Tag Archives: illusion

Things we See

Watch this jellyfish oil painting come to life in just over 1 minute (time lapse)

You might remember when I shared this one in April? I painted this using ordinary oil paint on a black matte canvas. These are not special neon paints, even though they seem to glow. They are not paints of vibrant hues, they only appear that way because of how the wet blue and white oils look on the black matte. As we know that jellyfish have bioluminescence, and appear as if they are doing an electric light show, our brains are more susceptible to the illusion that these paints are glowing.

But these are the same kind of low budget paints I always use, on a cheap budget pack of black canvases. Illusions are very effective. Sometimes the world’s global powers pull off convincing illusions in the form of psychological warfare against the human race for their own gain, agenda, and ideology. When we can see beyond the illusion, we can make good decisions for ourselves and our families.

Who cares about our health and safety? What does history of deception, patterns of past behavior, conflicts of interest, alliances, ideological or cult views, propaganda, profit motive, and other observable factors tell us? When we see that the canvas isn’t glowing, but is just a flat matte with ordinary paint on it, we no longer see what the artist expects us to see. Maybe then we see what’s real.

“Crocus in Snow”

See this “Crocus in Snow” series come alive – 2 minute time lapse

This art was painted January 2021 for art collection “50 Oil Paintings Inspired by Nature”. “Crocus in Snow” is a series of three oil paintings that bring to life the hope of spring coming soon. This project was an experiment to film three separate paintings to give the illusion of a painting changing and developing. To truly do this right, there would have been many more phases and steps between the three stages. However, this was a quick project and the effect showed that a stop-motion style of animation could work with classical oil painting, although it would be so time-consuming that it’s likely not worth it for most artists. But, if the project were set up at a separate station to dabble with here and there, it may be something interesting to add to the workflow. The idea DOES work, it just might not ever feel worthy of the time investment.

Trying new things, even if only a quick version of it, aids creativity. It forces the artist to do something different and breaks the monotony of the usual work pattern. So, from time to time, it’s good to depart from routine. That’s true of any type of work or schedule. Do something different, then see how fresh your perspective and energy is when you go back to your regular routine.

“Crocus in the Snow” series- three separate paintings that could be displayed together

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