Artist to ‘paint’ Shaikh Zayed’s portrait using sand

10310637_10152397826284695_1564389853366371621_n — Photo Credit

If it rains sand on a patch of desert off Dubai on Monday, fret not. It’s not a sandstorm; just an artist creating the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s portrait from a hot air balloon.

Artist and Canadian University of Dubai lecturer Sylvain Tremblay will ‘paint’ Shaikh Zayed’s image using sand on a 10-metre by 10-metre canvas in the early morning.

The Canadian artist will sprinkle sand collected from the desert on the canvas from a hot air balloon 15 metres in the air to create a high-contrast image.

Tremblay said he invented the technique, a style he perfected for two months at the Canadian University of Dubai.

“I will first trace Shaikh Zayed’s face using white glue and then hop onto the balloon to drop the sand and then come down again to shake it off. We’re using three tones of sand — a really really dark one for the eyes [and hair], and a medium tone for the face, and a pale sandy colour for the rest,” Tremblay told Gulf News.

“We chose to paint Shaikh Zayed to honour him as the father of the nation and then we’re using sand because it’s an important UAE element.”

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Artist to ‘paint’ Shaikh Zayed’s portrait using sand