24 Heures.
The 10,000 m2 fresco of a shepherd on a grassy slope in Leysin is the work of French artist Guillaume Legros, who goes by the alias of Saype.
Source: Facebook – Saype-artiste
The work, which took him, his parents, and two of his friends, five twelve-hour days to complete, is the largest grass fresco ever created. Looking closely at the photograph above reveals tiny human figures around the shepherd’s trousers, showing the scale of the emense creation.
According to a 24 Heures, he awoke one morning to find the shepherd’s face peppered with holes dug by eager moles, adding further to the task.
Saype, a contraction of Say Peace, started by marking out a rectangle on the ground. Then he worked from a photo, first tracing out the lines of the image. To be sure he had the dimensions right he used a drone to get a full view, allowing him to correct the outline where it wasn’t correct.
In total, including all of the planning, the project took two weeks and 1,000 litres of paint.
Source: Facebook – Saype-artiste
Through his work Guillaume Legros hopes to convey respect for the environment. “I painted a huge man, but in the immensity of nature he is nothing. This is what I wanted to reflect. People have come to discuss my work and we have spoken more about philosophy than the painting, so it has worked!”
More on this:
Read full 24 Heures article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
Saype’s website (in French and English)
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