An artist in Portsmouth is creating mosaic portraits of famous figures like Gandhi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Queen Elizabeth II using pebbles.

47-year-old Englishman Justin Bateman first started making abstract art in 2018 using organic materials and came up with the idea of using stone after tracing the outline of his bicycle with pebbles.

Since then Justin has created over 100 pieces and laid over a million pebbles in total, despite each piece taking up to five weeks to complete.

"Sometimes the stones in a particular location suggest an appropriate subject," said the full-time artist who finds locations and then marks them on Google Maps for later.

"At other times the location is selected according to criteria such as proximity, layout, stone composition, and urban or natural aesthetics. If a suitable location and stones present themselves I will try to make the work.

Justin's art is physically demanding. He can spend hours at a time on the floor creating his portraits, and says that he can't think of doing anything else with his time until it's finished.

Each piece can take between three days and five weeks to create depending on the size and complexity.

"The simplicity of the final outcome is deceptive because it takes a huge amount of time to conduct research, prepare color maps, collect stones, complete the work, and then photograph," says Bateman.

"Sometimes I will remake them countless times using different stones to find the right combination."

Like a Tibetan sand mandala, he believes the greatest value in his work is its impermanence, and as such he first chose not to monetize it.

"Sometimes I accept commissions or requests, if the timing is right or they align with my own intuition as something that should be made," he said. "Not more than 10% of my work becomes permanent."

In Europe, this style is known as "land art" and can be very popular at times. There's even a land art festival in Scotland every year.

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