Melbourne residents woke to the sight of a huge hot air balloon depicting famous artist Vincent Van Gogh's head floating over their city.
Goldrush Ballooning, based in Melbourne, had managed to get its hands on the unique balloon which is a faithful reproduction of one of the artist's most famous works, Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat.
'The balloon is totally unique, it is a flying piece of art work,' Goldrush Ballooning pilot Paul Gibbs told Daily Mail Australia.
Melbourne residents woke this morning to see a huge hot air balloon of famous artist Vincent Van Gogh's head floating over their city
A high resolution image was taken of the original art work before a 3D model was created.
The 3D reproduction was then used to model the hot air balloon.
'The brush strokes were faithfully reproduced on the balloon and each panel was individually produced before coming together,' Mr Gibbs said.
Mr Gibbs said the flight across Melbourne on Thursday morning was part of the promotional campaign for the upcoming King Valley Balloon Festival, taking place from June 7 to June 10.
'We have 20 hot air balloons for the festival and I would say to anyone who has never flown in a fleet of balloons before to come down and tick that off your bucket list,' Mr Gibbs said.
The AUS$405,784 balloon presents some extra challenges in flight, even for experienced pilots like Mr Gibbs.
With such a high cost of production Mr Gibbs said they were lucky that Visit Victoria helped get the balloon to Melbourne but also a sponsorship by a Dutch brewery.
'One of things we do here is fly special shaped balloon,' Mr Gibbs said.
But even he had to be cautious with this unique balloon.
'Its vertical performance isn't as crisp as other balloons so you have to fly slowly and carefully,' Mr Gibbs said.
Mr Gibbs said he hopes the unique balloon will
