# Illusions, Trompe l'oeil, Ideas....



## Zurgh (Dec 21, 2009)

I have been thinking a bit (OK, trying to think?) about our "Art", the "haunt". Then, I got to thinking about art in general, illusions more specifically....then I remembered Trompe l'oeil.

Here's my bit o' Trompe l'oeil. 30 minutes, in my kids chalk, on my walkway. I call it "I was board & wanted to see what I could do on the fly. Oh, a pit & a spill." It was not good enough to keep a guy from putting a flyer on my gate, he had to cross the pit to do so... I think the Zombie by the door got rid of him... 









This is Julian Beever and his sidewalk CHALK work, Dungeon!!! It takes DAYS of work for him to do one this size.









This is his site link. He has many more chalk drawings here. Most are cool perspective illusions.
http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm

Here are some more Trompe l'oeil links. Some basics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trompe-l'œil

Murals on buildings.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/wor...nted-sides-buildings-trompe-loeil-artist.html

Some others here, too.
http://weburbanist.com/2008/11/29/architecture-optical-illusions/

I will put some planning into the next one I do, as I think I could make something like this work in my haunt this year. A walkway of pits the ToTs come to, could really mess with there heads, since there not real..... or a staircase going down, perhaps to an old creepy door?
Any ideas? Has anyone else done something similar or want to? Got any good artistic illusions?

On a side note, I asked some of you of where to put this post. It is not an oddity, but it is odd. It is not a prop, but could be in part... nor is it exactly atmosphere... Not quite a tactic, but it is a technique, of sorts. I don't think this is at all off topic to us. I think this could be used in haunts to great effect, but have not seen it done so dramatically. If the moderators have a better place to put this, please do.


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## hedg12 (Jul 6, 2008)

That's an awesome idea. Wish I was a good enough artist to pull it off...


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## Zurgh (Dec 21, 2009)

Start simple, I did. Mine is a little above what my kids do with some cheep chalk on the concrete. I have high hopes that even with my limited abilities in the medium, that I could at least cause a double-take or some hesitation in a step. Make them question reality... Try, I did.... And If I can, so can you!


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## GothicCandle (Mar 26, 2007)

I found one I could draw! whoo hoo!


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## Zurgh (Dec 21, 2009)

Yes! but that only works... a few times... It only makes $$$ if renowned-ish!!! You can do better than this. I have faith!!! we all can!


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## morbidmike (Sep 11, 2009)

those are so sweet


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

This is much harder to do than it looks...perspective drawing is a beeyotch.


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## Terra (Apr 13, 2009)

Wow, that looks great! I have an idea you may want to consider. Last year I also did Trompe d'oeil illusions, with a twist. ChromaDepth 3D. If you are not familiar with ChromaDepth, it can take red colors and make them advance and blue colors recede _(with other colors in between)._ So, I used that in planning the trompe d'oeil. Here is a wall panel:










And here is a floor illusion. If you were wearing the glasses, it completely looks like a set of stairs going down. I warned all the kiddies to watch the stairs and every one of them carefully tried to stay on the steps, LOL! Oh, and you got the sense that as you go down the stairs, you will get a face full of spider webs.


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## IMU (Apr 8, 2009)

WooHoo ... love those pics Terra! Great Job


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## wickedwitchwest (Jul 23, 2009)

I hadn't thought about using this painting technique in the haunt but it's a great idea...thanks.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I think this is a fantastic idea, Zurgh, and I've never seen it used as a haunt tactic/technique (that's where I'd put this thread).

I'm thinking lighting or some way to highlight such a chalk painting will be critical since most ToTs are going to have their eyes on the front door - or wherever the treats are located - and may not pay attention to what's under their feet. You'll also have to give some thought to the effect of many feet passing over it. I expect a chalk painting would wear fast, but it would at least be good for some initial "WTH!" responses


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## DarkLore (Jan 25, 2009)

Have you considered a projector? Take a very bright projector and a black and white line drawn image (no shading...it would be harder to trace)....then project across the floor or wall from the focal point of the viewer. Trace the outlines and fill in with shading after you know the distortion points.

I've never tried this...but it might work.


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

Those are some pretty cool examples - and a good artist (ie - not me) can do a really good job and make something pretty passable. But also, don't forget, the pictures of the art will always look a little better because the picture automatically removes the third dimension your eyes would see in real life.


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## The Watcher (Sep 13, 2008)

This is really given me some ideas. It would certainly be a way to make some halls look longer then they are. Thanks for posting this.


