Oh Boy, How I Love Trompe L'Oeil

Things aren't always as they seem and that's what makes trompe l'oeil - good trompe l'oeil - so cool. There are a lot of examples around that are really just decoration and aren't tricking the eye at all. All of these here appear to be real at first glance, and with some you can't even tell what's real and what's not. Now that's good trompe l'oeil.

Julian Beever is an amazing UK pavement artist whose realism with chalk is just astounding - how he creates that kind of perspective I have no idea - and then it's all washed away by the rain. You can see his work here.

These range from public works to private commissions in the home. I so wanted to have one done on the stupid brick wall our kitchen faces, which was in front of a higher brick wall! But we've bought a house and we're moving so I don't have to worry about that anymore. Still, I'd love to create something in the bathroom - see below. (That sounded weird.)

By Deborah Bowness

In Agde, France

French Faience trompe l'oeil dishes

Around Champs Elysees in Paris. Now, I spent two months there early this year and didn't see this. So I'm guessing this is one of those cool facades they put over a building so it doesn't become an eyesore while it's being worked on? I've seen this kind of thing elsewhere in Paris and in Brussels so that's what I'm thinking.

La Chaume, Les Sables d'0lonne

The back of the Flat Iron building in Toronto

This is the front:

Metro Etienne Marcel, Paris

Siete Punto Uno, Los Gatos, California. How mindblowing is this? I love it when they paint a person in, I thought she was real at first, which is the point.

This certain makes a small bathroom seem bigger! Though I might feel a bit self-conscious while sitting on the toilet. Even more so than usual.

Quebec

Shanghai

Utterly incredible.

Comments

[WendyB]

I love trompe l'oeil too! My late business partner had a tiny studio with a great trompe l'oeil mural. I wish I had a picture of it. It made quite a difference! And, of course, Christian Francis Roth does great trompe l'oeil clothing. I think he has a special flair for that.

[Leigh Bowness]

To see the complete range of Deborah Bowness Wallpaper designs online visit www.deborahbowness.com. To see them in person, visit Caravan in Shoreditch, London Tel: 0207 0333532.

[Allison]

WOW! I live in Los Gatos, CA and I have never seen that mural! I have to go check it out now :)