John Duncan loves living in Charleston, South Carolina, because of all the beautiful historical buildings in the area. Not only do they give the city character, but they also inspire Duncan’s artwork.
Duncan creates unbelievably accurate miniature models of homes, churches, and public buildings, and the only things he uses to do so are paper and a knife. Although they look like they were made with a computer, everything you see here was made by hand.
First, Duncan decides which house or building he wants to recreate, and takes some reference photos.
He draws up detailed plans, just like you would when designing a home.
He then cuts out all the components of the structure using papers of varying thickness.
For the amount of detail in these pieces, they’re actually quite small. They’re normally about 20 inches wide.
The main elements are cut from thick paper, while the smaller details are cut from thinner, more delicate material.
Each measurement needs to be precise so that every piece fits together properly.
There are a ton of individual parts.
“No detail is overlooked. From louvered shutters to and individual bricks, an exact replica of the building is built piece by piece,” Duncan says.
Duncan uses watercolors to add the finishing touches.
If you didn’t know better, you might think that this was a photo of a real house!
He even added sand to wet paint to create the appearance of stucco.
The landscaping makes it look even more realistic.
Each leaf, petal, and blade of grass is individually cut out and painted.
It’s serious labor!
Duncan estimates that there are usually about 1,500 leaves on a typical tree.
He even makes every single flower by hand!
Here’s the finished product.
Duncan says that projects like this will usually take about 250 hours to complete.
Duncan’s work has been recognized across the country, and he’s been commissioned to recreate many iconic buildings, including Charleston’s St. Michael’s Church. You can see many more of these creations on his website.