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## tot13 (Jul 25, 2007)

This is a great idea Zurgh! I think there is one thing that should be considered, and maybe you already have, but that's "placement". I've seen the photos of the chalk sidewalk drawings before - and some of them from different angles. To get the 3-d effect, the overall drawing is way out of proportion if seen from a different angle/perspective. That is, the 3-d effect only works from one perspective and if the viewer progresses past that position then the 3-d effect is lost and the distortion is visible. You might consider having the drawing located where the tot's walk past it (like a non-existent hallway) instead of something they walk through.


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## Zurgh (Dec 21, 2009)

Terra, awesome pics! Did any Tots try to walk into the wall panel? That's too cool!
Debbie5, perspective drawing can be difficult, my first chalk "hole" is way off.
RoxyB, the wear & tear from dry foot traffic has not been too bad. The bigger threat would be water or walking on it with wet feet. Another bit of chalking I did vanished in the rain last night. As for getting the Tots attention, where it is now, with no decor, it is perfectly placed. Unfortunately, on Halloween, there will be too much going on & would probably go unnoticed.
DarkLore, I have used a projector before & they work well. You can get more detail from a projection than you'd think. Alas, I gave mine away to charity a few years ago, thinking I'd have no more use for it. Oops, sucks to be me!
corey872, I cannot attest to all the pics in the links I provided, but with the third dimension removed from my chalk hole, it actually looks worse than in real life. And I personally think that mine looks like crap.
Tot13, you nailed it clean on the head. Placement, distortion, & exaggeration are key! I chose to put my "hole" at the end of my walkway, because it would be at the center of attention as one would approach my front door. Come Halloween, I'll need a better location for it.

I do think anyone can pull off something like this with little or no artistic ability! Once I get it right, I'll post all the measurements, angles, Etc. Here are more pics of my chalk "hole". It is 3' -ish wide, 5' -ish long. The walkway, end to end, is about 26' long. 2' T square used to make straight lines & gave me the (wrong) angle on the back "wall" of the hole. Used 3 colors of dollar store chalk, yellow, blue, & pink. These pics were taken after 2 days of normal foot traffic for a family of 5. 
Pic 1 was taken from a ladder, to show true-ish 2D.
#2 taken from "best" distance of 6' away. 
#3 taken from start of walkway, about 15' away. This is where I should have shot for the "best" appearance in the chalking. You can see where I originally wanted to "end" the hole.
#4 taken from behind. Doesn't look like much from this angle.






























Oh, thanks for moving this, I could not figure on where this should have gone!


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## fick209 (Aug 31, 2009)

This is a great idea Zurgh! Pic 1 showing the true-ish 3-D as you put it, captures the 3-D of it very well. Very nice job


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## Terra (Apr 13, 2009)

The wall did get bumped a little bit 

I used it to set them up. While they were contemplating if they should go in or not, I had a distraction scare behind them _(jumping monster)._


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## Zurgh (Dec 21, 2009)

Here are a few other illusion ideas I'll be trying out.









I have been trying to make this into a font for a tombstone (above). I have had limited success, but need to track down a good & free font maker program, and a better art program.

I've always loved imposable drawings, like the "devils fork" & will be including things like this in my haunt.









This is the site I have been mining for ideas & where these pics came from. It gives explanations as to how & why some of these illusions work. 
http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/index.html

This next site has a large gallery of illusions, many repeated. I also like some of the non-moving pics that seem to move...but don't! A warning on the non-moving motion pics, after about an hour of looking at many of these on an empty stomach, I got very queasy! Also there is a "screamer" pic included on the site, but not in its gallery areas (You can guess which one). This site is also very advertiser heavy.
http://www.eyetricks.com/illusions.htm

I have thought about using some of the "Motion" illusions, too. Perhaps on a tombstone border.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I'll bet you're an Escher fan, too


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## scarymovie (Feb 14, 2010)

Thats a great idea!!! I like how the people look like they are trying to get out they look creepy!


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## Zurgh (Dec 21, 2009)

*Chalk update*

Well, it has been 1 week & the chalk drawing has survived over 70 crossings & 2 minor rain storms (although not directly rained on) with only some fading. The 1st pic is before I swept the walk, the 2nd, after. I did not know it would last this long & be recognisable. Sweeping did little to the drawing. Chalk is more durable than I thought! The rain did wipe all trace of one I did that was completely exposed to the weather.

It looks like it will be clear & dry enough to attempt another drawing later this week. I think that I will leave the one shown alone to see how long it will take for it to fade mostly away.(Except for normal foot traffic & sweeping, of course!)

Yes, RoxyB, I do like M.C. Escher. I also like Salvador Dali, too.


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