Learn to create tessellation patterns with easy step-by-step lessons and plenty of examples. You will be drawing true nested shape tessellations in no time at all. No cardboard, no scissors, we will dive into all the symmetry groups over the next while. Using your iPad tablet, I will show you all the tricks I have learned in the last decade of drawing nested shape tessellations using KaleidoPaint. You will become a tessellation artist!

This is the first class in a series of 17 that I will be completing. Why 17? There are 17 ways that you can divide a surface following the rules of symmetry and we will cover them all, one symmetry group at a time.

In this first class I give you a bit of general information about tessellations, about the mastermind behind this tessellation movement, M.C. Escher. Most importantly, I will reveal the magic sentence to get you started on creating your first tessellation.

This time, we will zero-in on symmetry group P4g.

All you need for this class is a good dose of imagination, an iPad, and a stylus. No need for advanced drawing skills. No math skills.

And the KaleidoPaint iPad app is free!

Head over to Skillshare.com and start tessellating

If you are not a member of Skillshare yet, use this link to get 2 free weeks on Skillshare

Intertwining lovable animals, hilarious humans or geometric shapes, is my passion. Just like MC Escher, and his regular division of the plane drawings, tessellation topics are endless. They can be simple repeating patterns or more complex characters, quirky humans, whatever strikes your fancy. Originally from eastern Ontario, now living on Vancouver Island, I’ve been creating tessellations for quite a few decades. I’ve done my 10,000 hours of practice!

Time has come to share my intuitive and creative process, as well as the now easy, technical side. The how of tessellations. I’ve refined my methods, made it super simple with a few tricks, magic sentences I call them, to achieve a true nested shape tessellation in just a few strokes of a stylus on the iPad. No nerdy math stuff, no graph paper, no scissors, just a bit of creative imagination.

There are 17 methods to divide a surface into identical tiles, using different operations: repetition, rotation, reflection and glide reflection. And a billion possibilities for your patterns.

I hope you’ll join me on this wonderful journey into the world of tessellations, one symmetry method at a time. 

Cheers! (an anagram of Escher)

Francine

For news on newly released classes, follow me on Skillshare or on any of your favorite platforms, Instagram, Facebook or my tessellations dot ca blog, right here.