Chalk artist reimagines Darth Vader in steamy 3D portrait

Despite coming from a desert planet, Darth Vader's been feeling the summer heat, too. And some folks in Denver, Colorado, might've briefly thought they were seeing a shirtless Vader, not just a 3D chalk drawing.

The sultry Star Wars villain comes from artist Chris Carlson, who drew the piece for the Denver Chalk Art Festival, where it won an award for "Best 3D." See for yourself why it lured judges to the dark side.

The inspiration came from both a love of Star Wars and Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam (part of the Sistine Chapel). A closer look reveals the figure is posed exactly like Adam in the painting, with added underpants and Darth Vader helmet. 

"I sketched the helmet on top of the Michelangelo figure and I thought it was hilarious, so I ran with it," Carlson told Mashable.

The illusion is called anamorphic 3D, which works best when viewed from a specific vantage point. Which means Vader looks 3D now, but when viewed from the side, the image goes as flat as Vader's modeling career (which still went straight to his head).

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

In order to create the finished chalk drawing, Carlson first draws the undistorted sketch in Photoshop, and overlays that sketch with a "perspective grid" (see the image below). 

"I, then, stretch out the sketch and grid in Photoshop until the grid becomes a perfect square," Carlson said. "Then I draw the same grid on the ground and use my stretched out sketch to make the drawing on the ground."

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

See more 3D chalk drawings from Carlson on his website. And may the forced perspective be with you.

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