Italian artist Paolo Troilo doesn’t use paint brushes to create these incredibly beautiful works of art. Instead he dips his fingertips in black and white paint and guides them across the canvas, rendering the most detailed finger paintings I have ever seen.

Paolo Trolio is a self-taught artist who started drawing when he was only 4-years old. One day his mother put an 8×8-foot paper canvas in front of him along with a small-scale reproduction of a painting by Giotto da Bondone. “Try to copy the painting and enlarge it,” she told him, and from that moment on,  at least one time a day, every day he would draw something, gradually improving his skills. “It’s easy to become a good drawer,” the artist says. “To be able to communicate is a gift”. In September of 2003, Paolo decided to give painting a try, as well. He moved into a small apartment and went out to buy everything necessary for painting, but when he came back he realized the brushes were missing. So he started painting with his fingers, and he’s been doing it ever since. “Painting with my fingers was a revelation and a liberation,” he says about the experience.

Trolio only paints himself in his artworks “because it’s the only one constantly available 24/7” and the only thing that can truly describe his thoughts. He also only uses black and white paint. “I try to fix my works in your brain like the light does,” the Italian finger painter explains. “Look at a lamp with the light on. When you close your eyes, that light is still there—a brain tattoo made of light and shadow.” After meticulously painting the details of his masterpieces with his fingers, the artist splatters paint over it for an added dynamic effect.

Photos © Paolo Troilo

Source: Illusion 360