HE may not be a real impressionist, but he does a damn good impression.

Oxford graphic designer Steve Monk-Chipman has reached the top ten of an international competition to find the world's best Van Gogh lookalike.

More than 5,300 people have voted for him on the website iamvincent.com, but he still has a way to go to beat Danish frontrunner Petter Samuelson's 32,200.

Mr Monk-Chipman is now in eighth place out of more than 950 entrants to win the grand prize – a bronze sculpture of his own head.

The first time anyone told him he looked like the Dutch painter was four weeks ago.

Now the 26-year-old, who works at Oxford PR firm Bottle, says it is his "life's ambition" to win the contest.

He told the Oxford Mail: "I'm absolutely loving it at the moment – I think it's the narcissism.

"It's been a huge Facebook and Twitter campaign, a lot of people are getting behind me.

"I'm really lucky I work for a PR company – their expertise are coming in handy."

The bizarre competition is being run by Canadian artist and novelist Douglas Coupland: after getting a commission to make a "large bronze sculpture" he decided to crowd-source his muse.

Mr Monk-Chipman was sent a link to the contest website in June – coincidentally just a week after he was first told he looked like the earless artist.

If he wins, the Headington resident will be flown out to Vancouver, where Mr Coupland will make a 3D scan of his head and then use that to create the bust.

He will also get 5,000 Euros, but the graphic designer said: "That's the last think I'm thinking about at the moment – that bust is my life's ambition right now."

He said he wasn't sure where the bust would be displayed, or if it might travel to different museums, but he said: "If my head went on tour that would be the dream."

After growing up in Essex, Mr Monk-Chipman came to Oxford eight years ago to study architecture at Oxford Brookes University.

He now works as a graphic designer for East Oxford-based Bottle, seeking his inspiration from iconic prints and magazine fonts.

When it comes to post-impressionist Dutch oil painting, he admitted he is not so much of a fan.

Regarding Van Gogh's artwork he said: "It's not something I would ever have on the wall."

The Brookes graduate asked Oxford Mail readers to help him achieve his "life's ambition" and vote for him online at iamvincent.com