Mighty Optical Illusions » skull

Deep In The Forest…

Vurdlak — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:14:20 +0000

Karl Kwasny is an Australian illustrator, currently based in Manhattan, New York. Few days ago one of our readers (thanks Neli!) sent me this illustration Karl made, followed by a poem which can be found immediately after the picture. I tend not to post skull illusions that often, probably cause we’ve seen so many, but occasionally such a nice item appears it would be shame had we left it aside. The illusion it hides is quite easy to see, and the story it holds is for you to imagine!

Deep in the forest, where heavy feet sink,
you mightn’t be quite as alone as you think!

Skull Illusions by Tom French

Vurdlak — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:07:19 +0000

Each time I post another item to our skull illusions section, I pledge myself it was the last time I did so (as they usually work in pretty much the same way). I fear if I over-bomb you with similar illusions you’ll soon grow tired of them, thus stop visiting this monumental website. However, running a decent “Skull Illusions” category wouldn’t be it without including this beautiful series of charcoal drawings by Tom French, an artist who has been greatly inspired by Charles Allan Gilbert’s optical illusion entitled All Is Vanity (1892). I promise, there will be no more skull illusions for some time now ;D Be sure to check Tom’s homepage for more awesome pencil drawings!

Here are some notes about Tom French:

His works are predominantly figurative. He carefully combines detailed photorealism with strong elements of abstraction and surrealism, focusing on the reflection of the conscious and subconscious mind. French’s work often treads the fine line between the beautiful and unsettling, combining technically tight, classical charcoal drawings with carefree, loose and ostensibly unfinished abstract forms. By fusing the technical with lively abstraction French brings life and movement to his compositions. His work seamlessly merges the use of academic tradition with contemporary urban realism.

Popcorn/Ice-Cream Optical Illusion

Vurdlak — Wed, 11 May 2011 15:27:24 +0000

Apologizes for skipping Tuesday (illusion wise)! Something technical came up, which asked for immediate attention. No need to go into much detail, but it was an issue I believe had something to do with our bandwidth. Anyway, let me share these two posters to make up for it. When I first saw them, I remember they both managed to trick me. Now that some time has gone, I can’t recall what was their original intention. Dunno, were popcorns only intended to resemble a skull pile, or was it the other way around. Similar goes for the second photo. Be sure to share your opinion. Anyone knows what was this campaign for?

Scary Sushi Optical Illusion

Vurdlak — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 17:55:12 +0000

I’ve received my brand new iPad 3G from USA today (thx Vernon!), and will try and post more details about my experience with it soon. In short, I never saw any value in all those eReaders and tablets at first. But when I noticed I spend almost 2 hours each night reading books off of my iPhone, I decided it’s time to re-think. Am specially interested whether it’s possible to properly update this site solely using iPad or not. I had the same thoughts when I got my first iPhone, yet it didn’t turn out as I expected. BTW, are there any professional photo editing tools available for iPad? Also, if anyone did the same as I did (imported 3G version from States), please report will I be able to use my local telecommunications provider’s micro SIM card, or is it locked to AT&T exclusively? Not much more to say, as I’m too excited to brainstorm right now, but be sure to join our Facebook group (there is a box for it in the sidebar) for few more illusions we missed showing on this site in the last few days! Also, don’t forget to check those scary illusions below!

The Halloween Tree Illusion

Vurdlak — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 16:25:37 +0000

So, what have I been up to lately? Not much to be sincere… I’ve added some new illusions to our Facebook group (you can join our group via the badge located in the sidebar), but what has really been occupying me lately is my diploma white paper. I’m writing about Web Analytics, and feel pretty much stuck deciding towards which direction to head next. If you have any material on the subject, or know some experts in this field be sure to drop me a line!

Anyway, not to distract you from our newest illusion, let’s see what Wyatt Crouse sent in the other day. What you see on your right is the cover of Ray Bradbury’s book The Halloween Tree. If you have trouble seeing the illusion, try squinting your eyes!

Coffee Skull Optical Illusion

Vurdlak — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 18:35:41 +0000

Most of our Windows users have downloaded the free “Optical Illusion of The Day” gadget, which is then positioned in corner of their desktops, and shows new optical illusion each day (or two). I’m proud to say by now we have had more than 390,000 downloads of our gadget, and have almost surpassed famous Dilbert! Rest of you who still haven’t tried this widget, be sure to check it out, and by doing so you’ll greatly help us increase our downloads counter. You can also vote by giving it deserved number of the stars, the ratings system similar to our own. Anyways, those of you still interested, but not preferring Windows operating system, be sure to check what else we have prepared for you here. Concerning the illusion for today, no needed to explain – supposedly coffee kills (still not convinced, though).

Scary Santa Optical Illusion

Vurdlak — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 16:39:05 +0000

So what have I prepared for you today? First, I’m gonna talk a little about our new website design, and in the next paragraph there will be more talk on the illusion itself. Inpatient ones may simply skip this, and head directly to the next paragraph. As you see, I’ve already implemented some of your logical suggestions. I’ve added the slightly darker background, and made the share buttons stop following you, as you scroll down the page. I’m aware we need a new logo (more professional one), but am simply to occupied to do this. Anyone volunteers to redesign our logo? You may attach your works via images for comments option, and showcase your skills! I still need the idea for our header, though. How can we make it better?

