Again, we're done and it's time for some fun. Treat these clones as one line, and create the triangle we created in the previous patternĪt this point, you can remove the arrowhead from the master. Using the pick tool, snap the clones end to end.ģ. Duplicate the clone and rotate the clone 180 degrees. We can remove the arrowhead from the master laterĢ. This time, give the master an arrowhead so that we can clearly see the arrangement of the clones. Create a new document, make another horizontal line and clone it. As it turns out, this isn't very hard to accomplish.ġ. What we're after is true tessellation where every shape is an exact duplicate. We have two different shapes forming the pattern, seen here in green and blue. Hmmmm, while this is cool, and could be useful for certain types of patterns, we seem to have a problem. You can insert as many nodes as you like, convert them to curves, and anything else you like.
There is one rule to follow: do not change the start or end node of the master. Double click the middle of the line segment to add a new node.
Go back to the master line and enter node edit mode. Follow the steps in the "Before we start" section to create a grid of triangles. Move the rotated clones with the pick tool, snapping the ends together to form a triangle (do not node edit them, this will break a link with the master).Ħ. The duplicate will be rotated an additional 120 degrees, which is what we want.ĥ. Move the new clone so that the centers are snapped together and rotate it 120 degrees (e.g. From this point on, any duplications will be made on the clone. We don't want to mix the clone and master up, so move the clone away from the master (and remember which is which). The selected shape is the clone, the first of many. This segment will be the master object, and the driving force of the final pattern. We are going to set up the document so that you can edit the entire pattern by editing one tiny line segment. While Escher only had his pen and paper, you have something that will give you a huge advantage - the clone. This article will focus on the triangle configuration and depending on interest, I'll go into rectangles and hexagon configurations in a separate article. The concept behind tessellation is simple, any space can be divided up into triangles, rectangles or hexagons. One of the things he is well known for is creating amazing interlocking patterns, otherwise known as tessellation. I suppose his mixture of art and mathematics is what attracts me to his work. If you become familiar with this method, you should be able to create these types of patterns in seconds.Ī favourite artist of mine is M.C, Escher. At this point you can press ctrl+d to make a pattern as large as you like.ĭepending on the pattern we're creating, the steps may vary a bit. Select all shapes and repeat once more.Click the right mouse to put in duplicate mode. Select all of the shapes, snap to the top corner of any of the triangles and move.Press ctrl+d several times (if you have never used ctrl+d, the first time will pop up a dialog box, press ok, undo to step 2.Press the right mouse button once to put the move in duplicate mode (the cursor will have a '+' box under it)