Talented artist Ed Fairburn trades in blank canvases for vintage maps in his portrait series that captures beautiful faces drawn overtop of topographic charts. The contrast of the original geographic drawings layered with Fairbun's detailed face shadings creates for a dramatic juxtaposition that perhaps speaks to how people are made up of the lands they come from.
Fairburn creatively uses a variety of antiquated charts from ones that showcase the land to others that depict the stars to use as canvases. Sometimes the charts are colored and other times they are black and white, but Fairburn always seems to draw his portraits in monochromatic shades. The illustrations are detailed and hyper realistic depicting ever crevasse of the face as it blends into the roads, streams, rivers and stars depicted on the maps underneath.
Why This Trend Is Growing
- Vintage Map Art
- Artists can leverage the beauty of vintage maps as canvases for various artistic forms.
- Portrait Juxtaposition
- Artists can create striking visuals by layering portraits over other contrasting images or objects.
- Monochrome Realism
- Artists can explore the power of monochromatic coloration in producing hyper-realistic images.
Industries Being Reshaped
- Art
- Art galleries can feature vintage map art and monochrome realism in their exhibitions.
- Interior Design
- Interior designers can incorporate vintage map art and portraits into their designs to add visual interest and a unique flair to their projects.
- Gifts and Souvenirs
- Souvenir and gift shops can sell vintage map art pieces and portrait prints that depict well-known landmarks or cities as souvenirs to attract tourism.
