negative space

Exploring Tessellations & Op Art: Hidden Arrows

Gianni Sarcone

This brief tutorial explores an Op Art tessellation that plays with bistable perception, figure–ground reversal and negative space. By combining modular geometric tiles with contrasting colors, the pattern creates a visual interplay in which arrows can be perceived as either foreground shapes or background forms, depending on how the pattern is interpreted.

Experiment 1:

· Preparation — Fig. A: Start with a 3 × 3 square. Divide it along its diagonals into four triangles, then add a 1 × 1 square to the outer side of each triangle, as shown. Color the resulting cross-shaped tile with two contrasting colors, ensuring that adjacent sections are different colors. The construction produces four inward-pointing arrows.

· Preparation — Fig. B: Following the construction shown, subdivide a 2 × 2 square to create five diamonds arranged in a staggered pattern. Use the same two contrasting colors. This produces a complementary tile containing four outward-pointing arrows.

· Assembly — Fig. C: The two tiles are complementary and fit together. Interlock the cross-shaped tiles with inward-pointing arrows and the square tiles containing the diamond pattern to create a continuous tessellation.

Visual result: The alternating geometric modules form a large geometric Op Art pattern in which arrows emerge through figure–ground reversal. And hidden within it are, believe it or not, 100 arrows. Yes, one hundred arrows!

This op art work is available as fine art prints and canvases from my online official gallery.

Experiment 2:

· Preparation — Fig. D: Build a four-armed pinwheel shape from a 4 × 4 square, as shown.

· Assembly — Fig. E: Interlock the four-armed pinwheel shape with the cross-shaped motifs containing the inward-pointing arrows.

· Assembly — Fig. F: As shown, these four-armed pinwheel shapes can be assembled in four or more different ways, producing different geometric configurations.

Visual Result: As seen in the example below, the contrasting colors make the bright blue arrows radiating around the pink central hubs—the pinwheel shapes—stand out, while the yellow arrows, matching the background color, virtually disappear from view.

pattern with pinwheel shapes

Experiment 3:

· Preparation & Assembly — Fig. G: Combine square tiles containing interior diamond arrangements with tiles featuring four inward- and four outward-pointing arrows formed by negative space. Arrange them alternately to create a checkerboard pattern.

The example below shows a 3 × 3 alternating checkerboard configuration that surprisingly reveals 52 arrows in total.

Variation: Here is a striking variation of the tile with four inward- and outward-pointing arrows. The inward arrows extend into continuous paths on a white background, creating the effect of interwoven arrowed ribbons.

Extra 3D Arrow Illusion

Let’s take a different direction from the experiments above and explore a 3D isometric illusion. This construction is inspired by classic impossible figures depicting ambiguous stacks of cubes, whose apparent number can change depending on how you interpret their spatial arrangement.

Start with a hexagonal boundary (Fig. 1) and overlay a triangular isometric grid (Fig. 2). Then draw six interlocking arrow shapes around a central point, folding their tails inward (Fig. 3).

Finally, use three colors to shade the isometric planes, or apply directional line hatching, to give the flat arrows a three-dimensional, interlocking appearance.

Curious about the mathematics behind these impossible 3D arrows? Math lovers can explore the geometry and construction 👉 here.

Speleology of Love – Figure–Ground Embrace

Gianni Sarcone

An illusion carved in emotion—can you spot the hidden lovers within?

I created this illustration for a commissioned series examining the underlying strata of interpersonal intimacy.

Gestalt vision

This black-and-white composition plays on figure–ground reversal. At first glance, it reads as a cave opening with a line of climbers moving along a rugged ridge. Look again, and the void resolves into the soft profile of two faces, suspended in the instant before a kiss.

Interested in commissioning my work to illustrate your next editorial project or conceptual series? Let’s discuss how we can bring your vision to light.

The stark contrast and clean silhouettes lend themselves naturally to large-scale applications. On a façade, the image finds a natural home as a mural in a Swiss village, where the alpine setting mirrors the climbers’ ascent.

Seeing Beyond Lines: The Illusion of Form

Gianni Sarcone

We usually perceive lines and shapes as forming a figure, while the paper and surrounding white space recede into the background. Yet, under certain conditions, what we assume to be background can itself acquire form and meaning. In the illustrations shown here, a clear geometric figure emerges—even though no lines actually define it. These visual phenomena are known as illusory figures.

illusory spring
What kind of 3-dimensional shape do you see?

Illusory figures depend, in part, on the presence of regular gaps within a visual arrangement. When such gaps occur, the visual system instinctively tries to resolve them into coherent forms. These gaps can be created by simple elements, such as circles. When solid black circles and partially “chipped” ones are arranged carefully, they produce striking illusory shapes.

The most familiar example is the Kanizsa triangle. Here, an illusory contour is perceived when black disks with wedge-shaped sections removed are aligned so that their edges define a triangular form in the negative space. Remarkably, this illusory region appears brighter than the surrounding page, even though its physical luminance is identical.

Kanisza triangle
Kanizsa triangle

Etherial Cross

A pattern of black dots forms a ghostly ‘X’ shape through negative space. The arrangement of dots creates a subtle sense of motion and depth. The piece combines the Ouchi effect—where contrast between figure and background generates apparent movement—with the Kanizsa illusion, where the mind completes shapes that aren’t actually drawn.

Sarcone's Illusory Cross
Fine art prints of this Op Art piece are available for purchase through my official gallery.

The effect becomes even more dramatic when the illusion is animated. Rotate the cross, for example, and the X-shaped form—with no explicit outline—appears to emerge from a rigid grid of black dots. The shape is defined solely by subtle local distortions: small asymmetric intrusions along the contours of the X disrupt the regularity of the dots, making the form pop into perception despite having no actual boundaries.

Animated Sarcone's Illusory Cross

Etherial Circle

Using the same technique, we can replace the X with a large O. Now the regular arrangement of black circles is disrupted by a ghostly central shape that seems to lift off the background, almost floating. As above, this Op Art piece combines the Ouchi effect—where the contrast between figure and background creates apparent motion—with the Kanizsa effect, where the mind completes shapes that aren’t actually drawn.

Floating O
Fine art prints of this Op Art piece are available for purchase through my official gallery.

It is also interesting to add a rotational motion to this Op Art piece. I experimented with different solutions, and this one is the simplest yet striking nonetheless.

To conclude this journey into the world of contour illusions, still using black disks as our starting point, here are a few further experiments. They explore negative superpositions, translucent effects, and the emergence of more complex forms—showing how simple elements can give rise to unexpected visual structures.

hidden beauty
Fine art prints of this Op Art piece are available for purchase through my official gallery.