Video
Life imitating art
Three naked women are hiding in this amazing painting of a wolf – can you spot them?
Johannes Stoetters is the artist behind this incredible instillation, which turns a trio of models into a howling wolf
AT first glance, this wolf looks like a stunning canvas painting - but this work of art was actually created using three naked, well painted and expertly positioned women.
Johannes Stoetters is the artist behind this incredible instillation, which turns a trio of models into a howling wolf.
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An amazing video shows just how the expert body painter came up with the artwork, which sees three perfectly-positioned women entwined to transform their appearance into one of a wild beast.
The 38-year-old Italian artist spent several days planning and sketching out designs, before finally bringing his creation to life after a six-hour painting session.
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The amazing piece sees one woman make up the wolf's front leg, throat and head, using a bent elbow and her other hand to create the creature's snapping jaw.
A second model makes up the majestic animal's tail and back, whilst the third forms the wolf's belly and hind leg, with their figures perfectly blended into the body of the beast.
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Johannes, who was crowned World Bodypainting Champion in 2012, said: "I met three girls sitting at a bar and one of them had already modelled for me before.
"I joined them for a cup of coffee and they asked me about how my work was going. We started talking about my animal illusions and one of the girls asked me if I had ever tried to create a wolf.
"I had tried to design a standing wolf but it didn't really work out. Suddenly I asked myself if it would work sitting and howling and I immediately took out a pen and a piece of paper and made a small sketch."
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The artist, from South Tyrol, added: "It seemed to work so spontaneously I asked the three girls to follow me to my studio and check out the position.
"The first sketch took me just a few minutes but it took four hours to check the positioning with the models. It was my longest position test ever.
"I looked at various photos of wolves and studied its exact appearance and then did lots of sketches using the test photos and adding the colours and structures of the wolf.
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"The painting was one of my longest as well. From the beginning to the final photo I spent eight hours in my studio. The pure painting time was about six hours.
"It was definitely more difficult than my other works. It was difficult to find the perfect position and it was quite hard for the models to hold the positions, from time to time they needed a break.
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"Also it was difficult because the wolf is a mammal and it has a fur coat, which is much more difficult to paint and to make seem realistic than the skin of an amphibian or a reptile.
"People who have seen it say the wolf is my best work. Generally everybody likes it. People are fascinated and they say that it is even more difficult to find the people than in my other works."
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