Amazing 3D Street Art Illusions by Edgar Mueller

Who isn’t awed by the amazing 3D street art paintings of Edgar Mueller, and other pavement artists? They create illusions which use a public space, such as urban centers, town squares, streets and sidewalks. 3D pavement art is labelled as a type of performance art in that artists work in view of the general public and people passing by - and get to see their reactions. These people often participate with the art piece by standing near the edge as if trying to avoid falling in, and also pose for photos. The paintings are also temporary, and prone to changes in weather.

Also take a look at the incredible anamorphic street paintings of Inge Wagner and Gregor Wosik!

Outstanding Anamorphic STREET ART!

3d street art Permission granted for photo use by Edgar Mueller.

Here is what Edgar Mueller has to say when questioned about the effect he wants his street paintings to have on people: “Beside the personal messages, questions and sometimes answers in my paintings I'm questioning experienced daily perception of people by changing the appearance of public places.”

How to Make 3D Street Art

One thing you may be wondering is how are 3D street paintings made? The basics are actually done by using rules of perspective and anamorphosis. The chalk artist chooses a vantage point, and uses rulers and guidelines to prepare the scene. The paintings are also sometimes created using washable paint. Viewers are meant to stand in a certain spot to see an illusion of three dimensional space. If they stand anywhere else, the image becomes distorted.

I remember doing this sort of thing as an art school project – but a wall was used. A group of us had to pick a wall somewhere in the college and create a 3D scene using just black hockey tape. We first chose a vantage point from eye level and drew guidelines using rules of perspective. The result actually was very effective for creating the illusion of artificial space. I can imagine the kind of effect it might have had if we had used color!

Here is a great time lapse video of sidewalk chalk artist Chris Carlson creating a painting of Super Mario and a Nintendo controller.

Also, take a look at the time lapse video below of Edgar Mueller’s The Crevasse.

Evolution - Edgar Mueller

Edgar Mueller Evolution

Permission granted for photo use by Edgar Mueller.

Evolution is a 3d street art project by Edgar Mueller completed in Portobello Square, London England – July, 2012.

The Crevasse - Edgar Mueller

The Crevasse Pavement Art

Permission granted for photo use by Edgar Mueller.

I have seen this 3d street art several times shared by people on Facebook and Pinterest. This piece was created at Dun Laoghaire, Ireland (2008) as part of the Festival of World Culture.

There is also a Youtube video, which shows how this amazing 3d chalk art was created, and people interacting with it afterwards.