Hands up who thinks this guy’s a genius!
If, like me, you are the right side of 30 and were born in the pre-PlayStation years, you’ll remember forming shapes of animals with your hands next to a light and rejoicing in the shadow thrown on to your bedroom wall. If you got it right.
This guy has not only got it right, he’s not been able to resist the temptation to take the simplest of child’s play to a ridiculously uber-stratospheric level. Guido Daniele, who calls himself “a hyper-realistic illustrator” because “bodypainter” doesn’t sound posh enough, has gone and painted his hands to depict all manner of wildlife. To an effect of utter amazingness. Check this out…
Not bad, hey? Wait. The best is still to come...
Nice. Looks just like one of the crocs in the river near the Bush Palace. But, hang on, it's the next one that will have you gasping for breath...
How brilliant is that? A Double-Handed Eagle is what it's called, I believe
I quite like this work. I must admit to having fond memories of my light-reflected images of snakes at age seven. But Guido’s blown me out of the water with this set.
One thing. How does he paint the second hand when he’s already painted the first? Like, y’know, doesn’t the already painted hand start to crack, peel and get messed up? One of life’s mysteries, I suppose. Much like why I’m not extremely wealthy and married to Rachel Weisz. Or like why Liverpool FC have not won the English Premier League for, oh, 109 years. We just have to live with these major questions. Unless, of course, you can illuminate me?
Check out Guido’s bio and more of his work of great astonishingness at www.guidodaniele.com
* An artistically flourished doff of the hat sweeps towards Annette Oberholster for kindly providing the heads-up on this handicraft