Craig Alan

At first glance, these celebrity portraits appear to have been created from aerial photographs of dozens of people.

But a closer examination of this series, by Atlanta-based artist Craig Alan, reveals that the tiny figures were actually painted into place. Craig has created paintings of Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn and Elvis Presley, as well as the Statue of Liberty, with his realist technique.
'I was at my mother's apartment in Alabama watching people on the beach from the sixth story balcony,' he explained. 'I started photographing them and then I noticed a pattern through the camera.
'In one shot, the group of people appeared to have formed an eye on the screen - this started my creative wheels turning.'  'Portraits always came easily to me, so it was only natural that the two should be combined,' he said. And the positive response to the works has been a thrill.
It’s rewarding for me as an artist to watch people’s reaction to my work and to see them get such enjoyment out of it,' he added.