Sunday, May 2, 2010

Tessellation

What if I start with these two blocks; can I make a tessellated pattern?
What if I combine 2 of each, rotated to make a pinwheel?
What if I combine 4 of the pinwheel block repeated?

This tessellated pattern is the result.
What if I combine 4 of the pinwheel blocks as before, but this time rotate them?

This super-pinwheel (a pinwheel made of pinwheels) is the result.
When I repeat the super-pinwheel it becomes apparent that the white and green shapes are identical and that this is indeed a tessellation.
What if, instead of repeating the super-pinwheel , I reflect it?

This is not a tessellation because the white shape in the center doesn't match the other shapes.

What if I play with that shape (White on white didn't work too well so I changed it to beige), will it tessellate?

Yes it does.

This is a strange shape. Sometimes it reminds me of cats, sometimes frogs, sometimes lobsters, sometimes aliens off of a space ship.

I don't know that I would actually use it for anything; but the steps I used to discover this tessellating shape could be repeated with two different starting blocks and I might find something I truly love.


For more tessellations go to My Posts by Subject in the sidebar on the right and click on Tessellation.

3 comments:

  1. Wayne,

    I can't decide if I see a cat or a frog ...... so it could be fun if the green was a frog, turn it upside down and the beige is a cat! Just add features!

    Judy B

    ReplyDelete
  2. PS

    I got a real word for verification ...... making!

    Bet that doesn't happen again!

    Judy B

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think it makes some cute frogs :)

    ReplyDelete