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ARTIST CREATES AMAZING PORTRAITS ENTIRELY OUT OF WRITTEN WORDS

Published: 2023-02-06 00:39:53 Last Updated: 2023-02-06 10:59:32

Sonora-based artist Phil Vance creates stunning typographic portraits that are all hand-drawn. Referring to his patterns, textures and colours, the artist describes his process as "hatching but with words". From Einstein to Mark Twain, each portrait in the Own Words series pays homage to the historical and artistic figures Vance loved.
To shape the outlines, shadows, and details of each word portrait, Vance writes inspirational quotes from each subject thousands of times in varying sizes and layers. Vance tells My Modern Met in an email. "I started imagining portraits where I could look into people's skin and read their minds." “I was very excited about the portraits of de Kooning, Picasso and Escher. They are my favourite artists, so I wanted to pay homage to them in my own way and show their wisdom to others."

Feeling that using a black pen can sometimes seem monotonous, Vance has recently started exploring the possibilities of using colour. For one of his more recent portraits, Batman's Joker, Vance spent over 100 hours drawing quotes from The Dark Knight. Like pointillism, when viewed from a distance, handwritten typography blends together to create a single image. Looking closely, viewers can see countless words and sentences of different shades. “I like to think of my colour portraits as a hybrid between my words and the visual blend of Chuck Close,” says Vance.

Article Tags: Viral Text Words Handwritten Drawings Portraits Creates Artist