Artist Paints with the Sun Using Magnifying Glass as His Brush

Emotional, Burning, Unlimited Tuned Laboratory

The word heliography usually refers to a photographic process invented in 1822, but Colorado-based artist Michael Papadakis has given it a new meaning after using it to describe his art of harnessing the sun to burn intricate artworks onto wooden panels with a magnifying glass.

Up until five years ago, Michael Papadakis used to create art the old fashioned way, with painting and drawing supplies, but on a trip along the Silk Road from Asia to Europe, he discovered a new and ingenious tool – the magnifying glass.

“When I was in China my friend had a magnifying glass sitting on his table and I vividly remember the sun shining through the window onto the magnifying glass,” Papadakis told Caters News. “I instantly had a moment of realisation where I thought to myself, ‘I could probably draw with that’.” …