Visual Tricks — Did You See That?

Rainbows, Shadows and Shapes to challenge your brain

Legerdemain for the Brain (Source: Gert Altmann from Pixabay)

I’ve seen that black and white sketch where you see either a young girl or an old woman (who bears no resemblance to me) countless times. I’m sure you have too.

My eternal quest to learn more about Brain, led me to explore why we see things that aren’t there or do not see what is there.

I create with words not images so what I’m about to share may be old hat to visual artists.

But for me it’s new and fascinating and I wanted to share some optical illusions with you.

The Rainbow

Look at the black dot in the image below for 20 seconds. Then look up at the sky or a white wall.

You saw a rainbow didn’t you? We call this an after-image illusion.

But Brain inverted the colors of the rainbow. (I had to do it again as I didn’t notice the first time).

This is a negative afterimage.

Our visual cells are over-stimulated by bright colors and become less sensitive. So the cells for the bright color weaken and…