Artist Makes Portraits On Glass With Just A Hammer

Simon burger has been working with portraits made out of glass like these for three years it's a process that requires delicately hammering glass to create just the right cracks to form a face sometimes it takes him one try but other times it can take him five and an expensive series of mishaps could cost hundreds of Swiss francs one wrong hit and he'll have to start all over again first to understand Simon's portraits you have to understand his unusual canvas glass is pretty much monochromatic so the first secret to making the portraits pop is creating dimension through light and dark sections the process is similar to a pencil artist drawing on a white canvas to create more shadow and depth they'll press harder and go over the section more times Simon does the same thing but with glass and a hammer before all the hammering the process starts with a photo he sets up a photo shoot in order to have a face to reference in his work and it's the image to adjust the contrast to make the photo more vivid and then sketches it on the glass then he moves on to the first blow young again when the frequency obstructs on the Indonesian - whoa holy album oh wow this counts across get so ship in a Lynette it's about cigars mortadella he's developed his techniques through trial and error to get the depth he wants he now has a clear idea of how many times he has to hit the glass but that's not all he also needs to know how hard to hit it every time unlike a traditional canvas too much force and the canvas will shatter in a way that he doesn't want meaning he may have to start over one thing that helps minimize the chances of shattering the whole piece is the type of glass he uses Simon works with laminated safety glass this type of glass holds together when it's shattered because it has an inner plastic layer that makes it more durable than normal glass and if it's shattered it will stay together in one piece the cracks in the glass are different shades of white depending on their depth the more shallow cracks create a dull white color and serve as the background for the face the more important part is creating the deeper brighter shades of white that will help guide your eyes to see the full picture this is done by hammering in one specific area multiple times the more often the hammer hits the glass the more vibrant the cracks become creating the appearance of white lines he uses this technique to create details like the white of an eye hammering it too many times might create too many bright lines which will blur the actual detail and doing it too little might mean the detail will get lost in the lighter cracks Simon's work has made its way on to storefront windows and he's installing one of his pieces at a landmark location in Bern Switzerland the Loeb department store which is a tourist attraction equivalent to the Macy's storefront windows in New York City oh and you don't work with my own apiece Clark Albert and wanna yell arrays class nor a chance on the resistor nervous Asia we have a theory same won't quit oh you're a girl originates Spanish desire but coupled clocker orders ready to spit ck this race for a bit rocked the fun part about Simon's work is that you don't always see the face right away you have to stand far enough away from the right spot for your eyes to adjust and see the face appear Thank You mr. leach canal socket with no harsh tone I wished ask say the cost of sales old his hoof and mouth and hood thingy shake it like fish pond endure when went with Mangler married a miracle but as it's the devil is massage and permit croc dispersive assist us not say short on thought extra provocative passage punched the sack on Steam

Channel: Art Insider

Views: 3,595,187

Rating: 4.9580317 out of 5

Keywords: INSIDER, glass, portraits, transformative, art, swiss

Id: gUQ5ESK0rgU

Length: 4min 48sec (288 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 12 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/Shdhdhsbssh]

That's pretty cool. Genuinely a new technique i've not seen before.

[u/Gunnah2147]

He is a "Alm öhi"

[u/Eedy28]

That’s absolutely amazing!!!!

[u/BrownStallion1240]

Do all great artists have a little bit of crazy in them?

[u/ICall_Bullshit]

Fuckin hell is that vo annoying. Bitch I know how glass cracks work.

[u/lowrads]

So, percussive intaglio in ceramics?

[u/VOIDPCB]

Glass is such a horrible material to work with.

[u/[deleted]]

He looks like he’s about to commit Joker

[u/whogivesashirtdotca]

I have RSI just from watching this.