Michael Papadakis- an artist who uses sun and magnifying glass to make awesome art

 

Michael Papadakis, a well known artist who uses the sun to paint amazing arts. He is not a typical painter, his technique requires infinitely more hours and a lot of patience, in addition to hours of sunlight.

Michael Papadakis harnesses the sun power with mirrors and magnifying glasses to direct the sun rays onto wood to burn images across its surface.

Michael Papadakis uses the sun’s rays in a technique called heliography to create remarkable works of art. (Photo: by Chad Vaughan, Courtesy of Michael Papadakis)

Instead of brushes, he has dozens of magnifying glasses which he places in a short distance from wooden surfaces, which become his canvases. Then he focuses the sun’s rays in a small spot, burning patterns on the wood.

Michael is highly trained. Holding a wide range of magnifying glass types a few feet away from his wooden canvas, Papadakis focuses the sun’s rays on a small point. Then he expertly scorches his designs on the wood. He uses reflection and refraction to paint with the sun. Each of his amazing artwork takes up to 30 hours to complete and requires extreme focus and discipline.

Papadakis is a Colorado-based artist. He began experimenting with "Heliography" (a photographic process invented in 1822 meant to take photographs from nature) in 2012, where he traveled across Central Asia making sunlight art for the locals.

He can do all kinds of designs with the sun, from landscapes and animal portraits, to romantic and heartwarming scenes and company logos, there’s virtually nothing this artist can’t do as long as it is sunny out.

Five years ago, the artist used the traditional painting and drawing tools but from the time he discovered magnifying glass, he has created his own mastery.

Michael Papadakis, a Greek-American artist said in an interview with The National Herald, the roots of using the sun’s rays are centuries old. Archimedes, he noted, used them to create weapons. “We are now using this idea to create something peaceful and beautiful."

“All this experimentation led me to believe that even sunlight can have multiple personalities, even if it comes from the same source. Nonetheless, I took this newly discovered knowledge and began to teach it to anyone who was willing to learn. I called it, ‘Heliography."- he added.

 

Mr. Papadakis is the founder of Sunscribes and as he describes it on his website at www.sunscribessolarprinting.com in 2012, he set out on a trip to Central Asia, from South Korea and eventually to Greece, where he discovered a hidden talent, that he did not know is Patience.

Michael  is an International Performance Artist uses mirrors and lenses to focus the Sun’s powerful rays into art. He has showcased his skill set for a variety of clients and at live events throughout the US and abroad. Some of his recent clients include GoPro, The Balvenie, R.J. Reynolds and Ripley’s Believe It or Not.

As for those who have inspired him, he names Martin Luther King, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Bobby Kennedy, Nelson Mandela, Nikola Tesla, Archimedes. “My art is inspired by hope and righteousness.”

His portfolio includes a number of sunburned portraits of everyday objects, calligraphy, and numerous people and animals. You can see the finished products as well as behind-the-scenes footage of them on his Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube channel and of course, the Sunscribes webpage.