5+ Optical Illusion Drawings to Try: Step-by-Step Guide

Optical illusions play tricks on your eyes and mind, and they can be fun to draw. If you want to create mind-bending imagery, this guide can help! We partnered with an art teacher to put together a list of simple optical illusions that are great for beginners to try with instructions on how to do them. Find out how to create a handprint optical illusion, impossible stairs, a heart optical illusion, and more.

Easy Optical Illusions to Draw

Optical illusion drawings use things like color, shapes, and patterns to play tricks on your brain. Some of the easiest optical illusions to draw for a beginner include the 3D handprint, the 3D hole in the paper, the impossible stairs, and the impossible oval.

Section 1 of 7:

Handprint Optical Illusion

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Place your hand flat on a sheet of paper, and trace the outline, says art teacher Clare Szydlowski.^{[1]
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Clare Szydlowski
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Clare Szydlowski is an art teacher with over 18 years of experience. She’s also the founder of the blog Artful Ideas Classroom, where she provides classroom resources and lesson plans.
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Draw horizontal lines across the page, except your hand. Leave your hand blank. Use a ruler for this part if it makes it easier to make the lines straight. Add horizontal lines from the top to the bottom of the paper.
- Szydlowski agrees that the horizontal lines should go between your hand, not inside your hand.^{[2]
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Draw curved lines across your hand. Start at your fingertips and continue down to your wrist. Make sure to add curved lines inside your fingers, too, says Szydlowski.^{[3]
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Clare Szydlowski
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Expert Interview} The curved lines on your hand against the straight lines in the background give the illusion that your hand is popping off the page.
- Szydlowski adds that the curved lines you draw across your hand are called cross contour lines, which help it look 3D.^{[4]
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Color the stripes across the page. Use two different colors to make the drawing pop even more. Alternate between a couple of different shades as you make your way down the sheet of paper.

Section 2 of 7:

Hole-in-Paper Optical Illusion

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1
Draw two straight lines that form a pointed angle. One line should be a bit longer than the other, and they should resemble the upward point of a roof.
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Draw three straight lines that are parallel to the longer line. Start these three lines from the shorter line. These are going to be the floorboards to add texture.
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Draw a rectangle that connects to the upper “floorboard.” This consists of two short straight lines that come up and are connected by a horizontal line.
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Draw more parallel lines across the entire surface. However, leave the rectangle blank. Adding more parallel lines around the blank rectangle gradually makes the hole more apparent.
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Draw straight lines that go down from the shorter edge of the rectangle. The lines should match the space of the surrounding floorboards to make it look like a hole.
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Color in the rest of the hole a darker shade. For example, you can use blue or black. You can add texture to the unshaded part by sketching short lines of different lengths that run upward and downward.
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Color in the drawing. Use lighter shades for the surrounding floorboards so the hole in the center really stands out.

Section 3 of 7:

Impossible Oval Optical Illusion

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The oval should look almond-shaped and be drawn length-wise.
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Draw lines extending from the dots. Draw a short line that goes down from the left dot and one that goes up from the right dot.
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Connect the short lines with a circle. Draw a continuous circle around the center oval to connect the two straight lines. If you need to, erase any overlapping lines so that the shape is smooth.
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Use shading to enhance the 3D effect. Add darker shading to the inside of the oval and lighter shading to the exterior.

Section 4 of 7:

Impossible Stairs Optical Illusion

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Draw three connected straight lines. One should be vertical, and the other two are diagonal. Make the lines varying lengths. These lines are the foundation of the stairs.
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Add vertical lines to the foundation. Draw one vertical line that comes up from the corner and the other that comes up from the end of the line. These are the sides of the walls that are holding the stairs.
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Draw a zigzag pattern to form stairs. Draw zigzag lines that connect the two vertical lines on one end. These are the stairs.
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Draw another set of zigzag lines. This set continues from the first set of stairs to the other vertical line. You have another set of stairs on the edge.
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Add short, straight lines to the zigzag lines. These should extend out from the points of the first set of zigzag lines. Make them parallel to one another. Connect these lines with short, straight lines to make them look like stairs.
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Draw short, parallel lines from the second set of zigzag lines. Draw these lines on the opposite diagonal that form your other set of “stairs.” Connect the parallel lines to each other with straight lines. Each stair should now look as if it’s attached to the stair before it and descending.
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Draw a zigzag line upward at a diagonal slant. Start from the bottom of the second set of stairs. Connect it to the top of the first set of stairs with two short lines. This is part of the interior edge of the stairs.
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From the third zigzag line, draw short, straight lines. These lines should extend out and be parallel to each other. Connect these lines with the ones next to it with straight lines to create the third set of stairs.
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Draw short, straight lines at the end of the third set of stairs. They should extend from the remaining portion of the zigzag line. Connect these parallel lines with short, straight lines to form the last set of stairs.
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Color your impossible stairs! Shade the interior a darker shade. Use a mix of light and darker shades to fill in the stairs.

