057 says:
"you" as in the bacon movement / remembrance.

I applaud you for the work, it looks great. But how about we move to lesser known and less appriciated foods.

No disrespect meant towards you in particular, but really. Stop with the bacon.
May 15, 2011. 4:19 PMthecheatscalc says:
Wait, do you think you could just do this in a pan and bake it?
May 13, 2011. 5:28 PMeshatkin says:
Hi there:

I love your bacon "Starry Night" instructional guide. I want to do a post about it for LA Weekly's food blog, Squid Ink. Can I use the photo of the finished art to illustrate the post? We will, of course, credit and link back to you. Thanks.
May 13, 2011. 7:28 AMPolkadotmom says:
This is truly great!! I was in a master of fine art class when I worked on my bacon potholder. We need to collaborate on something on line as now my mindis totally greasy! I made potholder out of turkey bacon one time, veggie bacon another and regular another. Then I joined Weight Watchers after cutting all that fat apart.

Polkadot mom
May 12, 2011. 7:24 AMkennan says:
This is really special. I once saw the original at the MoMA, and I actually teared up. Were I to see this up close I would surely break down sobbing.

I would, out of morbid curiosity, like to see it baked as-is.
May 12, 2011. 1:32 PMrattatner says:
Oh yes!!! I was just thinking the same thing. Bake it! Just pop it in the oven. I bet it'd really bring out the 'colors'.
May 12, 2011. 4:16 PMpreeves1 says:
Looks good enough to eat. lol
May 12, 2011. 12:48 PMstudleylee says:
Holy Moley: That is funny and looks great!!! One of my
May 12, 2011. 12:49 PMstudleylee says:
favorite paintings!
May 12, 2011. 12:11 PMGingerMonkey says:
I love the monochrome effect - next stop: Picasso's Guernica!
May 12, 2011. 9:12 AMkdrodgers says:
Amazing Job!!! I never knew you could turn bacon into art....well, bacon is an art all by itself I guess!!!!
May 11, 2011. 4:29 PMcanida says:
I'm shocked by the variety of color and texture you can make from bacon. Beautifully executed!
May 11, 2011. 4:23 AMKaptain Kool says:
Awesome job!
May 10, 2011. 7:27 PMsplazem says:
Job well done!
May 10, 2011. 6:13 PMmary candy says:
very nice
May 9, 2011. 3:17 PMeinafets says:
Superfantastic!
May 9, 2011. 2:25 PMpoofrabbit says:
This is rad! I gave you my vote, good luck!
May 8, 2011. 11:52 PMSHIFT! says:
Very impressive! I'm not an artist but as a abstractionist I must say this is very "post modern"!

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