Chuck Close’s Incredible Fingerprint Portrait Will Blow Your Mind

It’s not every day that you get to have your mind blown by a phenomenal piece of art, but today is one of those rare days. Feast your opticals on this unique portrait made by Chuck Close using only his fingerprints.

Entitled Fanny/Fingerpainting, this giant portrait was created in 1985, and depicts the artists’s wife’s late grandmother, Fanny. The oil on canvas artwork was executed using a technique developed by Close himself which involves the direct application of pigment to a surface, with his fingerprints. By adjusting the amount of pigment used and the pressure applied on the canvas with his fingers, Chuck Close managed to capture every crack and crevice of the subject’s face, just like a high-definition silver-toned photograph.

Chuck Close is recognized as one of the most talented American artists, and his photorealistic paintings have been exhibited in various national galleries, but Fanny/Fingerpainting is definitely his most impressive masterpiece yet.

Although not as realistic-looking as what Chuck Close can produce, Judith Braun’s fingerprint artworks are also incredibly detailed and fascinating to look at.