Some of my favorite optical illusions stem from 3-D chalk drawings. With bottom-up processing your first response is a response to the stimulus (the drawing and the subject matter of the drawing). For example, in the drawing to the right, one might first react to the thoughts evoked by the drawing such as someone actually falling off of scaffolding. However, once you gained knowledge from outside sources you would realize "wait, I'm standing on the sidewalk," "this is just chalk," or perhaps even "hey, I saw this one online!"
This is how perception and sensation can initially deceive us when it comes to visual imagery and stimuli.
Disclaimer: so perhaps these aren't the most realistically thought-provoking opitcal illusions, but I bet if you were walking down the street and saw this you would temporarily freak out (perhaps due to seeing it out of the corner of your eye), or stop short, asses the stimulant, and walk around it as you wrote it off as a chalk drawing and nothing more.
photo courtesy of: http://www.thisismarvelous.com/postImages/Julian_Beever_3D_optical_illusion_chalk_drawings-normal.jpg
I've always loved these 3-D sidewalk chalk drawings, although I've never had the opportunity to see one in person. Any time I've seen pictures, I think it's really fascinating how intentionally drawing them this way can create the illusion in your mind that you're looking at scenes that seem to go "into" the sidewalk. Yet, if they were not drawn this exact way, they would simply look flat and we wouldn't be so intrigued by it.
ReplyDeleteFor me, it becomes even more interesting when I think about the artist. This might amaze me because I can't draw at all, however this person has the ability to almost work backwards in their minds. They know what the finished picture will be and they know what to draw, and where in the picture to draw it, to create a 3D effect. I can't even begin to think of how to draw something like that, maybe aside from a basic shape!
I love these! whenever I see them I think back to when I was younger and watched Mary Poppins. I like to imagine I can jump in to the art and become a part of the story within it. These are great illusions and always amaze me that someone is able to draw something so mind bending. I think if I ever saw one in person I would be terrified even though I know they are not real.
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