Shannon Ratliff
Artist Johannes Stötter is not your typical nature painter, though a quick glance at his work might make you think you’ve seen the colorful photos of frogs, parrots, and rocks before. However, taking a closer look, you might find the outline of a human body or five in the photo. After exploding on social media for his creative use of body art, Stötter has become known for his clever bodypainting technique.
Videos by Rare
While fine art bodypainting aren’t two words that typically go together, the artist from Italy proves that if you dream it, you can create it. One of the Italian artist’s most famous optical illusions is this pretty pile of rocks.
What else would you expect from a fine art body painter other than a model hidden in the photo? Can you spot her?
I’ll give you a few seconds to look closer. Focus your eyes on the outlines of the rocks and see if that helps unlock something! If you’re ready to give up, here’s the clue.
Now that you’ve seen where her head is, can you see the rest of her body? Wild, isn’t it?!
It’s not his only use of bodypainting artists, as he is the winner of the 2014 “International Fine Art Bodypainting Award. He was also the World Champion 2012, the Vice World Champion in 2011 and 2014, Italian Champion 2011 and 2013, and winner of the North American Bodypainting World Championship in Atlanta in 2013. If you’re surprised that there are that many competitions for bodypainting, you’ll be glad to know that I was, too.
While the lady in rocks is a popular viral image from this artist born in South Tyrol, Italy, he’s actually more well-known for his images of vibrant animals and scenes that hide his models.
In this video, you can see his creative use of fruits and vegetables to hide his muses. You may have also seen his angelfish and tropical frog bodypainting photos around the web, which you can view here.
