An amazing creative event took place in Chuvashia.

We have a very interesting art object in the technique of agricultural art. Guess that you wonder — what is it? Me too! I googled and found out that agropainting is painting on the fields.

In Republic of Chuvashia there is an agroportrait in this technique with the image of the 3d cosmonaut of the world Andriyan Nikolaev who was born here. It is located in a field between the villages of Yelnikovo and Cochino in Shorshel settlement, the birthplace of the astronaut. The image size is 140х160 m. The project is dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the astronaut. It is also interesting that the astronaut also worked on orbit without a spacesuit and a crater on the back side of the moon is named after him.

The agropainting has a very great resemblance to a portrait of Andrian Nikolayev. However, to assess the similarity you need to get into the sky.

I was wondering if there is something similar to the Chuvash agropainting in the world.

It turned out that there is. The 60-year-old American artist Stan Herd has been making such agropaintings for 30 years.

However, to create a portrait or a still life you need to be able to do more than just ploughing and digging the ground. But Stan Herd would not be able to do anything without these skills.

He was born in a family of American farmers. The future artist has always loved to contemplate rural landscapes. He loved them so much that after he became a certified artist, Stan began to paint the native fields and meadows, as well as harvesting and other things on the theme of agricultural activities on canvas. But soon he came up with the idea which allowed him to expand the scope of his work. So he took up agropainting.

Agropainting and the largest paintings in the world by the artist Stan Herd appeared in the mind of the artist at the time when he flew on a crop duster over the fields. He decided to try drawing a field painting by making adjustments in the real rural landscape. Of course, such paintings are not exhibited in the museum and they are short-lived. However, they are live and constitute a part of nature surrounding us. It has its own special romance.

Herd used his fields instead of canvas, and instead of a brush he used a variety of agricultural equipment. Basically, the tractors, because the artist is also a seasoned farmer and can easily work with such equipment. In order to master the skill of painting in fields, the artist had to learn this art for four years. Certainly, during the process of learning, the artist can make mistakes and have to erase everything and start over. But it is a hard work.

Painting, so to speak, starts with a sketch. First we need to create the contours of the future picture, which Stan Herd makes of bricks. Further he digs and plows the ground, creating outlines of the picture. In order to add other paints, he brings land of a different color and puts it in the right quantity and in the right places.

Stan Herd makes custom portraits, images for promotional posters and pictures for his own pleasure.

In order to evaluate the result, the artist moves a few steps and looks attentively. However, he often has to fly on a plane to accurately assess the result. Today Stan Herd has 30 years of experience in the creation of agropaintings, so there is no need to fly frequently. According to Herd, the beauty of agropaintings is that they are live and a part of the environment.

Today agropainting and the largest paintings in the world by Stan Herd are popular all over the world. Tourists often fly over spacious paintings made on the fields, wishing to see the magnitude and beauty of these extraordinary works.

In 1993, a decade later, Japanese farmers began to make such paintings. For the first time the original method of sowing was used by the inhabitants of a small village Inakadate. Since then, the farmers of Japan has been sowing several kinds of rice in the same field with one specific purpose. They create breathtaking living canvas. This art form became widespread in Japan and is called tambo.

The portrait of the famous cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev in Chuvashia is created in this technique of agropainting. I am very glad that the Republic I live in has such an unusual art object. I hope it will attract even more tourists, visitors and friends to our land!