Mind-Blowing Portrait Created from Thousands of Coffee Stains

Just weeks after she took the Internet by storm with her incredible portrait of Yao Ming, created only with a basketball and red paint, Malaysian artist Hong Yi strikes again, this time with a realistic rendition of Taiwanese singer Jay Chou made with coffee stains.

The young artist begins her unusual creative process by taking a sip of coffee. Like most of us, she spills some of it in the small saucer and that apparently inspires her to use the dirty bottom of the cup to start a sepia tone masterpiece. At first the coffee cup stains look just like the ones you can spot on table cloths in cheap restaurants, but as she progresses, her work starts to take shape. First you can make out the outline of the head, then the nose and mouth, the eyes, and before you know it you’re staring at a realistic portrait of Jay Chou made with coffee stains, and struggling to lift your jaw off the floor.

Hong Yi, who also goes by the nickname “Red”, said “My painting is meant to look like a sepia-toned old photograph to capture the essence of this story”. She spent around 12 hours on this incredible piece, because not only did she paint the whole thing with just a coffee cup, but the had to get the coffee mixture just perfect, as the ring stains were permanent the moment they touched the canvas.

For someone like me, who can’t paint a decent portrait with the best paintbrush money can’t buy, this kind of masterpiece is simply awe-inspiring, and I just can’t wait to see what this amazing artist comes up with next.