The FC Schalke 04 boys finally made me proud. They didn’t show any intimidation at playing the Bayern team. I am celebrating their performance with a tessellation of Schalke players. The ever polite Benedikt Höwedes, the powerhouse Sead Kolasinac, Gerald Asamoah a past icon of the club, and the referee, disciplining the ever-diving Robben, that’s the one dramatically grabbing himself in fake pain. Keep it up Boys, don’t stop! Continue reading
I’ve chosen a pattern from an Islamic geometric design as inspiration to get started for this tessellation. Looking at the photo, we can see four mirrors intersecting at ninety degrees to form a box. In the centre, a four way rotation point. Continue reading
My first ever tessellation, redrawn from scratch, to show the series of steps required to achieve a successfully nested shape.
The original image was a pencil sketch from years ago. Before Windows 3.1 and way before the iPad. And I could not afford an Amiga computer, even less the first Mac. So cardboard, pencils, scissors and lots of graph paper it was. Continue reading
This symmetry group was the first one with which I completed a successful tessellation, the Frogs. Way back in 1988, in the dark ages. Symmetry group P4g. Head to head, elbow to elbow, feet to feet is how I decipher these nested shapes. A very simple technique, Continue reading
Took a while, but I finally came up with a tessellation I like, to represent this Pmm symmetry group. I’ve named it “Gelbe Karte”, yellow card. This tessellation is built with five characters, Höwedes, Asamoah, Kolasinak, the Ref, and the one receiving a yellow card for excessive simulation (diving), Robben. About time Arjen gets a card.
Finally got around to creating a “Cheat Sheet” for starting a tessellation. A page of my own. Sometimes I need to physically mime my ideas, so hands are a good base to use here. Often it is difficult to decide which group to choose to accomplish a certain design. Continue reading
This tessellation is built using the Pm symmetry group – two alternating parallel mirrors, without any glides or rotations. Makes for a stacked look to the nested shapes. One vertical mirror down the lady and the other down the dog and shampoo bottle. Always wondered how HairStylist cut their own hair, awkward to cut your own, probably dangerous too. Well, I figured it out. “Let me cut my hair for me”. And it’s always nice to bring Fifi the dog with you to the Salon. What do you think Tina? Continue reading
Along with symmetry group Pmm, this P4m group is my least explored. Only 5 attempts at creating tessellations. Again, I just don’t like the mirrors. I will have to test myself a bit more, one of these days. Continue reading
Indeed, not my favourite symmetry group. Most nested shapes that try to fit into this system feel constricted, weird, rigid, way too symmetrical. There is barely enough room to create recognisable figures within a sliver of a triangle, 30-60-90 degree (orange shape). And all of this surrounded by 3 mirrors. Ug. Continue reading
The Android version of KaleidoPaint is finally finished and publicly available. I would like to share this spectacular and free app with the group Broug Atelier for Islamic Geometric Design.
Received my cups from society6. Ever cool to see my designs printed on these coffee cups. Continue reading
Deciding which symmetry group to use for a specific design can be hit and miss. And try again. You can narrow it down Continue reading
This is the staggered stacks group. At its minimum, I equate it to the lozenges in a Bavarian flag. Continue reading
Tessellations by Francine Champagne 