Section 5 of 7:

Impossible Heart Optical Illusion

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1
Draw a heart shape. Create a heart, but sketch a short, curved line at the top point where the heart dips in.
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Sketch a curved line that runs parallel to the outline. From one arch of the heart, draw a curved line that runs alongside the outline and goes past the bottom.
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Extend the curved line around the side of the heart. From the bottom tip of the curve you just drew, bring the curved line up and around the side of the heart. End it slightly above where the arches meet.
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Draw another curved line from the arch to the tip. Add another curved line that goes from the edge of the heart’s arch to the bottom tip. Connect this line to the tip with a short, straight line.
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Draw a short, diagonal line from the heart’s inner tip. Extend the line downward from the tip. Then, curve it upward to the heart’s outermost arch.
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Draw a curved line above the inner heart’s arch. Sketch the line upward alongside the side and arch of the inner heart, but don’t connect the end of this line to it.
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Draw a curved line along the opposite inner arch. Starting from the previous line, draw another curved line that runs along the top of the opposite arch. Attach the end of this line with the arch.
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Shade the heart with horizontal lines. Create horizontal lines of different lengths throughout. Color your impossible heart red or whatever shade you desire!
- You can also learn how to draw an impossible triangle.

Section 6 of 7:

More Optical Illusion Drawing Ideas

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This drawing creates a curved, diamond-like shape, says Szydlowski. Start by drawing a cross and making equally spaced marks along the lines (like a graph).^{[5]
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Clare Szydlowski
Art Teacher

Expert Interview} Starting in the first quadrant, draw lines from the farthest mark to the one that’s closest. Then, simply repeat for the rest of the quadrants.^{[6]
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Sphere optical illusion This drawing creates a pop-out illusion, as if the sphere is coming off the page, says Szydlowski.^{[7]
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Clare Szydlowski
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Expert Interview} Draw a circle and fill it with curving horizontal and vertical lines that are equal distance apart. Then, draw a grid of straight horizontal and vertical lines around the circle.^{[8]
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- This creates a checkerboard pattern, which Szydlowski suggests you color in to make it really look like the sphere is popping out.^{[9]
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Hidden shape illusion This is a simple illusion where you draw vertical lines and trace any shape over the vertical lines, explains Szydlowski. Then, color in every other shape so it looks as if the shape is going back and forth in space.^{[10]
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This is a great illusion for beginners, notes Szydlowski. Simply take a stencil of a shape and trace it. Then, move the stencil. Keep the lines and trace just what’s peeking out around the first shape. This makes it look like it’s going back in space!^{[11]
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Section 7 of 7:

FAQs

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What are some famous optical illusions? One well-known optical illusion is the Müller-Lyer illusion. It features two horizontal lines where one looks longer than the other. However, they’re both the same length.^{[12]
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Research source} The drawing “My wife and my mother-in-law” by William Ely Hill is another example of an optical illusion. The illustration either looks like a portrait of Hill’s wife or his elderly mother-in-law.^{[13]
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What are the three types of optical illusions? Literal optical illusions consist of multiple images that can create a different form when looked at as a whole. Physiological illusions make you see things that aren’t there. Cognitive illusions defy what you traditionally think about how the world works and can lead you to make false assumptions about details, like size or length.^{[14]
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What makes a drawing an optical illusion? Color, shading, light, and patterns are all factors that can be used to create an effective optical illusion. The goal is to trick the brain into seeing something that doesn’t actually reflect reality.^{[15]
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Research source} This has led to the development of op art.