With a background in cognitive psychology, I can’t help but find illusions and other perceptual tricks utterly fascinating. As our modes of sensory input are streamlined for efficiency, this leaves a significant and somewhat shocking margin for error.

Combine that knowledge with the world of art, and you’ve got the increasingly popular trend of forced perspective “anamorphic” street drawings (wherein the image and three-dimensional illusion are only properly visible while viewing the piece from a particular location).

Here are 89 of the world’s most mind-bending 3D chalk drawings, from five key artists in the scene.

1

Julian Beever

Born in 1959, this British artist studied art at Leeds Met. University. He began “anamorphic pavement illustrations” in the early ‘90s as a busker.

Premodernist and Postmodernist

2

About to Meet Mr. Newt

3

Politicians Meeting Their End

4

Ballantine’s

5

Little and Large

6

Times Square in Times Square

7

Taking the Plunge

8

Batman and Robin

9

That Hemmed-in Feeling...

10

Beneath Every Carpark...

11

Christmas Eve in Santa’s Workshop

12

Yorkshire Water

13

Wheel of Fortune

14

Babyfood

15

Babyfood (wrong view)

16

Swimming Pool in the High Street

17

Swimming Pool in the High Street (wrong view)

18

Make Poverty History

19

Make Poverty History (wrong view)

20

The Great Green Grasshopper

21

The Great Green Grasshopper (wrong view)

22

Snail (Back off, Creep...)

23

Snail (Back off, Creep...) (wrong view)

24

Edgar Mueller

This German artist was born in 1968, and taught himself painting as a child (most often painting his rural hometown of Straelen). He started doing street art full-time at the age of 25.

The Ark

25

The Crevasse

26

Lava Burst

27

Waterfall

28

The Tree

29

Tribute to Mount Fuji

30

Energy

31

Energy(wrong view)

32

Emerald Cave

33

Mysterious Cave (in Germany)

34

Duality

35

Where Do I Go

36

Phoenix

37

Tribute to the Elements

38

Eduardo Relero

Currently living and working in Spain, this Argentinian artist was born in 1964. He began painting in Rome in 1990, and currently specializes in figurative pieces with a distinctly surrealist feel.

Salida de emergencia del la modernidad

39

Oraculo Maya

40

Vida de los huevos

41

Gladiator

42

Llotja del mar

43

Untitled, Sarasota Chalk Festival

44

La deriva filosófica

45

Justicia yacente

46

Hortelano

47

Corpus

48

Siempre dentro

49

Grandes chorizos

50

Fusión musical

51

Fusión musical (wrong view)

52

Cross antes de la campana

53

Cross antes de la campana (wrong view)

54

Manfred Stader

German artist Manfred Stader began street painting while studying at the famous Städel Art School in Frankfurt in the early 1980s. Along with Kurt Wenner, he is known for bringing street painting to Old Mission Santa Barbara in 1987.

Untitled, Genussfestival in Bolzano, Italy
55

Untitled, Lodz, Poland

56

Visit Wales

57

Junkers

58

Orange

59

Untitled, Ladbrokes, London

60

Untitled, Hong Kong Illusion of Arts

61

Green Week, Brussels, Belgium

62

Reflection of the Cathedral

63

Astana

64

Untitled, Bern, Switzerland

65

Untitled, Nimue Bioscience, Poland

66

Diablo 3, Gamescon, Cologne, France

67

Untitled, Babushkinsky Park Festival, Moscow

68

Untitled, Babushkinsky Park Festival, Moscow (wrong view)

69

Kurt Wenner

An American artist, Kurt Wenner is heralded as the inventor of “anamorphic” 3D chalk art. He began receiving commissions for murals at the age of sixteen and was making a living off of his art by seventeen. After attending both the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and the Art Center College of Design, he was employed by NASA as an advanced scientific illustrator. In 1982, Wenner quit his job at NASA, sold all of his worldly possessions, and moved to Italy to study Renaissance art (where he learned about anamorphism, which he would later employ in his 3D chalk works).

Dies Irae

70

The Flying Carpet

71

The Muses

72

Gluttony

73

The Ghetto

74

The Interrupted Tea Party

75

The Moneypit

76

Aida

77

The Sea Dragon

78

The Giant

79

The Big Lunch

80

Iskandar

81

Scottsdale Neptune

82

Echo and Narcissus

83

Spiderman

84

Cursored Czechs

85

Information Technology

86

Nativity

87

Bonus Art

Tracy Lee Stum (American artist, studied at Tyler School of Art)

88

Joe Hill (founder of 3D Joe and Max)

Game of Thrones Commissioned by HBO

89

Game of Thrones