Artist uses Botox to help engrave Queen portrait on pinhead

Mr Short said it took 90 attempts to complete the design

An artist who engraved a minute picture of the Queen on a pinhead said he used Botox and pills to help him keep still.

Graham Short, from Birmingham, carried out the engraving to mark the Jubilee celebrations later this year.

He said it took 90 attempts over nine months to engrave the portrait on the 2mm wide pin.

To carry out the intricate work, he said he had courses of Botox around his eyes to keep them "rigid" as well as taking tablets to slow his heart rate.

Other minute work he has completed includes engraving the entire Lord's Prayer on a pinhead and the first chapter of the Koran on a 2mm platinum pin.

Traffic vibrations

Mr Short said the Botox helped keep his eyes "rigid"

He said he swims 10,000m a day to achieve a "low resting pulse rate" and to be "perfectly still" when working under a powerful microscope.

He also does his etching between midnight and 05:00 to avoid any traffic vibrations.

He said: "I have a course of Botox around my eyes every now and then just to make sure my eyes are rigid.

"I'm so used to it. It doesn't seem different to me.

"It's only when I tell people, it doesn't sound like a proper job."

Mr Short, who lives in Bournville and has had an engraving business in the Jewellery Quarter area of Birmingham since 1974, hopes his latest work will go on display.