Humans are wired to see faces, even in inanimate objects. It’s called Pareidolia.
Pareidolia is the tendency for seeing faces in inanimate objects like the moon, clouds, ink blots, or abstract patterns. Pareidolia used to be considered a symptom of human psychosis, but it is now seen as a normal human tendency.
We are so drawn to see objects as if they are alive that if you are open to it, you can find a character in just about any ordinary object—even a rutabaga. So the pareidolia-accompanying art installation movement of putting googly eyes on objects can make some fun discovery moments. I like these Imperfect Produce pics. They cheer me up every time I see them.
Imperfect Produce pic
Artist Timm Schneider brings life to garbage cans, toilets, and poles in Weisbaden, Germany by applying eyes he made from styrofoam and ping-pong balls.
And Vanyu Krastev “eyebombs” Bulgaria with googlies:
There’s even an international foundation for putting googly eyes on things:
The Googly Eyes Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to spread googly eyes around the world. What do you think of this variety of civic art?
Today, for “Wild Card” Sunday, draw and/or install some googly eyes on things. They can be on photographs (paper or digital) or in real life. You won’t need high drawing skills to doodle out some googlies, but you will exercise your scavenger-hunt skills!
Have fun, and take good photographs. Make sure the object is in focus and has adequate light. Take a moment to crop it for attractive placement – you can use the rule of thirds, middle, or anything else that seems right for the scene. Post your photos so that we can find them with #30sal. Some additional tags you can use are:
Prizes and favorites for the first 10 days of the SAL Challenge will be posted soon. It is taking me some time to pick my favorites – there are so many to choose from! 685 is the Instagram #30sal count today. Fantastic!
New Deadline for Submissions: January 31, 2021 The first annual Seattle Artist League Portrait Awards are aimed at encouraging artists to focus on and develop the theme of portraiture in their work. The competition is open to everyone aged sixteen and over, in recognition of the outstanding and innovative work in drawing, painting, printmaking, and mixed media. 1st Prize: …
[image_with_animation image_url=”11400″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Copper plate with grey ink (see print a few pics below) I met with Nikki today to get some schoolin’ on drypoint. Dypoint, the art of scratching a shiny surface with a pointy thing, seemed to me to be an easy form of printmaking because I can draw with …
My email inbox has been slow lately. Everyone must be getting ready for the holiday. There is a pile of Christmas presents that need to get wrapped. They’re blocking the door of my apartment, and spilling into the recycling bin. It’s a delightful mess, all the little contained and uncontainable bits. I said goodbye to …
This is day 10 of our 30 day creative challenge! To learn more about this 30SAL challenge, click here. Draw someone talking. Instead of illustrating their face, focus on describing their character and story through their body language. The scene can be drawn in a comic style sequence of squares, or all in one frame like …
30SAL Challenge: Googly Eyes on Things
Humans are wired to see faces, even in inanimate objects. It’s called Pareidolia.
Pareidolia is the tendency for seeing faces in inanimate objects like the moon, clouds, ink blots, or abstract patterns. Pareidolia used to be considered a symptom of human psychosis, but it is now seen as a normal human tendency.
We are so drawn to see objects as if they are alive that if you are open to it, you can find a character in just about any ordinary object—even a rutabaga. So the pareidolia-accompanying art installation movement of putting googly eyes on objects can make some fun discovery moments. I like these Imperfect Produce pics. They cheer me up every time I see them.
Artist Timm Schneider brings life to garbage cans, toilets, and poles in Weisbaden, Germany by applying eyes he made from styrofoam and ping-pong balls.
And Vanyu Krastev “eyebombs” Bulgaria with googlies:
There’s even an international foundation for putting googly eyes on things:
The Googly Eyes Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to spread googly eyes around the world. What do you think of this variety of civic art?
Today, for “Wild Card” Sunday, draw and/or install some googly eyes on things. They can be on photographs (paper or digital) or in real life. You won’t need high drawing skills to doodle out some googlies, but you will exercise your scavenger-hunt skills!
Have fun, and take good photographs. Make sure the object is in focus and has adequate light. Take a moment to crop it for attractive placement – you can use the rule of thirds, middle, or anything else that seems right for the scene. Post your photos so that we can find them with #30sal. Some additional tags you can use are:
#30sal #seattleartistleague #googlyeyefoundation #googlyeyes #googlyeyesphoto #eyebombing #pareidolia #funnyart #cuteart #art #artchallenge #artist #artistsoninstagram #instaart #drawthisinyourstyle #artwork #drawingoftheday #dailydrawing #inkdrawing #drawingsketch #artoftheday #myart #creativity #creativechallenge
Prizes and favorites for the first 10 days of the SAL Challenge will be posted soon. It is taking me some time to pick my favorites – there are so many to choose from! 685 is the Instagram #30sal count today. Fantastic!
Related Posts
Portrait Awards
New Deadline for Submissions: January 31, 2021 The first annual Seattle Artist League Portrait Awards are aimed at encouraging artists to focus on and develop the theme of portraiture in their work. The competition is open to everyone aged sixteen and over, in recognition of the outstanding and innovative work in drawing, painting, printmaking, and mixed media. 1st Prize: …
My first drypoint prints
[image_with_animation image_url=”11400″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”] Copper plate with grey ink (see print a few pics below) I met with Nikki today to get some schoolin’ on drypoint. Dypoint, the art of scratching a shiny surface with a pointy thing, seemed to me to be an easy form of printmaking because I can draw with …
Wrapping Paper Paintings
My email inbox has been slow lately. Everyone must be getting ready for the holiday. There is a pile of Christmas presents that need to get wrapped. They’re blocking the door of my apartment, and spilling into the recycling bin. It’s a delightful mess, all the little contained and uncontainable bits. I said goodbye to …
Day 10: Body Language #30SAL
This is day 10 of our 30 day creative challenge! To learn more about this 30SAL challenge, click here. Draw someone talking. Instead of illustrating their face, focus on describing their character and story through their body language. The scene can be drawn in a comic style sequence of squares, or all in one frame like …