Fantastically Funny Photoshop Image Manipulations

Digital art programs like Photoshop can be used as a tool to create art in dozens of different styles. One of the art styles that Photoshop is most famous for is image manipulation. This is when a Photoshop artist takes one or more photographs and edits them in Photoshop to create a new image.

A Photoshop Perspective
Creating funny Photoshop images isn't as easy as it looks. Photoshop artists need to be familiar with the program, have artistic talent and skill and have a keen eye for detail. There are many tricks that artists use to create funny Photoshop pictures, but the favorite among art lovers is the trick of creating an image of something that looks real, but can't possibly be real.

Above: A Photoshop artist has manipulated the size of the doctor so that he seems to be small enough to fit inside the lioness's mouth. Both of the figures are taken from real photographs, so the finished Photoshop art work looks like a real situation. [source]

Above: A funny Photoshop caricature by Rodney Pike. Pike is a master Photoshop artist who creates caricatures from real photographs, making hilarious portraits that seem real. [source]

Above: Photoshop animal hybrids are some of the funniest digital art images around. This Photoshop artist has created a Tiger Squirrel, combining two creatures that are very different; one is about as dangerous as a packet of peanuts while the other can tear a person to pieces. Creating a Photoshop creature hybrid out of two animals results in a humorous character that is at odds with itself. [source]

Creating a Funny Picture in Photoshop

Every funny Photoshop image starts with a funny idea. Sometimes a digital artist will be inspired by an image, a joke or another artists' work. Image manipulation programs like Photoshop allow artists to suspend reality and create humorous images that wouldn't have been possible a few decades ago. Creating a quality image manipulation in Photoshop takes time, effort and skill. The more time that is spent perfecting the image, the better the finished result is.

Above: This funny Photoshop head swap shows a man's head and a toddler's arms. The difference in age is what creates the humor in this image. The Photoshop artist who created this image was smart - the arms don't join the body anywhere in the image, making the illusion easier to create. [source]

Above: A human food hybrid, created by merging two images, one of a child and another of a pear. [source]

Above: Harry Potter, digitally aged in Photoshop. The beard is probably taken from another photograph and overlaid onto the image of Harry Potter. [source]

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Artworks Whose Eyes Follow You Around the Room

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa painting is famed for having eyes that follow you around the room. The principles used in da Vinci’s paintings can also be applied to sculpture or paper-folding to create a hollow face illusion.


Hollow Face Illusions Videos:

These videos show a variety of hollow face illusions at work. As the camera operators move around the sculptures, the faces (sometimes just the eyes) turn to watch the viewer.

This sculpture is an artist’s rendition of St Francis. Though small, the bust of St Francis is an interesting piece, as no matter where you are in the room, St Francis has his eyes on you.

Even when rendered in 3D animation software, the hollow face illusion still has an essence of magic. The eye is tricked into believing that the heads are turning as the 3D model rotates.

How it Works:

Hollow face illusions are exactly what their name implies. The artist sculpts, carves or in the case of paper or origami art, folds the material to form a “hollow” face. The human eye is trained to see a face as being convex (bulging towards the viewer), that it naturally mistakes a concave face (bulging away from the viewer) as being convex. Small sculptures can be rotated horizontally and vertically to create the impression that the head displayed is turning from side to side or up and down. For large sculptures, the viewer can move around the sculpture, marveling at the supposed manner in which the face turns to follow the viewer around the room.

The face on the left is convex, and the face on the right is concave. From this angle, with the light coming from above, the illusion is easily broken.

Because the light source is apparent; the illusion created by this Buddha hollow face illusion is strong. The contrasting colors between raised and indented surfaces adds to the illusion.

This image of Einstein appears to be popping out of the background, but is it, really?

Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa

The theories used in hollow face illusions and by da Vinci for the “Mona Lisa” are similar, but not exactly the same. Instead of creating a hollow face for Mona, da Vinci used perspective, contrast, shadows and shape to create the illusion that the Mona Lisa’s eyes turn to follow the viewer around the room. Da Vinci created a sketch called Proportions of the Face, which he used as a base for the proportions of the Mona Lisa’s face. The proportions created by da Vinci are based on the same mathematical principles as hollow face illusions, and create a similar effect.

The Mona Lisa is a famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci that uses the hollow face illusion technique to make her eyes follow you around the room. [source]

Above are the working stages of the Mona Lisa painting, showing how da Vinci incorporated his sketch, Proportions of the Face, into the final Mona Lisa masterpiece. The reason why Mona Lisa's eyes seem to follow you around the room is a combination of light and shadows in the piece and layers upon layer of paint that give the painting a slight 3-Dimensional effect.


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Celebrity Optical Illusions

Optical illusions of people who have become famous throughout the ages, including Jesus Christ, Einstein, Marilyn Monroe and Barack Obama.

Optical illusions take many forms – sometimes an image is hidden in a series of lines or dots, sometimes two images are included in the same picture and can only be seen if you change they way that you look at the artwork.


Jesus Christ Optical Illusions

The image of Jesus Christ has been used as the subject matter for many optical illusions. Take a look at these and see if you can find Jesus. (For the vertical line optical illusion, move away from your monitor to see the image).

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a 20th century scientist and philosopher who is famous for his theory of relativity. Take a look at the picture of his below. Can you see Albert Einstein or Marilyn Monroe? (Hint - move back from the screen)

Marilyn Monroe

Test yourself to see if you can find the famous actress, Marilyn Monroe, in the picture below. (Hint – Move away from your screen and focus on the center of the image until Marilyn emerges.)

President Barack Obama

Stare at the center of the optical illusion image and then look at a bright, flat surface such as a wall to see a picture of the US president Barack Obama.

George W. Bush

Can you see the words “peace” and “war” in the first picture of George Bush? The second picture doesn’t contain a picture of George W Bush, but the images, when seen together, create an illusion of his face.

Scarlett Johansson

Move away from your screen and stare at the center of the image below to see an image of the beautiful actress and model, Scarlett Johansson.

Elvis Presley

Focus on the cross in the center of the screen for a while and then look at a bright, flat surface like a wall to see an afterimage of the Rock and Roll King, Elvis Presley.

Brad Pitt

Hollywood heart throb Brad Pitt is hiding somewhere in this image.

Homer Simpson

Famous loser dad Homer Simpson, from the hit animated TV series “The Simpsons” isn’t actually pictured here. The collection of other character images gives the illusion of Homer’s face.

Johnny Depp

To see Johnny Depp in the image below, focus on the center of the image and move away from your screen.

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