VIDEO: Design student crochets huge multi-coloured yarn portraits of iconic figures including Marilyn Monroe using patterns he has designed

A design student is taking the world of portraiture by storm with his giant crocheted artworks of iconic figures like Marilyn Monroe.

Will Chatlosh, 19, has shattered the myth that crochet is “just for grannies” by producing a series of stunning four feet square portraits during the pandemic using patterns he has designed.

But Will, who lives with his medical assistant mum Tanya, 51, and sister Ava, 17, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, admits that his painstaking attention to detail means each picture can take 100 hours – meaning he could not realistically sell them for less than £1,500 to £2,000.

He said: “My close friends do make fun of me, saying, ‘Will, you’re such a grandma for crocheting and knitting.’

“Because people who do needlework like to make sweaters and stuff, I think most people think of that as ‘girly’.

“Also, I feel like it’s always seen as something not a lot of young people do.”

“But now everyone knows what I do, they see the end result and they’re all really supportive,” said Will.

One of the only crochet artists in the world to specialise in portraits, Will, who is single, has created likenesses of American politicians and public figures like high court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The teenager, who has been crocheting since he was 11, has also produced an incredible portrait of George Floyd – whose murder inspired the Black Lives Matter movement – and, of course, he has ‘painted’ Marilyn in yarn.

A fan of knitting, too, he finds crochet more versatile and loves using his needle to create amazing patterns with vibrantly coloured acrylic yarn.

He said: “The main difference between crochet and knitting, although I think they can be used to create a lot of the same stuff, is that crochet is done using one hook.

“You basically carry loops through each other and make knots.”

“Whereas with knitting you use two needles and you’ve kind of got all your loops going at once, with crochet you just have one or two at a time, meaning it takes days to create a representative portrait,” said Will.

And, while most people would be as proud as punch of his Marilyn Monroe portrait, despite devoting 60 hours to crocheting it, Will says it is still not quite finished.

He said: “Typically, I work on it for like an hour or two at a time.”

“Usually, that’s late at night, once I’ve finished everything else I have to crochet,” he continued.

His first full size portrait of a woman, crocheted in bright blues and pinks, took 100 hours to complete.

He said: “I absolutely want to sell my portraits.”

Will added: “I’ve had a few people interested in me crocheting a portrait of them as a gift, but while I’d like to, they take too much time!”

But, as he builds his portfolio, he is hoping that some art lovers with deep pockets will be willing to commission him to crochet their image.

He said: “Five years from now, I would love to have a business started and to be cranking out a bunch more portraits.”

“For now, though, I’m just excited to keep going with them when I can,” he continued.

Will’s designs are even more impressive because, unlike most crocheted work, he creates his portraits without a pre-designed pattern.

The art student, who is studying at Kendall College of Design in Grand Rapids, a branch of Ferris State University, first chooses an image he likes on his computer.

He then zooms into the picture and traces a segment of it directly off his screen onto an A4 piece of paper.

Next, he lies out multiple sheets of A4 on the floor, creating a large outline of the picture he wants to crochet.

The final step is to decide which part of the plan will be crocheted in which colour, before he starts his design.

Will said: “I typically find a reference image and put it into Adobe Illustrator.

“Then I kind of trace it from my computer screen onto a bunch of giant pieces of paper.

“I then use that giant piece of paper as a map for the shapes I need to crochet to make the face.”

Choosing to produce portraits of people who are important within American society, some carry a strong political message.

He said: “When George Floyd was killed it was all over the world’s media.

“So I thought, Time Magazine’s cover of George Floyd would be something that’d be super cool to crochet, as well as something that I would be capable of doing.”

Will said: “I like to give my artwork meaning in that sense, which is also why I crocheted the portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg right after she died.”

Will does not only crochet famous faces, though, and earlier this year he created a self-portrait based on a photograph of him in profile taken by a friend.

He said: “It was a super fun process.”

“It’s interesting because when you’re in the process of crocheting you just focus on one small part of the image,” he explained.

“It wasn’t really until I stepped back at the end that I realised that I had created a likeness of my face.”

Now, with Christmas approaching, for the fifth Yuletide in a row, Will hopes his friends and family will not get the needle when he gives them all handmade crocheted gifts.

Normally, they go down well, according to the artist, who said: “Everyone’s very excited because I keep what I’m making secret.

“No one really knows what they’re going to get,

“I just make decisions on what I think everyone would like.”

* To see more of Will’s work go to www.lovecrafts.com/en-gb/ or visit his Instagram page at www.instagram.com/wccrochet/