Anamorphic Art
Draw on the left canvas. The right shows your drawing stretched and distorted so it looks correct only from a specific oblique viewing angle or when reflected in a cylindrical mirror. Try the presets, adjust the angle, and see how perspective and reflection transform geometry.
How it works
Anamorphic art is intentionally distorted so it appears correct only from a specific vantage point. In perspective mode, the drawing is stretched along one axis as if projected onto a surface viewed at a steep oblique angle — the same technique used in street art that looks three-dimensional from a camera's position.
In cylindrical mirror mode, the drawing is warped radially around a central circle (representing the mirror). The distorted image looks like meaningless smears — until you place a cylindrical mirror at the center and see the correct image reflected on its curved surface. This technique dates to the Renaissance and was popular in 17th-century art as a form of visual puzzle.
The mathematics involves mapping each pixel from the "correct" view back to its position on the distorted surface using the geometry of reflection or projection. For the cylindrical mirror, each point is mapped using the angle of incidence equals angle of reflection on a circular cross-section, radially stretching the image outward from the mirror's center.