A tessellation is a repeated pattern of shapes that cover an entire plane without overlapping or gapping between shapes. M.C. Escher was an artist born in the Netherlands and was well known for both his "Impossible Structures" which included "Ascending and Descending," which was a never-ending staircase. Escher was also well known for tessellations. Two of Escher's works, "Lizards" and "Sky and Water" are examples of his tessellations. Creating an Escher-like tessellation is not as difficult as it first may appear.
Instructions
Square Method
1. Take a square piece of cardstock and draw a wavy line along one side of the square to begin the design. Use cardstock since the paper is heavy and can stand up to being traced multiple times.
2. Select another side of the square and draw another wavy line.
3. Cut out both wavy lines from the square. Do not throw the cut-out sections away.
4. Tape the cut-out sections to the opposite side of the square. For example, if the wavy line was cut out from the bottom section of the square, tape the cut-out section to the top of the square. Line up the cut-out section carefully so it sits directly above where it was cut out from. Repeat with second cut-out section.
5. Place the newly formed shape onto large piece of paper. Trace around the shape with a pencil. Slide the shape around the traced shape and trace the image again. There should be no overlapping or gaps between tracings.
6. Use contrasting colors to complete the tessellation. Color in the shapes alternating between colors to create a checkerboard like pattern. Escher commonly used black, white and gray in his tessellations.
Layer Method
7. Create a desired shape for your tessellation. This beginning shape can be anything, a bird, a lizard, a horse or a interesting shape.
8. Trace the shape onto your paper starting at the top center of the page. Slide the image to the right so that the tips of the shape touch but do not overlap. Continue moving the shape around the paper creating the shape over and over with just the tips of the image touching. This will create a different shape between the current shape that is the "gap" between current shape.
9. Use your imagination to determine what the gap shape between the traced shape might be. Use tracing paper to create a single copy of the shape to experiment designs with.
10. Draw in the features of the gap shape onto each shape if desired. Features may include eyes, ears, wings or fins if your gap shape looks like an animal.
11. Color in the shapes to create a checkerboard-like pattern using contrasting colors.
