Various Projects
I've done quite a few mosaic portraits over the years. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of all of them. There was a number of times I took pictures mid-way through the project and then finished it and sent it off without a final picture taken. In any case, here are some that do have pictures. They can be done in a variety of ways.
The most realistic mosaic portraits I do are done using the direct method in which I place a photo or print out under clear contact paper, sticky side up, and lay tiles directly onto the contact paper. When the image is completely covered with tile, the image is covered with glue soaked paper. When the glue dries, the image is flipped, and the contact paper is removed. Then, the tiles are flipped back onto an adhesive covered board of the same size, and when the adhesive dries, the paper covering is removed, and all that's left to do is grout. It's a rather laborious process, but gets a very realistic result so it's the most popular request I have as far as portraits go.
Another technique I use is to put clear plastic over an image, then lay fiberglass mesh over that, and glue tiles directly to the mesh over the image. When the glue dries I can peel the mesh up and adhere the mosaic covered mesh to my final substrate. I can also do freehand portraits which, although less realistic, can add a fun cartoony style. Please contact me about any mosaic portraits you're considering and we can figure out which style fits.