How many faces do you see in this painting? They don’t all seem to be happy, it looks like there are growling dogs or demons of some sort in the background too. A great optical illusion project would be to create a similar drawing or painting and see how many faces you can fit into the picture.
This optical illusion is a joke about the story of Don Quixote. In the story, a slightly demented knight by the name of Don Quixote rides through the country side of Spain with his faithful companion, Sancho Panza. Together, they chase windmills which Quixote thinks are in fact the heads of giants. The book is an old 16th century Spanish classic and many artists have also done work that was inspired by the Don Quixote story – artists such as Gustave Doré, Pablo Picasso, and even Salvador Dalí.
Don Quixote (pronounced Key-Ho-Tee) is the source for the word “quixotic” which means “prone to delusion or easily deceived by ones own senses or self.” Wow, now you really learned something. Memorize this and you’ll be a genius at the next party you go to. Better study up some more illusions so you can seem even smarter and more educated on illusions!
