San Antonio barber gets international attention for unbelievable designs

Rob Ferrel shaved a portrait of Kim Kardashian into this customer's head. Rob Ferrel shaved a portrait of Kim Kardashian into this customer's head. Photo: Instagram Photo: Instagram Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close San Antonio barber gets international attention for unbelievable designs 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

SAN ANTONIO - A San Antonio barber is making international headlines with his unique designs and life-like portraits of celebrities, athletes and family members in customers' hair.

Roberto Ferrel, known as Rob the Original, has been interviewed by numerous news outlets around the world for his portraits, including many San Antonio Spurs favorites, World Cup athletes and even superheroes like Spiderman.

"I wanted to stand out and do something different," said Ferrel, who has lived in the Alamo City for eight years.

The hairstyle depictions usually take about two hours to complete and Ferrel uses one hand to hold a digital photo on a phone or iPad and the other to style the design, carving an outline with a trimmer and then shaving it with a razor.

The designs even include color, which he creates with eye and lip liner. The hair designs last about two weeks he said. Basic haircuts start at $20 and more intricate styles and portraits run between $150 and $200, he said.

"I started cutting my own hair about 10 years ago to save money," Ferrel said.

Family members and friends began asking Ferrel, who has been an artist since a young age, for hair cuts and eventually he began charging for them.

Ferrel has garnered a large social media following on the photo sharing app Instagram and frequently shares photos of his hairstyle art work with his more than 70,000 followers.

He has been interviewed by Spanish-language network Univision, Reuters and other outlets around the world for his recent World Cup portraits.

Ferrel's shop, Rob the Original's Barbershop (or ROBS), is located on the Southside at Pica Pica Plaza at 910 SE Military Drive and he said he plans to open another on the Northwest side later this year.

kparker@express-news.net

Twitter: @KoltenParker