Via Design Crush I found these absolutely amazing teeny tiny paintings on just about any object you can think of, including, yes, makeup. The Curator loves anything miniature so naturally I was quite smitten. Actually, forget miniature – these are micro!
For over 30 years, Turkish artist Hasan Kale has been creating "micro art" on a dizzying range of small objects. His favorite subject is his native Istanbul, but occasionally he branches out with other motifs. While I'm impressed with all of the things he perceives to be his canvas, I was especially interested in his venture into makeup and beauty. Take a gander at this very intricate painting at the tip of a lipstick bullet. I'm dying to know how he did this without nicking the lipstick and having the color mix in with the painting.
I think I want to hire him to do my next manicure…
Hard to tell for sure, but this look like a cotton swab. Again, I have no idea how he got such a precise, detailed scene onto this – I would think the fibers would absorb the paint that's applied.
Here are some non-beauty-related but equally awesome pieces. While these tiny paintings can seem like a novelty, there is serious effort involved. Due to the miniscule size of the canvas, one wrong brushstroke can ruin the entire thing – Kale sometimes holds his breath to keep his hand steady. And it can take up to three days to finish one of these micro paintings. Three days doesn't seem like much, but it's actually a very long time when you consider that his canvases are only about half an inch wide. Talk about patience!
(images from instagram.com)
In this interview, Kale states the following about his work: "These are objects from daily life that people hardly ever think about. We don't pay much attention to them. Through my art I want to stress how nice these things can be. I deliberately choose difficult objects, though how small they are or how well they absorb paint is not so important. What is important is that they come to life and bring joy to people." That made me smile. Also, based on his comment about absorbing paint, I'm guessing he doesn't prime trickier surfaces like lipstick or cotton swabs, making the level of detail all the more miraculous. It seems unbelievable, so much so that the artist recorded several videos of himself at work to prove it's all done by hand.
What do you think?