Just Remember That It's A Grand Illusion

I like that it seems to pop and really be solid, plus the lines in the back do move a bit. Then the cool mountain and reflective lake, cool colors, the eyes looking RIGHT at you, it's awesome man. People just wanna be spoonfed another mermaid portrait I guess..

You asked for brutally honest...I'd probably given it a 3: it's subtle. The circular eye shapes, the reflection of the mountain nose-mouth, the trippy lines surrounding the central circle...it's not a clear THING though; I think it's kind of a face? My experience has been that subtlety doesn't work well in dc-I call voters "literalists". This was a PARTICULARLY hard contest (I had been in an optical illusions contest months ago, and most weren't great, as the entries today mostly weren't); also, one person's optical illusion isn't anothers...I had 16 different options, & my friend a 2 time 1st placer just didn't get any of them, even though others in the dc were saying they were good; also when I asked for opinions, I got several different (contradictory) choices from each person...lastly most won't get the ref. I know Styx a bit & not until I read descip did I catch it