Watch How Julien Breton Creates Intricate Light Paintings of Calligraphy

Light painting is difficult. Trying to paint something you can’t see while racing the timer of your cameras shutter is no easy feat. Legibly writing your own name can take a decent amount of practice. Watch as Julian Breton takes this act to the next level as he turns the intricate art of calligraphy into light paintings.

Breton is a self-taught artist that started calligraphy in 2001. In these behind the scenes videos you can see Brenton as he creates his light paintings and also get a glimpse of the tools he uses. Most of the paintings he creates use a multitude of different tools, ranging from large lightsaber type lights to small keychain flash lights. As you watch him create these images you can get a sense for how precise his movements are as well as his concentration level. The majority of Bretons work is a mixture of beautiful landscapes with the addition of his light calligraphies. These drawings are sometimes Arabic or Latin words and other times he will improvise abstract drawings that mimic the letters and words from these languages. Each exposure ranges anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 plus minutes depending on how long he needs to create each painting.  

[via Colossal]