It took Xavier Casalta a phenomenal 2,300 hours over the course of 15 months to complete his largest work to date. Featuring numerous blooms surrounding a marble bust of Marcus Aurelius-one of ancient Rome's most celebrated emperors and philosophers-the artist (previously) estimates that the illustration contains about 48 million dots of meticulously stippled black ink.

Known for his remarkably detailed depictions of flowers, architecture, and antiquities, Casalta applies China ink to paper one speck at a time. Densely clustered areas produce darker features that contrast more minimally inked highlights. He often depicts individual historical objects, like a Penny Black stamp or impressions of people and animals on early coins. He also fills entire sheets of paper with florals or geometry, like an intricate Roman mosaic or his Four Seasons series, created in collaboration with florist Swallows & Damsons.

To read the complete article, see:
Tens of Millions of Ink Dots Fill Xavier Casalta's Remarkably Detailed Stipple Illustrations(https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2023/08/xavier-casalta-stippled-ink/)

For more information, see the artist's website:
Xavier Casalta(https://casaltaxavier.com/)