If you stumble upon this picture while surfing the internet, it might seem like nothing but a nice shot of a butterfly chilling on a sunflower. You would probably have a hard time figuring out what’s so amazing about this and might need to look very closely to spot the true masterpiece in this photo―this butterfly is actually a human!

Fine art body painter Johannes Stötter uses paint to camouflage his living models into their surroundings or to recreate various forms we see around us, from animals to inanimate objects, like shoes. The skillful painting and curves of a live model blend together perfectly, creating a mind-bending optical illusion that looks incredibly realistic.

This Italian artist is well-known worldwide for his mind-blowing body painting, with numerous awards and viral artwork in his pocket. His latest illusion called “The Butterfly” was dedicated to his little daughter, Linnéa, and he believes it’s his best artwork so far.

Check out other posts on Bored Panda here, here, and here to see more of his stunning illusions and try to spot naked people in them!

More info: Instagram | Facebook | johannesstoetterart.com | youtube.com

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

This video shows how the picture of a butterfly “unfolds” in front of our eyes

Image credits: Johannes Stötter

An illusionary masterpiece like that takes weeks of planning and hours of precise work

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

Johannes told Carter News Agency about his creative process and how his latest masterpiece “The Butterfly” started with a small sketch that he made with a pencil. From there, he went on to create a bigger sketch with colors.

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

“Then I painted the background with the big yellow flower. In the end, I did the actual body painting,” he revealed to LADbible. “So far, everyone has reacted very positively and many people agree that this is my best artwork so far.”

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

The Italian artist explained that the idea for how everything should be positioned came to him instantly, but the rest of the process took a lot of hard work. According to him, the main challenge was getting the model into the right position.

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

“I think it is a very beautiful picture, even if you don’t know that it is a body painting,” Johannes said about his work.

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

He had no doubts about who to pick as his model—he chose Laura because he thought she’d be perfect for the role of the butterfly.

“She is very nice, beautiful inside and outside, and a strong, patient model,” he complimented the model and said that she was very dedicated to her job. “I think Laura loved being the butterfly. Even though she had to go through the whole process five times, she remained calm and patient and did a wonderful job.”

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

Johannes praised Laura for being able to hold the position for such a long time and pointed out that it’s incredibly difficult to do this because it taxes the body.

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

Here are more incredible body painting works by Johannes Stötter

Johannes’ career took a huge upward turn in 2013 after his tropical frog illusion, where he painted 5 models, went viral. Since then, he’s been collecting awards for his art and keeps getting featured by the press.

He lives in the Alps, in Northern Italy where he gets much of his inspiration from the local nature. The artist values creativity, spirituality, music, and alternative living which he tries to unite into a seamless whole through his art. Johannes also teaches bodypainting workshops and his exhibits can be seen all over the world.

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

Image credits: johannesstoetterart

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