Magical Webs Found in the Forest (12 pics)

What would you do if you came across these beautiful webs in the forest? Would you wonder who could have left you such a sweet surprise...these magical webs placed where there's no one in sight?

Based on the idea of lines, Seb Preschoux has created this incredible string art. What began as paintings and then drawings soon turned into amazing art installations. Preschoux wanted to make something in a natural environment so he chose forests in Paris as his setting. Easy to reach and a perfect place with lots of space, Preschoux liked "the contrast between nature and the geometrical shapes produced by the installations and their light and colors."

Called 9 Colors, the rainbow installation took a half a day to prepare and more than 20 hours to weave. As he tells us, "you need to go fast, because the forest is a live environment, trees move with the wind and the string can be broken." Surprisingly, 9 Colors was still one of the simplest and fastest to realize as some of his installations can take him several days to create. It can be found in the Auvers sur Oise forest in the north of Paris.

My other favorite of his is called Nocturnes. I asked Preschoux to tell us the background story to this installation and here's what he shared.

"The Nocturne series is the next step in these installations, they are more complex, more difficult to realize, they take me more time. The fixation points are strong and very fragile. If a point breaks all the installation must be redone. I came up with it when I was talking with Ludovic Le Couster (my friend photographer who is shooting all the installations). We thought, together, that it could be very interesting to shoot the installations by night, it was a real challenge for us. Because Ludovic works with a traditional camera (not digital or numeric), that means he had to place the camera during the day. Then, when the installation was done, we gave it some light, used long exposure, and he shot twenty pictures. We got back home and several days later we had the results. It was really exciting!"

Finally, just how much work goes into these before-hand? "There is no pre-work," he says. "All the work is made directly in the natural environment. I try to prepare them, but nature changes, you have to compose with it, and that's what I like about these installations. When I draw, I'm used to doing some pre-work, but in nature I'm like a kid in a school yard...I play!"

Thanks for the interview, Preschoux! Your artwork is stunning.

Seb Preschoux