An artist has recreated scenes from some of his favourite movies in stunning detail - using nothing more than brown parcel tape.

At first glance it appears they could've been made using state-of-the art computer software but this 'Tape Art' is created by layering strips of ordinary brown tape on to a light box.

This is then lit up to reveal the picture in all its splendour.

Scenes from classic films including Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers '39 Steps' and 'Spellbound' have been recreated in such detail they almost look as if they could be the original film strip.

According to artist Mark Khaisman using tape in this way is just another way of painting.

The 51-year-old comments: "The work is made from layer upon layer of translucent packing tape, applied to clear Plexiglas and placed in front of a light box to give the image shadow and depth.

"I see my tape art as a form of painting."

Mr Khaisman, from Philadelphia, America, previously worked on stained-glass windows before taking up the more unusual medium of parcel tape.

But, despite seeming to be very different types of art, Mr Khaisman said they were both examples of what he calls 'painting with light'.

The idea for his tape art actually came from his 51-year-old wife Elena, an art teacher, who had been teaching her pupils how to create pictures with masking tape.

He said: "About five to six years ago I was thinking about other ways of painting with light.

"My wife was doing an art project with kids using colour masking tape and that gave me an idea.

"I tried to use translucent packing tape on backlit material assuming that it might work, and it did.

"My art is a conversation with light, I started it like a traditional stained-glass artist, but with tape."

Mr Khaisman uses around three rolls of 100 metre packing tape and takes up to a week to create just one extraordinary picture.

Different shades are created by building up the tape, up to ten layers make the darkest sections of the pictures.

Incredibly, Mr Khaisman doesn't sketch out the image first but, instead, works directly onto the light boxes, using photos and film stills as a reference.

He said: "I chose scenes from my favourite films; I particularly enjoy Hitchcock's work.

"I use photographs; I start by blowing them up to actual size to get proportions right and then I simply build the image."

Original tape works, which are about four feet in height, are being snapped up for as much as $10,000 dollars (£6,000".

And Mr Khaisman said he had been inundated with emails from all sorts of people intrigued by his work.

He said: "I get a lot of of 'wows' from people and even once got an email which simply read 'You sir are one hell of an artist ... thanks for doing what you do."

Films in the collection include Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 thriller '39 Steps, starring Robert Donat and Madeleine Carroll.

Hollywood stars Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck also appear in scenes from another of Hitchcock's creations 'Spellbound', released in 1945.

Other films include director Delmer Daves' 1947 murder-mystery 'Dark Passage', starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

And Samuel Fuller's 1953 classic 'Pickup on South Street', with actors Jean Peters and Richard Widmark in the leading roles.

Mr Khaisman also produces pictures of Romanesque statues, portraits of family and friends and still life.

MUST CRDIT PHOTOS BY: Mark Khaisman / Solent / Rex Features