Every good artist needs a canvas, and the really good ones can use anything as a canvas. Using walls and the sidewalk was just the beginning!

Steps and flights of stairs aren’t exactly easy mediums to work with, but who says art has to be easy? These mega-illustrations are done entirely on stairs, making use of angles and perspective to great effect. It’s not the tool that makes the artist, and these works are about to make a very fine point of that.

1. Gracing the steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art

This list is off to a banging start, it seems. Making photorealistic portrait art like this is hard enough. Doing it on a massive set of steps like this is just mind-blowingly skillful. I don’t think you can start with construction lines and a rough sketch when you’re working on stairs, mind you!

2. No koi pond? No problem!

Photographed in Seoul, South Korea, this fantastic Koi fish illustration is another reminder that big cities usually have great street art just around the corner. The Koi is always the go-to fish for people who love to decorate, so of course it’d make the perfect subject for a piece like this.

3. Try guessing what note each step corresponds to!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150587391587700&set=a.311820137699.147776.310375597699&type=1&ref=nf

While some folks may prefer their art on the photorealistic side, the truth is that minimalistic and simple art is every bit as good. Only an artist can look at a flight of stairs and think of ways to transform it into a piano.

4. Just one step? That’s more than enough space.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150543947402700&set=a.311820137699.147776.310375597699&type=1&ref=nf

Landscape painting is always fun. It’s quite different from portrait painting, focusing on perspective, horizon and geometry instead of anatomy and skin tones. That doesn’t mean it’s any easier, yet artists always have a field day when they just get to paint some skies, landscapes and houses. Even better if you get to paint one for every step on a set of stairs!

5. Giving new meaning to “One step at a time”.

Zag and Sia are an artist duo, and a really good one at that. Portraits are never easy to do, and anyone who can capture the fundamental skin tones and anatomy when working on flights of stairs deserves all the praise and respect we can muster.

6. “Stairs for peace”

https://www.facebook.com/jood.dairatieh/photos/a.631759913510842.1073741844.602354296451404/632957336724433

This gorgeous work of art was made in Syria, and it should be pretty clear why they’re titled “Stairs for peace”. Art has always been a tool of expression and movement, and this breathtaking project is just another reminder of that.

7. Who needs a paintbrush?

Meet Mademoiselle Maurice, a French Origami artist who loves to take on big projects. Here, she’s decked out these steps with origami paper like you’ve never seen. She has a lot more spectacular projects where this came from, so give her website a visit!

8. Tiles, tiles, tiles!

Speaking of unconventional art techniques, how about some tiles to switch things up? You might’ve seen tile art before – bathrooms and churches tend to use them quite a lot. The combination of colors and geometry makes for a spectacular result, especially if you’re good at it. These steps in 16th Avenue, San Francisco make great use of it.

9. Flowers galore!

https://www.facebook.com/arteide.org/photos/a.806004399421054/806006069420887

This one comes from Sicily Italy, and it just makes a beautiful city even more beautiful. Hundreds of steps need hundreds of potted plants. Can’t be having plain old, empty and boring steps here.

10. There are no boring staircases with an artist around.

https://www.facebook.com/Dihzahyners/photos/a.463621990331596/1117700208257101

Made by art team DIZHAYNERS, this staircase with its kaleidoscope-esque colors is just one of dozens of other projects they’ve undertaken. They regularly share what they do on Instagram and Facebook, so give them a follow!

11. “Women are Heroes”

https://www.facebook.com/OFFmagazine/photos/a.413533148714843/425321997535958

Artist JR Art brings us this massive portrait piece in Brazil, and it’s nothing short of spectacular. A larger than life work of art is always a great addition to a city!

12. Art and Seoul

Captured by Kimhwan, this scene in Seoul, South Korea looks like the type of place I’d love to spend my weekend in. There’s a restaurant right up past the stairs, and the little potted plants and trees compliment the art on the stairs really well.

Aren’t things so much better with art? It makes the world a whole lot better when shapes and colors are more than just concepts. Give your friends some art to look at today, and hit that share button down below!

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Source: [rleigh on Flickr, 500px, Tumblr, Mademoiselle Maurice, Kevin Low Photography on Tumblr]