How to Create Optical Illusions

Based on the artistic concepts of perspective and vanishing point, this is a fun introduction to creating a variety of simple-yet-cool optical illusions on paper. Instructor Peggy Flores starts with a motif she calls “warp speed,” because it resembles the view from the bridge of the Starship Enterprise when it makes the leap to hyper speed, which begins with a simple dot on the page (to orient the geometric shapes to come), and ends up with a 3-D feel, conveying the optical illusion of depth on a 2-D surface. Flores' medium is paper and her tools are colored pencils and markers (for shading and coloring), as well as a black ink pen to clearly mark the boundaries of the shapes (including lines, circles, squares, and rectangles). In addition to basic techniques, viewers will learn a variety of useful tips (for instance, darker colors tend to recede, while lighter colors tend to pop out). A youngster inspired by this program might well go on to create works that might have made M.C. Escher do a double take. Recommended. [Note: also newly available from Crystal Productions is Aboriginal Art: How to Create It.] Aud: E, I, P. (C. Block)