Many artists on Instagram made a name for themselves by sharing portraits of pop culture icons, but there’s something that makes Craig Alan unique. Swarms of tiny people bend together in his paintings to form incredible works of art.
Alan came up with his viral Populus project while observing people from the 6th story balcony at his mother’s home in Orange Beach, Alabama. He noticed they formed an eye on the screen while taking pictures, and his creative wheels started turning.
This is the main idea behind his popular series—painting countless tiny people until they form one cohesive image together. The final result is truly stunning, and you’ll be even more impressed by his work if you decide to zoom in each of his paintings.
The tiny people in Alan’s paintings are arranged in all sorts of different shapes and forms, but he usually uses them to create portraits. He opted for this theme because it’s important to him to create work that people connect to on many levels, and portraits of famous people usually do the trick.
