Israeli graphic artist Noma Bar produces visually-striking and simple illustrations that take full advantage of negative space.  In this example, titled Pointed Sense, Noma captures a scene which he saw once where a male black labrador tucked his nose behind a female white labrador and gave her a good sniff.  Her tail was up over his head, creating a real life negative space scene.  Noma then did what all graphic artists would do and captured what he saw with his pen.

(via Noma Bar)

Seven people leaning against a wall marvel at the sight of a flying dog.  It almost appears that the dog is full of helium.

Two other similar photographs worth revisiting are Climbing from Erik Minnema and the optical illusion courtesy of Hurricane Sandy.

Today’s illusion comes to us straight from the “Roaring ’20s”.   It is the 18th card in a series of 25 optical illusion cards published in 1926 by Major Drapkin & Co (London) which was a branch of The United Kingdom Tobacco Co Ltd.   The reverse side of the card contains the following:

Which is the longer of the two straight rods stretching between the hands of the two pairs of clowns?  Before you get your friends to pass judgment, check your own decision with the aid of a ruler.  You will find that both lines are exactly the same length.

We posted another card from this series called His Own Size? last year.  If you like these vintage illusions, let us know and we can post more of them (or the entire collection).

There are a number of talented artists creating anamorphic drawings on pavement and sidewalks, we see their work all over the Internet.  New Zealand artist Jame Harkins creates his three-dimensional drawings on a different surface – in the sand at the beach.  In his drawing shown here, a tall skinny ladder leads up to a very small diving board.  It appears that someone has jumped off of the diving board and is heading directly into a small inflatable pool below.

I would love to see this drawing from an alternate angle to see exactly how tall he had to draw the ladder to make it appear to be three dimensional.  My guess is that it stretches quite a long way.

We previously featured another anamorphic ladder drawn in the sand from an artist named Nico Laan.  If you enjoyed this one, be sure to check that one out as well.

(via Jamie Harkins)

This painting from British surrealist artist Norman Parker is a reworking of a familiar optical illusion.  Glastonbury Tor, a holy hill in Southwest England, can be seen in the background through the impossible columns / pillars.  As you move from the top of the painting to the bottom, the four square columns transform into six round pillars.

Despite having no formal art training, Norman Parker has been painting on both an amateur and semi-professional basis for over 50 years.

(via Norman Parker)

OK Go is an American band known for their unusually quirky videos.  For their latest effort promoting their new single The Writing’s on the Wall, from the forthcoming album titled Hungry Ghosts, they decided to dive head first into the realm of optical illusions.  What they came up with is an entertaining music video featuring lots of forced perspective and anamorphic tricks.  The entire video was filmed in one continuous take which makes the whole thing even more impressive.  If they had one minor problem during the take, they had to go back and start over at the very beginning.  Have a look and let us know what you think about it in the comments.  Does one particular part of the music video stand out to you more than the others?

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If you are a fan of optical illusions and you like physical calendars for your desk, make sure to check out Ultimate Optical Illusions:  Visual Tricks to Challenge the Eye and Mind, a new 2015 Day-to-Day calendar.  This full-color calendar published by Andrews McMeel Publishing has a new illusion for each day of the week (Saturday and Sunday are combined on one page).  On some pages, white will appear black, straight will appear bent, still images appear to be in motion, and objects even appear and disappear right from the page.

You can purchase this calendar at your favorite retailer or directly on Amazon.

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