Creating Tessellating Art

1. Artwork inspired by M.C. Escher Creating Tessellating Artwork Creating Tessellating Art

2. Tessellations Tessellations are arrangement of shapes that cover the picture without overlapping and without leaving spaces. Typically, the shapes making up a tessellation are simple similar regular shapes, such as the square.

3. M.C. Escher developed the tessellating shape as an art form *Escher was a graphic artist, who specialized in woodcuts and lithographs. * He was born Maurits Cornelis Escher in 1898, in Leeuwarden, Holland. * His father wanted him to be an architect, but bad grades in school and a love of drawing and design led him to a career in the graphic arts.

4. Escher Self-portrait Escher Self-portrait

5. He was unknown until the 1950’s *But by 1956 he had given his first important exhibition, was written up in Time magazine, and acquired a world-wide reputation. * Among his greatest admirers were mathematicians, who recognized his work as pictures of mathematical ideas. This was amazing because he had no formal math training.

6. Escher saw tile patterns that gave him ideas for his art work His interest began in 1936, when he traveled to Spain and saw the tile patterns used in the Alhambra. He spent many days sketching these tile patterns, and later claimed that this “was the richest source of inspiration that I have ever tapped.”

7. Alhambra Palace *The Alhambra is a walled city and fortress in Granada, Spain. It was built during the last Islamic Dynasty (1238-1492). * The palace is lavishly decorated with stone and wood carvings and tile patterns on most of the ceilings, walls, and floors.

8. Alhambra Castle Alhambra consists of palaces built by several rulers, each had his own.castle.

9. The Alhambra Palace is afamous example ofMoorish architecture.It may be the most wellknown Muslim construction. Islamic art does not usually use representations of living beings, but uses geometric patterns, especially symmetric (repeating) patterns.

10. The idea behind several of the buildings of Alhambra was to create a Paradise on earth.

11. Escher used the geometry in his art that he saw at Alhambra *As his work developed, he drew great inspiration from mathematical ideas he read about, often working directly from geometric shapes. * He was also fascinated with paradox and "impossible" figures, and developed many intriguing works of art.

12. Convex ConcaveLithograph, March 1955

13. Escher was fascinated by every kind of tessellation *In 1957 he wrote an essay on tessellations. Mathematicians, had shown that only the regular polygons, triangle, square, and hexagon * could be used for a tessellation . Escher used these basic shapes in histessellations.

14. Sometimes Escher changed the basic shapes By “distorting” the basic shapes he changed them into animals, birds, and other figures. The effect can be both startling and beautiful.

15. Escher Horses

16. Lets make Lets make a simple tessellating shape a simple Tessellating shape

17. Begin with a simple geometric shape - the square

18. Change the shape of one side

19. Copy this line on the opposite side

20. Rotate the line and repeat it on the remaining edges

21. Erase the original shape

22. Add lines to the inside of the shapes to turn them into pictures.

23. Add color to enhance your picture.

24. By repeating your shape you create a tessellated picture

25. Escher likedwhat he called“metamorphoses,” . where shapeschanged andinteracted witheach other.

26. Another example of metamorphosis

27. Lets make Lets make a simple tessellating shape a metamorphasis Tessellation

28. Begin with a simple geometric shape - the square

29. Change the shape of one side

30. Repeat the line on the opposite side

31. Change the shape of the top

32. Repeat this line on the bottom

33. Erase the square

34. Turn shape looking for two hidden animals, flowers, fish, insects, or birds.

35. Draw a line that separates the two hidden shapes you have found.

36. Add a few lines that bring out your hidden shapes.

37. Separate the two shapes so you can use them one at a time

38. Make four versions of each shape, each version with more detail The most detailed shape can be changed quite a bit

39. Make four versions of each shape with more detail The most detailed shape can be changed quite a bit

40. Color all of one type of shape the same basic color scheme

41. Line up the simplest shape with the most complex along the bottom

42. Line up the next most complex with the next simplest

43. Add the next row in the same way

44. Completed Tessellation

45. Completed Tessellation

46. Completed Tessellation