Walking with the animals: Body artist transforms her models into beasts from zebra to seahorse in mind-bending optical tricks
- Emma Fay, 27, from Leicester, began performing her elaborate trick after running a hair and beauty salon
- She spends up to six hours working up each creation with water-based paint and two very patient contortionists
- The art painted on the women's white leotards include a zebra, mandrill, seahorse, giraffe, dragonfly and spider
There's a graceful giraffe, a brightly coloured dragonfly and a spider that's far from itsy bitsy.
At first glance, they all look like wonders from the animal kingdom. But look a little closer and you'll spot a woman's hand here, her foot poking out there, or the outline of her torso twisted into an extraordinary pose.
For these remarkable images were all created by 'body concept artist' Emma Fay - with a little help from a couple of contortionists who acted as her human 'canvas'.
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Now you see it: Body artist Emma Fay, 27, spends up to six hours creating each of her animals, from a zebra (left) to a mandrill (right), by painting on two very patient contortionists. She lines them up and draws composition marks on their bodies to make the images perfect
Blink and you'll miss it! One of the talented contortionists is transformed by Miss Fay into a glittering, multi-coloured dragonfly
Here's looking at you! The eyes on this crab are shining out of the shoulder blades of Miss Fay's model. The 27-year-old from Leicester used to run a hair and beauty salon, and began honing her unusual craft three years ago. Now her pictures are known worldwide
Protected modesty: Contortionists Beth Sykes and Lowri Thomas wear white leotards against a white background to finish the effect
The stuff of nightmares: You wouldn't want this giant tarantula under your bed - no matter how elegantly it was painted
Miss Fay, 27, of Leicester, has been perfecting her unusual art for three years after previously running a hair and beauty salon.
Each of the images in her 'The Marvels of Nature' animal series, which also include a seahorse, mandrill, zebra and crab, took between four and six hours to create from start to finish.
First the contortionists, Beth Sykes and Lowri Thomas, who wore leotards to protect their modesty, got into the required pose so Miss Fay could draw compositional marks on their bodies. These acted as a guide to ensure her paintings would turn out to be the optical illusions she desires.
Some of the poses were so difficult they could only be held for minutes at a time.
But thankfully for Miss Sykes and Miss Thomas, they did not have to hold their poses throughout the painting process - the vast majority was done in more comfortable positions, often lying down.
If I could talk to the animals: The models take their work very seriously, even when dressing up as a highly convincing mandrill monkey
Thoughtful: Miss Fay said the art reminds her of 'the remarkable ways animals have evolved to survive in their surroundings'
The artist in her studio: It takes great patience, talent and upper body strength to find the west African mandrill in Leicester
Almost there! The contortionist has a rare chance to relax as Emma and her assistants put the finishing touches to the crab's face
The process begins: One of Emma's models takes the position for the crab portrait against a bright white background
Careful work: Emma then paints white lines on the models' bodies to help with her composition so they can relax again later
Patience: Once the structure of the animal is in place, Miss Fay can check it's worked, then paint the rest using a sponge and brush
Miss Fay used a brush and sponge to apply the water-based paints to their bodies. Once the painting was completed, it was then just a case of the contortionist resuming the requisite pose so a photograph could be taken of the finished artwork against a white background.
Miss Fay, who sells prints of her animal creations, said: 'The photograph is pretty much the last five minutes of the whole process - then Beth and Lowri are free to go home and have a well-deserved shower.
'The photographs always get a briliant response. People love the optical illusion aspect of it.
'For me, it's kind of exploration of evolution - a study of the remarkable things humans can do with their bodies and the remarkable ways animals have evolved to survive in their surroundings.
'I consider them pieces of art, not body painting.'
Concept and design: Emma Fay; Model: Beth Sykes; Assistants: Charlotte Mahdoodi, Charlotte Faulkner; Photography: Jonathan Macauley
Prepare to scare: Lowri Thomas gets into position after being painted as a giant tarantula in artist Emma Fay's studio in Leicester
Talent: The body paint takes many hours to apply, and the colours are chosen carefully to match those of the intended animals
Finishing touches: Miss Fay's work, including the giant tarantula, has been shared around the world by those who marvel at the illusions
Into the coccoon: The beginnings of one contortionist's transformation into a bright, glittering dragonfly in Miss Fay's studio
Painstaking: As the model holds the uncomfortable position, artist Miss Fay uses water paints and a picture booklet as a guide
Why so serious? Creating a dragonfly is no easy task - it takes a steady hand and some careful detailing on the contortionist's skin
The magician's secrets: Panning back out on the scene, the dragonfly almost complete, shows not a forest but a well-furnished studio
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Wow! She's very talented.
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