Amazing pictures which capture the beauty of wildlife on the human hand

Artist Guido Daniele has turned his hand to creating a wholly different style of painting.

Rather than working on canvas, he uses human hands to produce these stunning animals - like a Technicolor version of the "shadows on the wall" game.

Guido, from Milan, started working with living canvases in 1990, painting the bodies of models for advertising campaigns. Then he began specialising in hands.

The whole process takes anything from two to ten hours - and the models can't even twiddle their thumbs.

Stabled mate: An outstretched palm depicts the head of a brooding mare

Snakes alive: Daniele painted the intricate scales of a slithering snake

Lofty ambition: Beautiful giraffe design

Parrot fashion: The vibrant hues of everyone's favourite feathered friend

In the pink: Daniele's talent as an artist is really on show here in this majestic flamingo

Branching out: A pair of hands were used to make up this magnificent tree

The eagle had landed: Stunning attention to detail produced this beady-eyed bird

Bird in the hand: But it took two of them to depict a predator in flight

Nothing but a hound-dog: Man's best friend is looking down in the mouth

Taking pride: A fist forms the king of the jungle