These Euro 2020 painted footballs are utterly mesmerising

Whether or not you have any interest in the world's most popular sport, chances are you know what a football looks like. But a new art project has turned the familiar white leather ball into an unlikely canvas for some truly stunning artworks.

Craig Black's 'The Fusion Series - Footballs' sees several footballs transformed using his acrylic fusion paint-pouring technique, with the striking, marble-esque colour schemes representing each competing country. (Check out 7 essential painting techniques if you're inspired to get creating.) 

Inspired by Scotland qualifying for their first major football tournament in over 20 years and the excitement around the Euro 2020 Championship, Scottish artist Craig Black created nine "fusion footballs", as well as documenting the stunning paint-pouring process in a series of mesmerising videos and images that are almost as impressive as the artworks themselves.

It's particularly impressive how, despite their abstract nature, each piece manages to clearly communicate the colours of their respective team kits – from Germany's yellow, black and red to Italy's striking blue.

From this controversial RFEF rebrand to the adrenaline-pumping new Iceland logo, we've seen plenty of artistic hits and misses when it comes to football. But it seems fair to say that Black's Fusion footballs are very much design goals (sorry).

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