A North East graphic designer has completed a labour of “love, love, love”, creating an image of The Beatles using more than 24,000 screws.

Darren Timby, a screw artist and based in Sunderland, has spent the equivalent of five “hard days’ nights”, 120-hours, making a unique homage to the Fab Four, which he finally nailed down, on Wednesday (October 9).

The artwork depicts the famed Liverpudlian quartet, George Harrison, John Lennon, Sir Ringo Starr and Sir Paul McCartney, behind microphones, drumsticks and a Gibson guitar head.

Using a mix of only zinc (silver), gold-coloured and black screws to create it against a white canvas, he said he needed to work in four tones to create the depth needed for viewers to clearly make out the subjects.

(Image: Darren Timby/The Press Association) “I always need to work in head and shoulders on the subject, and this particular one of them portrays all of them from their head to their shoulders,” he told the PA news agency.

He started the process by picking a suitable image of The Beatles before working out logistically what a “sensible size” would be for the 6 x 3ft artwork.

“Then I work backwards to create a guide which can be mathematically marked out.”

He then drills the screws into place, continually examine the piece up close and from a distance to ensure it looks as similar as possible to the photo picked as a guide.

He said the “fun part” is adding the screws to the outline, and he particularly enjoyed making the microphones and guitar head.

“There were things that were not in the photo I picked but I added them to give some depth to the piece rather than having a load of shirt pockets and shoulders in there.

“I know there are some really iconic images of them, such as them walking over the zebra crossing on Abbey Road, but to do that I would need a factory wall to produce the right quality.”

(Image: Darren Timby/The Press Association) Creating the art has not been plain sailing, with Mr Timby switching screws out at times to improve its appearance.

“I was doing the eyes and facial expressions on John and Ringo and then I thought, there’s not much contrast in here.

“As soon as I flooded their hair with all the black and dark-coloured screws, it changed the faces.

“Sometimes it’s just trusting your artwork in the first place and the brain just sorts the rest out.”

Thousands of people have watched Mr Timby make The Beatles artwork across various social media platforms, including Facebook.

“The best thing for me is when people see them and to see their reactions and to watch them scratch their heads,” he said.

“I love the variety of questions I get.

“It always starts with ‘how?’

“How do you begin to plan it and measure it?”

It is Mr Timby’s 12th screw creation, having previously recreated other famous musical artists, including Elvis, Amy Winehouse and the Gallagher brothers, as well as the late Queen, Elizabeth II.

(Image: Darren Timby/The Press Association) “When I get about three-quarters of the way through, I tend to slow down because I don’t want to finish them,” he added.

He said whenever he creates replicas of artists, he likes to play soundtracks associated with them.

“I just lose myself in the whole thing,” he said.

“I even borrowed a record player for (The Beatles) one from a neighbour and his father’s Beatles Long Play (LP) records and played them alongside doing it and it was just so authentic.

“There were songs on there that I hadn’t heard before and when you look back at the pieces you have done, you remember those soundtracks.”

He first started creating screw art in 2020 which he said he finds, “very therapeutic.”

“I did Marilyn Monroe in memory of my dad as she was one of his favourite actresses, so that was the first one.

“I’m not quite sure how I got into the whole concept, but I work in pixels a lot, being a graphic designer, and I enjoy making things with my hands, so the two seemed to go together well and it seemed like a good tool to create what I wanted to in a practical way.”

He said his screw art is a way to pay homage to Sunderland’s history as an industrial city.

“Ship building and coal mining are all part of our history and the screw art is almost like a nod to where I’m from,” he added.

“Us Sunderland folk are known as Mackems, as in we make things.”

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The Sunderland football fan is also working with the city's Fans Museum to create screw images of famous former Black Cats' players.

Local companies JT Dove and Nordstrom Timber sponsored materials used in the Beatles' recreation, including screws and timber, for the framework of the canvas.

Mr Timby’s Beatles piece is now available for sale for any fans of the band keen to acquire a unique piece of Fab Four memorabilia.