Trompe-l'œil, which can also be spelled without the hyphen in English as trompe l'oeil, (French for deceive the eye, pronounced [tʁɔ̃p lœj]) is an art technique involving extremely realistic imagery in order to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects appear in three dimensions.

Although the phrase has its origin in the Baroque period, when it refers to perspectival illusionism, use of trompe-l'œil dates back much further. It was (and is) often employed in murals. Instances from Greek and Roman times are known, for instance in Pompeii. A typical trompe-l'œil mural might depict a window, door, or hallway, intended to suggest a larger room.

A version of an oft-told ancient Greek story concerns a contest between two renowned painters. Zeuxis (born around 464 BC) produced a still life painting so convincing, that birds flew down from the sky to peck at the painted grapes. In order to judge his rival Parrhasius's painting, Parrhasius asked Zeuxis to pull back a pair of very tattered curtains in his study. When Zeuxis tried, he was unable to do so as the curtains were Parrhasius's painting, making Parrhasius the winner.

John David Pugh (born 28 June 1948; Liverpool) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom. He is Member of Parliament (MP) for Southport. First elected in 2001 with a majority of 3,007, he was re-elected in 2005 with a slightly increased majority of 3,838, and again in 2010 with a majority of 6,024, or 13.8%.

Pugh was educated at Prescot Grammar School and Maidstone Grammar School. He graduated from Durham University, attending St Cuthbert's Society, where he studied Philosophy.

Formerly a religious studies teacher and Head of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby, Pugh has lived in Southport since 1974.

Pugh joined the Liberal Party in 1977. Pugh served on Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council, representing Birkdale, from 1987 until his election to Parliament. At the time of his election, Pugh was leader of the council (from 1992), and of the Sefton Liberal Democrats.

In the 2007 leadership election, John Pugh supported Nick Clegg in preference to Chris Huhne.

Julian Beever is an English chalk artist who has been creating trompe-l'œil chalk drawings on pavement surfaces since the mid-1990s. He uses a projection technique called anamorphosis to create the illusion of three dimensions when viewed from the correct angle. It is often possible to position a person within the image as if they were interacting with the scene.

Beever first designs his work on paper. Once finalised, a camera is placed at a distance from the art on the pavement which he returns to in order to observe the image through the lens a number of times, as the camera's wide angled lens can create an optical illusion which distorts the actual size of objects, which aids in maintaining perspective.

Beever works internationally as a freelance artist and creates murals for companies.

Besides this pavement art, Beever also paints murals with acrylic paints and replicas of the works of masters and oil paintings, and creates collages. Among his other work are drawings, usually themed around music.

Kurt Wenner is an artist with an international following. He is best known for his invention of 3D pavement art. Wenner was inspired by anamorphic perspective, but had to invent an entirely new geometry in order to create his astonishing 3D pavement art images.

Kurt Wenner produced his first commissioned mural at the age of sixteen and by sixteen to seventeen he was earning his living as a graphic artist. He attended both Rhode Island School of Design and Art Center College of Design, before working for NASA. While at NASA Wenner worked as an advanced scientific illustrator, creating conceptual paintings of future space projects and extraterrestrial landscapes. In 1982 he left NASA, sold all of his belongings, and moved to Italy to study figurative drawing and art. Wenner lived a stone's throw from the Pantheon in the heart of Rome, where he studied the drawings, paintings, and sculptures of the old masters in Rome's best known museums. Over the years Wenner's work became known throughout the country and in 1991 he was commissioned to create a work of art to honor the visit of Pope John Paul II to the city of Mantua.