Pencil vs Reality – Where Do You Draw The Line? Incredible Optical Illusions By Ben Heine

We’ve all heard about art imitating life, but an artist has taken the saying to a whole new level with an incredible collection of drawings that reveal a masterful eye for illusion. Using expertly-drawn sketches, Belgian artist Ben Heine blends pencil, photography, imagination and reality – and the results are truly astonishing.

Heine describes himself as a multidisciplinary visual artist who is inspired by people and nature. The 28-year-old grew up in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where he lived for seven years with his parents and three sisters before moving back to Brussels in 1990.

He has become well-known for three art concepts he has been working on, including his Pencil vs Camera project. Describing it as ‘full of magic, illusion, poetry and surrealism’, Ben said Pencil vs Camera is ‘new visual invention’ which mixes drawing, photography, imagination and reality.

Check out our favorite images from Ben’s Pencil vs Camera project below, and don’t forget to check out artFido if you’re looking to buy an original piece of art by clicking HERE!

Mixed reality: This incredible sketch has captures the boats on the water sitting alongside a mermaid on a rock. A carefully-cut hole in the paper even makes room for the diver as he prepares to launch himself overboard
Mixed reality: This incredible sketch has captures the boats on the water sitting alongside a mermaid on a rock. A carefully-cut hole in the paper even makes room for the diver as he prepares to launch himself overboard.
X-ray vision: This man is a little more exposed than he should be in this clever drawing
X-ray vision: This man is a little more exposed than he should be in this clever drawing.

 

Chain gang: These worker ants have been magnified as they walk across the twig in this piece
Chain gang: These worker ants have been magnified as they walk across the twig in this piece.




Hitching a ride: An old-fashioned tram is seen rattling through a quiet street... but there's more to this than meets the eye
Hitching a ride: An old-fashioned tram is seen rattling through a quiet street… but there’s more to this than meets the eye.

 

Trick of the eye: Ben Heine's drawing takes optical illusion to a new level as this floor is turned into a giant chessboard in this image Trick of the eye: Ben Heine's drawing takes optical illusion to a new level as a hand holds a paper aeroplane in this image
Trick of the eye: Ben Heine’s drawing takes optical illusion to a new level as this floor is turned into a giant chessboard (left) and a hand holds a paper aeroplane (right).
Leap of faith: Tiny men are seen jumping from block to block in this sketch. The drawing makes the apartment blocks on the horizon look like the computer game Tetris
Leap of faith: Tiny men are seen jumping from block to block in this sketch. The drawing makes the apartment blocks on the horizon look like the computer game Tetris.

 

Up in the air: A female singer clutching a microphone sits in a swing in the clouds, held aloft by two doves over a mountainous landscape Under attack: A giant dinosaur goes on the rampage in a city landscape brandishing two handguns... but dwellers have nothing to fear from this pencil-drawn monster
Up in the air: A sits in a swing in the clouds, held aloft by two doves over a mountainous landscape (left) while a dinosaur goes on the rampage… but city dwellers have nothing to fear from this pencil-drawn monster.
On the box: A quirky take on the BBC Breakfast presenters turn them back into two dimensional figures
On the box: A quirky take on the BBC Breakfast presenters turn them back into two dimensional figures.

 

Here's looking at you: This incredible image breathes new life into this snapshot of three smiling children
This incredible image breathes new life into this snapshot of three smiling children.
Artists impression: The proportions of the man in this picture have been captured perfectly in this drawing... with the quirky addition of a Tinkerbell-esque fairy Oh baby! In this bizarre shot, a foetus is shown nestling next to a woman's face
‘Full of magic, illusion, poetry and surrealism’: Pencil Vs Camera mixes drawing, photography, imagination and reality.

 

Dual fuel: This drawing splits the vehicle in two and has tiny toy cars driving through the middle of it
Dual fuel: This drawing splits the vehicle in two and has tiny toy cars driving through the middle of it.

 

Great apes: A man is seen turning a camera on human's earliest ancestors, in this humorous take on the theory of evolution
Great apes: A man is seen turning a camera on human’s earliest ancestors, in this humorous take on the theory of evolution.

 

Balancing act: A tight rope performer walks among the clouds in this moonlit fantasy Not even tram lines escape the artist's mischievous eye
Balancing act: A tight rope performer walks among the clouds in this moonlit fantasy (left) while (right) not even tram lines escape the artist’s mischievous eye.

 

Table for one: One lonely panda, looking for companionship, seeks same... but is he really there?
Table for one: One lonely panda, looking for companionship, seeks same… but is he really there?

 




Delicate steps: Those suffering from vertigo should look away now - this creation turns a pavement into a precarious mass of vertiginous blocks
Delicate steps: Those suffering from vertigo should look away now – this creation turns a pavement into a precarious mass of vertiginous blocks.

 

Double vision: You could be forgiven for thinking you were under the influence of alcohol looking at this warped drawing of a cat A simple coastal road is transformed by this picture, showing a boy pulling an unusual-looking balloon behind him
Double vision: You could be forgiven for thinking you were under the influence of alcohol looking at this drawing of a cat (left) while this simple coastal road (right) has been transformed by Ben’s technique

 

 

What an ass: These two donkeys are given a Heine makeover, complete with crazy sunglasses and thought bubbles
What an ass: These two donkeys are given a Heine makeover, complete with crazy sunglasses and thought bubbles.

 

 

Global warning: This clever sketch gives a volcano an all together more interesting landscape
Global warning: This clever sketch gives a volcano an all together more interesting landscape.

 

 

Watch your step! A man with a white stick is seen heading straight towards an open manhole
Watch your step! A man with a white stick is seen heading straight towards an open manhole.
Fire starter: The flame on this clever drawing is a devil of an illusion Fire starter: The koala bear could be out of time as the flames creep towards the tree he is clung to
Fire starter: The flame on this clever drawing is a devil of an illusion (left) while the koala bear could soon be out of time as the flames creep towards the tree it clings to (right).

 

Skin and bones: A horse and bird are given the Heine treatment in the artist's exhibition
Skin and bones: A horse and bird are given the Heine treatment in the artist’s exhibition.

 

The camera never lies... or does it? The photographer's eye is met with this fantastical scene in this piece Celestial: Two children are seen climbing up ladders among the stars in this drawing
The camera never lies… or does it? The photographer’s eye is met with this fantastical scene (left) while two children are seen climbing among the stars in this celestial drawing (right).
A little boy on a tricycle gets the Ben Heine treatment A couple are sketched walking off into the horizon with a heart-shaped balloon
Magnificent landscapes: A little boy on a tricycle gets the Ben Heine treatment (left) as does this mountainous horizon (right).

 

And don’t forget, if you’re looking for a piece of original art to hang on your walls, check out artFido HERE!


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