You Won’t Believe Your Eyes! Russian Artist’s Incredible 3D Paintings That Jump Off The Page

Stefan Pabst with a painting of a realistic looking snake/Rex Features

There’s a snake that looks so real, it’s terrifying; a glass of water which tempts you to pick it up right off the paper and a moon that seems as if it’s suspended in mid air.

These are just some of the incredible paintings of 3D artist Stefan Pabst who creates jaw-dropping illusion art and photorealistic portraits.

Along with paintings of giant spiders, geometric vortexes and 3D puppy dogs, Stefan’s work also includes stunning drawings of stars such as Scarlett Johansson and Angelina Jolie.

The paintings include moon suspended in mid air, a 3D geometric vortex and a scary spider/Rex Features

Stefan uses a range of paint brushes for his 3D drawings using the trompe l'oeil technique; a French term literally meaning “trick the eye”.

And the 35-year-old artist, who was born in Russia but moved to Germany when he was 15, takes just three hours to complete each optical creation.

He began drawing at the age of five when he copied images from an old bible, but it was’t until he rustled up a portrait for a friend’s birthday that his career took off.

Stefan’s pictures include animals such as this lifelike horse and puppy/Rex Features

“There was broad encouragement for my art and a guest asked me why I have not made my hobby my profession,” he said. “At that time I could not imagine living alone from art.”

Nowadays, he paints full time, receiving commissions from companies, singers, actors, football players and politicians.

Stefan has also developed quite a following on his Youtube page.

He said: “Many artists and art enthusiasts have contacted me with questions about my painting technique, so I now upload videos of my work to the Internet.”

The fearsome snake is created using a French drawing trick/Rex Features