This artist specialises in ‘handimals’

By Noimot Olayiwola/Staff ReporterItalian-based body and hand painting artist Guido Daniele is offering a rare treat of his unique art form to enthusiasts in Qatar at a four-day event beginning at the City Center Doha today.“I was inspired into hand art in 2000 when I was challenged by a US-based telecom company to make some paintings on hands that are suitable as architectural designs. I tried painting some leaves, flowers and even bridges then,” Daniele recalled during an interview with the Gulf Times yesterday.The artist described how surprised his clients were at the new creations and how that led him to creating many more solutions.“That project opened my eyes to hand art, which involves basically painting some animals on hands. I first experimented with a cheetah, later tried elephant and then an eagle,” he said.Daniele said he became an artist at the age of six, and said he has always been fascinated by age-old Chinese shadow art - a play presented by casting shadows of puppets or actors on a screen, which kept people engaged before the invention of the television.“I am impressed by the shadow-in-the-wall art whereby the artists throw shadows of their hands on to a lighted wall or screen to make different shapes. I draw my inspiration from this kind of art form,” he said adding shadow art is no longer popular. The artist said he is open to collaboration with any local art community.Daniele has worked as a hyper-realistic illustrator, co-operating with editing and advertising companies, innovating with airbrush and testing out various painting techniques. He has painted backcloths up to 400sqm in size and has also painted trompe l’oeil images for private houses and public buildings. Trompe l’oeil is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that depicted objects exist in three dimensions.In 1990, Daniele developed a body painting technique, and his work has been used in advertising images and commercials, as well as fashion events and exhibitions.He was honoured with the ‘2007 Hero of the Year’ award by Animal Planet television network.City Center Doha manager Ana Marapidou said the hand art show is not only about painting and animals, but about getting the messages the paintings convey.“It is a major issue to take care of animals and plants because if they are depleted we are going to suffer for it. The show is also about teaching the pedagogy of this kind of painting to children besides providing them with learning and fun environment,” she said.The animal paintings exhibition will showcase two separate live demonstrations of the hand art twice in the afternoon through the four days while Daniele’s daughter will be on hand to take children through the rudimentary of hand art.