Tessellation Project Lite
Objective: Create a tessellation with "recognizable figures" in the style of M.C. Escher.
Use techniques from Tessellations by Recognizable Figures, or some other method of Escher’s, to create a tessellation with recognizable figures.
Preliminary Sketches
The preliminary sketches you make in class and at home are an essential part of this assignment, and you will turn them in. You should create at least 6-8 sketches including Escher-like tessellations created using:
- Translations; see the introduction section.
- A 2-tiled pattern
- A cm pattern
- A tessellation with a glide reflection
- A rotation with translation
These sketches should not be exact copies of the work you see online!
Finished Work
After making practice sketches, create one finished artwork. Layout a geometric tessellation or grid, then replicate your motif. Making a stencil or creating a traceable master copy of your motif can be very helpful.
The finished tessellation must be a high quality piece of work:
- Accurate: The underlying lattice should be precise. Use graph paper or drafting tools to lay out the geometry.
- Good materials: Pencils and ball-point pens are not acceptable. Use ink, paint, pastels, markers, colored pencil, or any other bona fide art supply. Binder paper is not acceptable. Use a heavy artists paper, or posterboard, or better. If you use graph paper, attach it to a piece of backing board so it is sturdy.
- Polished: The finished work should not be the first time you ever draw the tessellation. Refine sketches until you're satisfied with the pattern. Erase any light pencil marks you needed to lay out the pattern. Add color or a border if appropriate. Make your motif large if details are hard to see.
Above all, make something you are proud of. You should want to hang your tessellation on your wall.
Documentation
Provide, on a separate piece of paper, some basic documentation about your project. You must include:
- Your name
- The title of your artwork
- The materials you used to make the artwork (media, type of paper, ...)
- The symmetry group of your artwork
- How you laid out the tessellation (graph paper, ruler and compass, stencil, freehand, etc...)
- Anything else that needs explaining, such as a theme, meaning, or source of inspiration.
Grading Rubric
- 25 points for the sketches. Did you follow the directions and use the techniques for creating Escher-like tessellations as required? Did you use the different techniques? Are the sketches accurate?
- 15 points for the finished art project.
- 10 points for the paper.
Handin:
The finished work, documentation, and your preliminary sketches.
More Information
- Examples of past student work: Tessellation Art Project Gallery
