Imagine getting a phone call from Shaquille O’Neal asking you to create a concrete floor in his house. Oh, and the floor is to depict a hole going down into a pit of fire. No problem, right? “You don’t say no to Shaq,” says Michael Jensen, president of Atlanta Concrete Artist. For guidance, O’Neal gave Jensen photos he had of famous street art, which were two-dimensional drawings on sidewalks that appear three-dimensional using a process called anamorphic drawing.
“These works of art only appear ‘correct’ when viewed from one very specific angle,” Jensen says. “Our challenge was to create this image so it would appear believable from all angles.”
Jensen teamed up with Atlanta decorative artist Kass Wilson, who specializes in faux visual effects. Together, they made O’Neal’s vision come to life with the use of Elite Crete’s Reflector Enhancer, Thin Finish overlay, various stains and dyes.
“We knew we had accomplished our goal when we heard Shaq say, ‘This is so believable I can almost feel the heat when I stand on the edge,’” Jensen says.
