Editor’s note: Because of the coronavirus pandemic, artist Tom Mosser announced the “Really Big Faces” event has been postponed. A future date will be announced later.

Tom Mosser gives new meaning to face time.

The artist from Pittsburgh’s East End created a portrait show called “Really Big Faces” featuring Pittsburgh celebrities and other friends.

The 30 large canvas paintings will be featured in an exhibit at 6 p.m. Friday at Spinning Plate Gallery in East Liberty.

The event is free.

Mosser decided in December he wanted to do the show and has been working day and night in his Etna studio. He is using what’s called a “flow technique,” where he takes safety rods and dips them in paint. He said the design of the big portraits include inspiration from the large-scale work of Chuck Close, the technique of Jackson Pollock, the style of Bernie Fuchs, and the color palette of Andy Warhol.

He used bold colors and larger-than-life facial features, while incorporating details specific to the person.

“I wanted both people everyone knows, and also people I know and admire,” he said. “And I wanted diversity.”

The process began with him taking photographs of each subject. Then he created a sketch by hand and fine-tuned from there.

Mosser also invited the people to come in and work on their own faces. He also had fellow studio artist Andrea Echavarria assist. Echavarria, who is deaf, has a cochlear implant, an electronic medical device that replaces the function of the inner ear and provides sound signals to the brain. She has an upcoming exhibition “Vibrations: The Art of Hearing II by Andrea Echavarria” at 5:30 p.m. on March 28 at Spinning Plate Gallery.

“I love the variety of colors,” she said. “They are flattering, yet realistic.”

Having others take part has given the project an added dimension, Mosser said.

“I love this kind of collaboration project,” he said. “I love doing paintings like these because they challenge me, and that is how I learn.”

Mosser knows a little about painting faces. He has done more than 1,000 self-portraits. People may also recognize his work from various national sports arenas and events.

“I am fascinated with faces, especially a person’s eyes,” Mosser said. “A person’s face is unique to that individual, unless you have identical twins, triplets or other multiples. That’s what makes this exhibition interesting to me and hopefully to other people too.”

Some of the subjects you might recognize include Mayor Bill Peduto (with his beard), concert promoter Rich Engler, “Pittsburgh Dad” Curt Wooten, and Pennsylvania second lady Gisele Fetterman (wife of Lt. Gov. John Fetterman). He chose men and women of various ages, nationalities and walks of life.

None of the work will be for sale.

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Fellow artist James Simon of Pittsburgh’s Uptown neighborhood, known for his clay sculptures, is included in the exhibition. Simon said he likes working on big pieces of art, which made being part of this project more enticing.

“Tom is a wonderful painter,” Simon said. “His big portraits are amazing. It should be a nice, fun show. Having him show the process through social media has been fascinating to watch. He is so good at capturing a person’s face. He works fast and he paints with both hands, which is unusual. He came to an event at my studio and said he had a revelation and wanted to paint my portrait.”

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Stacie Lawrence from Penn Hills is among the subjects. She said she was a little apprehensive at first, but once she talked with Mosser about his idea, she was on board. Lawrence is a model, jewelry and fashion designer as well a community relations specialist for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Her work will be part of the Black Transformative Arts Network Launch: Black Arts Kickback event at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Jeron X Grayson Community Center in the Hill District.

“He has guts to take on an exhibition like this one,” Lawrence said. “Tom is brilliant. He started from the beginning, with taking my photo himself. He knows I am proud of my Jamaican heritage and that I like hummingbirds, so he incorporated something to represent both in my portrait. And he has included everyone and that definitely resonates with me.”

Face to face, not via FaceTime.

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