This Artist Creates A Stunning Portrait From 3 Million Ink Dots

David Bayo creates realistic portraits by covering his canvas in millions of tiny dots.
Jessica Miley

Watching artist David Bayo create this artwork is absolutely mesmerizing. Bayo uses a stippling or dot technique to bring the portrait of Astrée to life.

The technique is an age-old drawing method that has also been replicated by most inkjet printers. The difference being the dots created by a printer are too small to see. Bayo’s work is a labor of love, this single piece of artwork with 3 million dots required more than 300 hours to complete the image.

Painting using this technique is derived from pointillism, the method of creating a single image from a multitude of dots. The first impressionists also used elements of this technique when they developed the revolutionary painting style in the late 1800’s.

Bayo’s YouTube channel plays host to a bunch of wonderful art process videos. He shows off his laborious methods by speeding up the creation of the artworks from beginning to end so you can be rewarded with seeing the fully completed work in just a few minutes.

If you enjoyed the magic of the Astrée portrait be sure to check out the dreamy story of the tiger and the bird rendered in ink.

Bayo is a French artist who specializes in drawing, painting, and illustration. You can buy both the original prints of Bayo's magical artworks on his website with prices ranging from 40 to 4000 euro.