And for the illusion… well, you’ll quickly realize it yourself! It’s definitely not what you first thought. I’ve received this one from Julie, who said she was a little scared when she first saw this, but made her all warm and happy when she understood the illusion. Can you see why is that?

Malware Problem (FIXED?!)

Vurdlak — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:42:28 +0000

Hey guys, just to inform you what’s been happening today – we had a security incident, where hacker/script preformed a PHP injection into our header file, injecting some spammy content. Fortunately, the malware has been removed now, and some additional security modifications have been installed. However, google and firefox automatically blocked our site for 24 hours, giving warning about the malicious code that was present few hours ago. I’ve submitted the re-inclusion proposal, so the blockage should be lifted in next few hours, when their bots check the site again and see it has been fixed. Just to clarify that our site is safe, and no malware is residential here.

But the problem that buggs me the most, is how the hell the code got auto-injected in the first place??!! If you are an expert in the field of security/wordpress/databases/php please send me an email vurdlak AT gmail.com if you have spare minutes to help. Will keep you updated…

I Become My Resting Place

Vurdlak — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:05:46 +0000

Alan M. Clark is an Oregon based artist, who drew all three of the beneath shown paintings. The first one, titled “I Become My Resting Place” inspired F. Paul Wilson in writing the story Anna. Later it was reused as cover art for Black October Magazine. I’ve never heard for any of them, but thought it would be worth mentioning. Anyway, first timers often misinterpret Alan’s images, only later to realize there is more to it than just some dead trees and branches. Actually, if you look closer you’ll notice not everything is as it seems. What I love about these pictures, is that you can easily imagine all kind of scary stories behind them. How would you interpret each?

As the technology exponentially progresses each year, sometimes we have hard time following it. Not to mention understanding new services. For example, in the beginning RSS feeds were so abstract to me, I didn’t even have a clue what to do with them. Same goes for Twitter and Google Wave. It made sense only after I had a practical need for a service of sort, later to learn was supported by mentioned products. Just recently I began understanding Twitter and potential behind it. Then the idea struck me, I could use our official Twitter account to directly post additional illusions, links, articles and photos that never made their way here to moillusions.com website. Even though we have millions of visitors here, it’s somehow hard to get followers for our Twitter account. Care to join our channel?

Poision Perfume from Dior Illusion

Vurdlak — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 12:36:00 +0000

So, anyone remembers original scary skull illusion? In 1860, an unknown author created first know illusion of this type, and called it “Blossom and Decay”. It was one of the first optical illusions in general! It is the third image you can see inside this article. What is so interesting about this motive, is the meaning how beauty and youngness is fragile and short. Later, probably the same artist created the more advanced version with only one women in it. This the second picture inside the article. In last couple of decades, many artist created different versions of this optical illusion. Check Aerosmith album cover, Silence of The Lambs movie poster, Descent movie poster, Skull Bakery painting… We featured more than dozen pictures of this type! Well, it’s interesting to see that Dior took the same motive for it’s Poison perfume, because it’s the first time we saw illusion of this type done in real life! Amazing, isn’t it? I underlined many words in this text, that can bring you directly to similar illusions that involve some kind of skulls. Check them if you wish, and comment which one you think is the best variation! For more optical illusions featured in product advertising, check billboard illusions category.

Skull Ambasadors

Vurdlak — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 15:23:00 +0000

Hans Holbein the Younger was a German artist who painted in a Northern Renaissance style, and was best known for his numerous portraits. The one you see below is titled “Ambassadors”, and was already posted on Mighty Optical Illusions. You can check my older post. I got many questions from you, my loyal visitors to explain with more details how the skull should be seen. As I already explained in my previous post, it is anamorphic image, and should be watched from an angle. Strange object at the bottom of the picture (skull)can be seen if look at it almost from the edge of the canvas. Then it becomes apparent. I think it’s best to show you in step by step pictures. Open the article for tutorial. If you like anamorphosis, check: Walt Disney, cylinder mirrors, strange anamorphosis, tea cups, Jules Verne… and few more in M.C. Escher category.

Jean de Dinterville Skull Illusion

Vurdlak — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 14:20:00 +0000

Jean de Dinterville was a French nobleman who came to England as an ambassador in the 1530. He was one of the two people shown in a famous painting by Holbein – he is the figure on the left. This picture is famous partly for the strange object at the bottom of the picture – it is actually an anamorphic image of a skull, but you have to look almost from the edge of the canvas for this to become apparent. The skull can be seen as a reminder that we are mortal, and that life is fleeting. Am not sure if it works, gonna try it now! I would appreciate you guys comment this one, so we can discuss the effect. Basically this should work in a way 3D Sidewalk Chalk Drawings 1, 2, 3, 4 and Wonderfull Murals 1, 2 work.