A tessellation created inside a box of four different mirrors. I guess I like to challenge myself, if you take into account my distaste of symmetry methods that use multiple mirrors.

The latest version of KaleidoPaint is making it easier to create tessellations as I would want them to look. The most important addition in my mind has been a slider that controls line precision. Inevitably, when I made a line on my iPad, I would need to correct some of the nodes, to look more like my stroke. A breeze now.

Who knows, maybe a frog tessellation in every one of the seventeen symmetry groups. I’ve done this same feat for different topics already, namely, dogs, rubber duckies, humanoids, birds, fish.

Don’t let the frogs croak. Respect all life. When we look at ecology, if the frogs disappear, it means the environment is out of balance. So. Don’t let the frogs croak. Respect all life.

The two horizontal mirrors are easy to see. The two vertical ones, not as much, they go down the middle of each frog giving them bilateral symmetry.

The frog wearing the the gas mask, cheats a bit, as its tongue and fingers cross the mirror. A symmetrick. It’s lying on its belly, and back end sloping in the distance. The other frog’s tongue also crosses the horizontal mirror, and possibly his tail end, with a bit of imagination. This one is seen from above.

Funny story. I was picking the last of the Bosc pears in the garden. I dropped a large one to the ground and pondered climbing down the ladder to pick it up. Ya, that’s a nice one I thought. I reached through the tall grass to grab it and it jumped away. And I jumped in the air too. Looked at that pear and it was a humongous frog. I’d heard about the invasion of Vancouver Island by American Bullfrogs. Might that be what this monster was? Same colour as a Bosc pear and very big. One of its menu items includes my friends the tree-frogs. And even mice! Google it, i’m not kidding.

I debated what to do about the bullfrog, as i had it trapped under a bucket. With a rock on top, because it was not happy and the bucket was wobbling. Had to protect my friends the cute tree frogs. also, I had the refrain “respect all life” from a discourse i had read a few days ago, running on a loop inside my head. After way too much time, I released it down the creek. A good lesson. I also cut the grass real short.

I’ve recoloured the tile to recreate the print, it makes it easier to see the different frogs.

Cheers!

Francine

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If you’re a “Learn by Seeing” “Learn by Doing” kind of person, I’ve started creating videos on “how-to” create tessellations. I’ll be covering each of the 17 symmetry groups, one class at a time. And like all artists, we need to make a living. So. I’ve uploaded these to the Skillshare platform. I’ll get paid by minutes watched.

You can take the classes for free. Skillshare offers anywhere from 2 weeks to a month for free if you sign up, even temporarily.

You can register for just a month and cancel anytime. It’s less than the cost of a Netflix subscription! And you can still stay put on the couch. There are over 40,000 classes on topics for creative persons just like you. Join my mailing list, either here on my blog (in the sidebar), or a at this link for a specific list I use to announce new classes.

I’d love for you to join me on this wonderful learning adventure.

If you prefer, you can follow my progress on social media, I always announce my new class:
Facebook: Franc Champagne, and Vancouver Island Tessellation Artist
Instagram: champagne.francine
Twitter: FChampagne1
Linkedin: Graphic Design, PowerPoint and tessellations
Youtube: Video animations and class intros

My classes have received an independent rating of 9.7/10, placing these Skillshare classes in the TOP 2% of classes reviewed by CourseMarks!

🙂

Here is a list of the classes up so far:

1. Rekindle your Love of M.C. Escher Tessellations, draw your own tessellations using a free iPad App. In this class I introduce the concept of tessellations, show you the work of M.C. Escher as well as other artists. Then we dive into a first symmetry method, P4g, accomplished by drawing only one line to create the perimeter of your tessellation.
2. Just like M. C. Escher’s Tessellations: Draw Using a New Symmetry Method and Your iPad. We tackle the Mirrored Triplets symmetry group, aka P3m1.
3. This UP/DOWN, LEFT/RIGHT Tessellation method was M. C. Escher’s favorite. It is also the symmetry method, P1, most taught in schools. Probably the only way most artists have tried to accomplish a nested shape. We will push it a tad farther, but also easier than scissors and cardboard.
4. M. C. Escher Tessellations: The Three Cozy Buddies Symmetry Group, know as symmetry group P3. Lots of examples, from many different tessellation artists. One of my favorite ways of creating tessellations.
5. Digital Patterns: Super Simple Quickie Patterns. 20 patterns in 30 minutes! I will show you how to draw and assemble your pattern design elements in four different and unusual ways. Come explore the possibilities, from a different point of view using your iPad and the free KaleidoPaint app. There is more to symmetry than rigid repeats, half-drops and tossed layouts.
6. My next class with deal with a symmetry group I have named: “This way — that way”, aka crystallographic notation Pg. That Koloman Moser video above, is part of the series.

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