Originally sketched in 2016, this Tessellation I’ve redone quite a few times. As I get better skills with the software, I try new versions. This will be the third version, and this time done entirely on the iPad.
Category Archives: Showcase
Black Dogs #tessellation
Always had tan dogs. Retriever-Labrador-Samoyed mixes. Now this is new to me. One Husky-Black Lab mix and one German Shepherd. Took me a while to get used to drawing black things.
#Zentangle #Cadent as a #tessellation
Having fun with a few Zentangle patterns. This one is called #Cadent. A simple grid of circles is all that is needed to get going with this pattern. If you are drawing it by hand, link identical S curves between all the dots in a cascading chain of repetition, then rotate 90 degrees and repeat in this new direction.
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Great Blue #Heron #tessellation
First time as artist in residence at the MAC, MacMillan Arts Centre, and there’s a snowstorm outside yesterday. Not one soul showed up, don’t blame them, I saw two pickup trucks in the ditch on my way back home. We are spoiled with the weather here, so we tend to forget our winter driving skills.
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Fisherman #Tessellations
For someone that doesn’t go out fishing, I’ve done quite a few tessellations on the topic. I made a quick inventory, and it raises my eyebrows. Maybe I terribly appreciate those that go out there fishing for me. Mmmmm, salmon, smoked salmon! Halibut. Shrimp. Bro should move out here and be my supplier eh?
Lai Tsi #tessellation
Eck Master makes another appearance
Lai Tsi was an Eckankar Master from ancient China. He is easily recognized by his pointy little red hat. That is exactly what happened while I was sketching, tweaking a line in KaleidoPaint. Once I see a possibility, I run with it. Go with the flow, follow the hints and I will eventually find a way. A long process of give and take so that both sides are happy.
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One Line Louis #tessellation
Sounds line a shady drug-addicted character in a questionable part of town. But no, LOL. It’s a tessellation pattern accomplished with just one line!
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#Tessellation Challenge
Once in a while, a design pops up in my field of view. Eyebrows rise and I immediately try to figure out how it is built. Which symmetry group? How many lines? I spotted this vase from Paula Diaz-Sylvester on Facebook. A beautiful mesh that intertwines across the surface, entirely made up of circles.
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Canada Geese #tessellation
Originally designed this Canada Geese tessellation in the 90s. No giclée prints back then, it was complex screen printing. Multiple layers of ink over many days allowing drying time in between. The original print was huge, my biggest sheet of archival paper ever. The frames that stretched the fine mesh and stencils were big and cumbersome. But that was not my biggest problem.
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Pentagonal Derivative #Tessellations
Pentagon grids
Pentagonal Derivative #Tessellations: just a short fancy way of saying that I used a grid built up of pentagons to come up with these two designs. It was quite a blast and a struggle last year (it’s not yet a complete project) to re-create all of the ways that a surface (plane) can be equally divided using pentagons. Continue reading
Quickie Louis Cube #Tessellation
Sometimes just a quick tessellation exercise is required to limber up the creative force. A favourite one is Louis Cubes. This pattern was created with KaleidoPaint and Pixelmator, both, great apps on a tablet.
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Four Snails #Tessellation
Hard to believe that this tessellation used a pattern of pentagons as its base of origin. A pentagon type 12, built using Pgg, P2 symmetry. This is the simple outline of the mesh, and below, the coloured version, which was posted a few months ago, in pentagon blog post 3.
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Re-Creating M.C. Escher’s Lizard #Tessellation
M.C. Escher’s Lizards are by far the most popular of Escher’s tessellations. It can be seen gracing many multitudes of surfaces, legally or illegally. From tattoos, puzzles, belt buckles, car wraps, flooring or landscaping stones… My initial introduction to tessellations was through redrawing this lizard in its nested shape during a class on crystallography at Carleton U. That was a few decades ago, in 1988. But, as I keep on repeating (no pun), to draw a tessellation or to truly understand the structure behind it are two different things.
Manta Rays #Tessellation, carved
Combining my two loves: Tessellations & Carving
Sketched this Manta Rays tessellation five years ago. Love its simplicity. One single line connecting the center of an equilateral triangle, repeated in 60 degree increments to the three corners of the shape. This tessellations falls into symmetry system P3. I have many more articles about wood carving on my other blog, www.champagnedesign.com. It is a fascinating field to explore.
Pentagonal tiling #tessellations, Part 3
Apprenticeship
Most of us learn the easy/best way. Look at the masters, follow their path and learn all that we can from them. Replicate their artwork. It is a long process, especially without any direction or assistance from a teacher. This is where I’m at right now — copying / learning from the pentagon symmetry system seekers: Reinhardt, Kershner, James, Rice, Stein, Mann, McLoud, and Von Derau. As I did for a while, copying M.C. Escher’s tessellations, decades ago, although I no longer need MCE inspiration to create a tessellation. Continue reading
