Jacob el hanani drawings of animals

“It is a personal challenge to bring drawing to the extreme and see how far my eyes and fingers can go.” 

– Jacob El Hanani

For five decades, Jacob El Hanani (born ) has produced painstakingly detailed pen-and-ink drawings composed of countless microscopic marks woven into all-over abstractions.

Often called “the grandfather of micro-drawing,” El Hanani’s works need to be seen up close to appreciate their intricate craftsmanship. From afar, his drawings appear as shimmering abstract squares, but at close range elaborate patterns emerge and the viewer appreciates their profuse, and often nearly unfathomable, level of detail. 

Employing a range of forms—from minuscule linear strokes to tiny circles to elegantly written letters of the Hebrew alphabet and densely crosshatched lines—El Hanani’s innumerable marks are fluidly strung and linked into evocative patterns.

Despit