Ben Heine creates poraits of celebrities by painstakingly building their faces by placing circles one by one.Using a process he has dubbed Digital Circlism, the Brussels-based artist can take between 100 and 180 hours for a single portrait.He takes inspiration from several photographs before making a rough digital painting. He then begins the long process of placing circles on a black background using image software.The results include portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Freddie Mercury and as seen here, Lady GaGa. Ben, 27, explains: "I've been making all kinds of portraits for more than 15 years. I wanted to develop a very original technique and, as I've been working with digital tools recently, this came quite naturally. I often make a photomontage first using a bunch of references, then a digital painting and I finally apply my "digital circlist" technique. I place each circle one by one, there is no automatic process, it's a time consuming method. It's a new technique, evolving all the time. Each circle has a different colour, a different size and a different tone..In my opinion, it is a modern artistic expression, a mix between Pop Art and Pointillism.I often opt for celebrities I personally like, mainly singers or musicians.

A portrait of Marilyn Monroe

Queen legend Freddie Mercury

Lady GaGa

Rap artist Eminem

Elvis Presley

Bob Marley

 Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, created using the @ symbol

A self portait of artist Ben Heine