Micro sculpture on pencil tips: Salavat Fidai's one of a kind art

Meet Salavat Fidai, the artist making micro-sculptures out of pencil tips.

I discovered his work on Instagram a few months ago.  Needless to say, my jaw was floored as I scroll through his Instagram.

As someone who is way too clumsy and aggressive (in other words, as someone who constantly breaks the tips of pencils), I could not process how Fidai was able to create such micro, detailed, and realistic sculptures on pencil tips.
THIS SHOULDN'T BE HUMANLY POSSIBLE--except it is.
Salavat Fidai proved that it is possible.

What makes Fidai an even more fascinating person is that he was a lawyer for 25 years, only becoming a full-time artist in 2013.  He started his art career in digital photography and impressionist painting.  In 2014, he started creating miniature paintings on seeds, matchboxes, and grains of rice.  Later that year, he decided to start experimenting with sculpting on pencil tips.

When he first started, he sculpted on jumbo pencils that contain graphites 5mm in diameter.  He now sculpts primarily on graphite or lead anywhere between 0.5mm to 2mm in diameter. That's 1/3 the size of a Sharpie marker's tip.  Imagine that. (Also--literal proof that practice is everything when it comes to skills.)

Fidai says that it takes an average of six to twelve hours to complete a statuette, but more complicated pieces could take up to three or more days to complete.  He works under a stereo microscope, and his sculpting tool of choice? X-ACTO blades. Yes, folks, you read that right--X-ACTO blades.  The exact same blades so many of us use in our Fine Art courses.

Common themes of his work include:

• TV and movie characters

• Hands
  
• Architecture
  
• Logos, symbols & icons

•  Household items
  
• Animals & mythical creatures

• Human portraits
  
  
  
  
  
  
  You can check out more of his work on his website and his Instagram (@salavat.fidal).  He also has an Etsy shop that sells his book, "The Pencil Book", and occasionally, some of his sculptures would be sold on there, too!  
  
  
  If you like Salavat Fidai's work, you should also check out Diem Chau and Dalton Ghetti!
  
  
  With love,
  Emily