Category: Illusion

Ilya Cascad: Interview with Precision Tattooist of Ornamental Illusions

A native of Russia and resident artist at the acclaimed Love Machine studio in New York City, Ilya Cascad works hours on end to finalize geometric, motion illusion patterns on the bodies of his clients. “Symmetry” and “precision” are words that best describe Cascad’s tattoos, done in black ink; however, recently implementing color to arm […]

Stylish Hallucinations in Dane Nicklas’ Colorful Tattoos

Dane Nicklas is a tattoo artist currently working out of Valentine’s Tattoo in Seattle, a feminist-powered and inclusive space known for its collective of wonderfully offbeat and experimental artists (we featured the work of Valentine’s founder, Shannon Perry, last year). Dane’s work fits this niche perfectly, mixing classical art symbols with pastel colors and psychedelic […]

Tom French’s “Parallax”—It Is All a Matter of Perspective and Visual Perception

Having one of Tom French’s paintings hanging in the Scene360 office, clearly means what it means. We admire what he has envisioned and painted on canvases since 2011—from our first feature of his illusional skull drawings, to present day, his continuous black-and-white oils for solo show “PARALLAX” at Unit London. He has taken strides to […]

Shades of Comedy and Death: Hypnotic Drawings by Michael Reedy

Michael Reedy draws moody anatomy illustrations with a pop-surrealist flair. Juxtaposing cartoonish and psychedelic elements with photorealistic bodies that have been flayed and cut open, his works create an emotional yet unsettling atmosphere. As he explains on his website, his more recent works revisit “the timeless themes of life, death, and the human condition.” Not […]

Optical Illusion Tattoos Reveal Worlds Beneath Skin by Jesse Rix

Specializing in color realism, Jesse Rix uses rich hues and crisp lines to create optical illusions on the skin. In honeycomb and cube shapes, Rix uses them as visual transition points between the skin and fantastical scenes that lie below. Each tattoo has its own grand reveal, in which the wearer seemingly reveals another part of […]

Sensual 3D Line Art by Nester Formentera

Nester Formentera is a Dublin-based artist creating mesmerizing, cross-contour line art, primarily of the female body. Two years ago, after developing an impressive portfolio drawing realistic portraits, Formentera began experimenting with line work to create 3D effects on paper. The process begins with a sketch, which he creates with the help of reference photos, followed […]

Between the Lines: 10 Tattoo Artists Working in Negative Space

The term “negative space” is one of the first things you learn in art class, but it’s an innate concept. You’ve already seen it—you just needed a name for it. Oftentimes, negative space goes unnoticed. If it’s not adding anything meaningful to an image, then it might as well be invisible. But when this area […]

Hyperrealistic Paintings of Fragmented Faces by Ben Howe

Ben Howe is an Australian artist (born in London) who paints hyperrealistic depictions of sliced and crumbling faces. His series “Surface,” featured here, explores in mind-bending detail the “density, flexibility, and texture of human flesh.” In some cases, the texture of stone is replicated, giving the images and their clean compositions a statue-like appearance. Recurring […]

Cyborg Sensuality: Mind-bending Digital Illustrations by Giovanni Maisto

Giovanni Maisto is a Venice-based concept artist who experiments with the feminine body in surreal, sci-fi worlds. With the rate of modern technological advancements and the possibilities of bio-engineering, our future is often represented as sterile, unnatural, and devoid of history and meaning—but Maisto’s cyborg bodies are different. Infused with mythology, classical architecture, robotic components, […]