By Vurdlak on March 6, 2012, with 286 Comments
How many red balls can you count in this photo below? Take a brief moment and count before you continue. Did you say there were five red balls? Are you absolutely positively certain? Recount again. Can you see another? Look closer. Are you positive there are only five balls? The longer you look at the photo and try to figure it out, the more surprised you’ll be when I reveal the optical illusion it hides. How about this for a hint! Didn’t help? How about another hint… Admit it, you never thought the answer was right there in front of your eyes the whole time. If you enjoy this type of optical illusions, be sure to head over and watch the Awareness Test video. Thanks goes to Deceptology blog for bringing this to my attention!
Notice how many red balls are there in this photo?
(294 votes)By Jill Harness on March 4, 2012, with 20 Comments
Artist Cecilia Paredes could easily be labeled as the “female Liu Bolin,” but to do so would only marginalize the talent of the Peruvian painter whose detailed, patterned paintings are worthy of being respected on their own merits. Besides, the simple fact that she tends to leave her chestnut brown hair and dark brown eyes visible in so many of her pictures, means that she doesn’t really want to hide away completely like Bolin tends to do. Instead, the artist says that she creates her camouflaged artwork as part of her “quest of belonging.”
(47 votes)By Jill Harness on March 1, 2012, with 14 Comments
I’ll admit it, this Sima Pashtun rug illusion, created by Mauricio Lara and Sebastián Lara, took me a little while to see. At first I thought it was just supposed to look like it was melting or stretched out, but once I saw the crazy extra dimension it adds to the floor, I couldn’t unsee the illusion.
While you might hope that it looks even more like quicksand with someone standing on it, the result is, unfortunately, quite the opposite – showing exactly how flat the rug really is. In fact, the rug is quite anamorphic being as how the illusion really only works when viewed from the proper angle without anyone standing on it to interfere with the design.
As for how the rug itself was created: well, it may look totally unique, but it’s actually quite traditional. In fact, the technique used to weave this design was a 3,000 year old Tibetan style. I guess it’s true that everything old will become new again at some point…
(53 votes)By Vurdlak on February 29, 2012, with 10 Comments
Fred Eerdekens is a Belgian artist we’ve featured multiple times in the past. What we have learned by now, is that he is most famous for his breathtaking installations that use light and very purposely placed objects to create typographic spaces. Just like the ones presented below. In my opinion, these are just cool beyond words. Can you imagine walking around a gallery space looking soley at the beautiful objects, when all of a sudden you reach the position where the lights and objects collide to form a shadow of words?
After you’ve checked both #Fred Eerdekens and #Shadow tags, you’ll have a pretty good insight to proceed with what I have prepared for you today. Wires, metal, junk, trees… it’s just a portion of material Fred uses to come up with his creations. Here are some of the more prominent works done by this artists. And if all of this still isn’t enough for you, you are welcome to browse through the attached gallery at the bottom of this post. Which one is your favorite? Can you make out all of the words and letters produced by shadows? How about those is dutch?
(52 votes)By Vurdlak on February 27, 2012, with 19 Comments
After Sandro Del Prete started the trend with his Folded Chessboard, many artists (inspired by his work) made an effort to recreate similar works based on Sandro’s idea. David Macdonald’s modern attempt even managed to surpass the original in internet popularity, and Megafon’s promotional poster went even further! But if you ask me, I’m almost certain none of this would ever exist if M.C. Escher decided to keep his portfolio away from public. And as it goes with famous works of art, they are recreated in LEGO more often than not. It was only a matter of time before artists like Brixie63 of Flickr recreated the “Terrace” using nothing but LEGO. Hope you like this one, and if you do – be sure to understand what Brixe did to achieve the illusion of impossible world below!
(65 votes)By Vurdlak on February 25, 2012, with 15 Comments
When I stumble across skull optical illusions, I’m very picky when deciding which ones deserve to be featured on Mighty Optical Illusions homepage. It’s not that I don’t like them, it’s just that I think the motive is a bit over-exploited, and rarely innovative nowadays. Most of the things that were there to be said about these, I think we already mentioned. Check the #Skulls category to see what I mean.
On the other hand, #Billboard illusions are my favorite type of illusions. When an agency produces a professional poster using a well known illusion motive, there is a great chance the results will be eye-captivating.
Skull motive is just what these agencies had in mind when they were asked to produce captivating campaigns for public service announcements. AIDS, smoking, drug use.. these are just some of the issues for which such posters were crafted.
Check the featured gallery below, and see what I have prepared for you today. Hope you like them all, and hopefully you’ll learn something from them! My personal favorite was the helmet one immediately below.
SUVA – Accident Prevention
Suva, Switzerland’s independent, non-profit company opened its doors as the Swiss Accident Insurance Fund way back in 1918. This add was done for them by Ruf Lanz ad agency. I saw the horrific Scream mask prior to bicycle helmet, which is probably what the agency intended in the first place.
Don’t let accidents end up in a nightmare: Wear a Helmet
(35 votes)By Vurdlak on February 23, 2012, with 105 Comments
Let’s see if you have what it takes to spot the hidden giraffe in this beautiful painting below! First one to find it earns a privilege to brag around. I bet if you’re an old-time fan, you’ll recognize this type of illusion almost instantly. New comers will need few minutes before they can figure it out, though. For more similar illusions (or hints if you will), be sure to check the almighty Hidden Tiger and the off-the grid Where is The Third? illusion. So, have you found it already?
© Gianni A. Sarcone, www.archimedes-lab.org
(150 votes)By Jill Harness on February 21, 2012, with 18 Comments
Lenticular graffiti takes a special hand in that the artist cannot just select any old surface to apply this type of artwork. Instead, he or she must scout around, looking for a location that happens to be suitable for this specific type of poster application. That’s why lenticular illusions are much more common to be found in the UK than practically anywhere else – it’s just that they have by far most shutters and latticed sidings than other countries do.
To that end, English artist dr. d is one of the premiere artists when it comes to lenticular graffiti. Here is one of his artworks critiquing the country’s prison system (for those unaware, H.M.P. stands for “Her Majesty’s Prison). First see how they work when viewed straight on:
(40 votes)
