As for this first top ten list, I thought tattoos would make a great topic -after all, you have to really love an illusion to get one tattooed on you. This first tattoo is my personal favorite because it’s such a classic illusion subject -multiple meaning one. These work really well as arm  tattoos because you never know if someone will view it while your arm is raised or not, making it the ideal location for such a piece. This specific design was done by David Page. On the left, you have a queen, but when you flip her upside down, you have a king.

Next, the skull illusion tattoo involves one of my favorite types of illusions. What’s so great about skull illusions?  Let’s face it, they’re just so cool! It’s also a great idea for a tattoo since skulls are one of the most classic tattoo designs, but this interpretation brings the concept from cliche to chic.

Here’s another excellent skull illusion tattoo, this one involving two clowns holding hands while drinking. The tattoo, by Kate Hoogland, just might contain the most romantic skull illusion I have ever seen.

On the right, we have a brilliant rendition of M.C. Escher’s Drawing Hands illusion. The piece, done by Cheryl Volling, has some absolutely stunning shading, giving it the life-like appearance of the original Escher drawing.

This ambigram tattoo is great in that it incorporates some of the most important aspects of philosophy into an ambigram. It’s also particularly nice in that it is easy to read and doesn’t look strange from either direction, which is one of the hardest aspects in making an ambigram.

This saint/sinner ambigram is also easy to read, but rather than focusing on the arts and sciences, it focuses on religion. I think it really seems to denote the true duality of man.

Here’s another cool religious optical illusion, albeit in a a totally different style. If you don’t see the illusion, just back up a few more inches and then you’ll see that the image comes together to make the face and beard of Jesus.

On the right is another Escher tattoo, this one is on Flickr user’s alan.maia profile and features fish transforming into birds (and vice-versa) artwork. Maybe it’s just me, but I really love how worried that last fish in the tattoo looks.

We’ve featured a few of Del-Prete’s illusions before, but this impossible object tattooed on Flickr user bonstance and seen in the book Masters of Deception is still new.

Here’s a great tattoo with a double meaning. Is it a face or a cartoonish man playing saxophone?

Bonus: While it’s little anamorphic, this one might not technically be an illusion. Even so, the details are amazing enough to make it looks completely realistic.

Now, before I sign off, I thought I’d ask you guys about your own tattoos. After all, if you’re a regular reader of Moillusions.com, you just might be the type of person who’s willing to get an illusion tattoo. So, do any of you have illusion tattoos? And if you do, do you have any links to the pictures online? I know I’m not the only one who’d love to see them.

Also, I’m a big fan of giving credit where it’s due, so if you know who did any of the tattoos that aren’t labeled, please leave their names in the comments. Thanks guys!

Still, take a look how seamlessly Sandro managed to differentiate figures shown on your right. What’s so interesting about it, is that when you focus on the figure on your left there’s no mistake it pictures a human hand. If you observe the right one, there’s no point denying we see a young lady holding her hands up in the air. Yet if you compare the two figures, it’s not easy to see any obvious differences. So how did he do that? It must be the surrounding context of each figure, if you ask me…

Looking forward to hear you ideas! If someone discovers this one was already featured, be sure to bring it up!

Be sure to notice how part of the painting is a pinned down painting itself, motive Sandro heavily uses in his works. How many optical illusions can you spot in today’s post?

Btw, those of you still reading, I would appreciate if you had a second to spare… My mum has tailored a coat which she feels very proud of, and had submitted it for a competition of some kind. She isn’t aware I’m writing this, but I would appreciate highly if you could rate her design positively here (click “J’aime” if you like it).

I like this one because it’s plain simple, and doesn’t favor none of the two illusory motives it holds. That being said, can you easily switch between old man’s profile and two of the Ticino people? Usually these kind of illusions struggle to push intended (illusory) motive to the front, while the other one is then too much blended with the background, thus making it much harder to see. I find it masterful when both motives have the same weight instead of when artists try to force the illusion!

BTW, how many of you noticed that we surpassed the 100 MILLION VISITOR milestone? I believe we are one of the rare webs that still use the counter (see footer). I’m aware there is zero chance that 100 million different people saw our website, yet makes you wonder how popular we became since our beginning. Enjoy another fine illusion brought to you by Mighty Optical Illusions!

As you can see, the woman is hanging a bath towel on a clothesline, but is unaware of the sensual illusion to which we have fallen victim. No, the woman isn’t really nude. You’ll probably want to check this again!

The illusion it took couple of years for me to notice, is caused by the illustration printed on the bath towel. The towel depicts motive of five dolphins playing in the algae (sea grass), which “accidentally” resembles something else. If you don’t believe me, check out the window reflection in background – it clearly shows that the woman is decent and wearing her clothes as she should.

There is even better version of this illusion available, one that we posted in the very beginning of this site! Be sure to check the original Dolphins Illusion once you’re finished reading this.

I think the trend began with Napoleon’s Grave and Invisible Prince mural. Still, it makes one fine optical illusion, but hey – we haven’t expected anything less from great #Sandro Del Prete, haven’t we? Be sure to check the tag to see most of his previous illusory works!

When you’re done, there is another impossible illusion to be found in the poster on your right. How long does it take for you to see it? Looking forward to hear your comments!

Ad for Russian mobile communication company Megafon, inspired by Sandro Del-Prete

Sandro Del Prete's original "Folded Chessboard". Click to see it in full size.

Check out the thumbnail on your right. It has been cropped, but when you open it in full size, you’ll see the original artwork done by Sandro Del-Prete titled “Folded Chessboard“. This piece of art was created all the way back in 1975, and I’m still not sure how it managed to slip my attention when I posted complete opus of Sandro Del-Prete’s artwork.

"The Terrace" by David Mcdonald. Click to see it.

Anyway, “The Terrace” optical illusion we talked about earlier is JUST ONE in the sea of successful variations of Sandro Del Prete’s “Folded Chessboard”. If you browse the web, and search for Chessboard Illusions you will find dozen of examples. The Terrace was David Mcdonald’s first published illusion. It proved very popular in the last few years, and it can be found all over the web now. The most interesting part is that when compiling “The Terrace”, David took more than sixty purpose taken photographs, and used them to create this image you see on your left. I’m looking forward to hear you thoughts, and be sure to explain which of the three optical illusions posted today you find the best. Also, do you find “in depth articles” like this one I compiled today more interesting, or would you prefer more illusions per day but with less text? An idea struck my head to start posting new optical illusion every 6 hours or so, but then only few lines of text would accompany each article. Share your view on this, I beg you.

Sandro Del-Prete was born in 1937, and is a Swiss artist who paints figures, situations and processes that cannot exist in the real world. Comparisons can be drawn between Del-Prete and Escher’s artwork, although they differ in subject matter, style, mood and technique. Del-Prete greatly admires Escher and believes that they are ‘kindred spirits’, however the viewer will find very little mathematical precision in Del-Prete’s work, something that is always present in Escher’s work.

Sandro Del Prete - Crusader Illusion

Check out the previous work of Sandro Del Prete