Tessellations 2015

Tessellations are a pattern made across a flat surface by repeating a shape with no gaps and no overlaps.  There are many techniques for making tessellations, the technique we will use is called the paper cut method. Students are to trace their tessellation template in their sketch books 4 times and try to envision what it possibly could be. Once they have a good design it is applied to a sheet of drawing paper and colored in with alternating colors.

For fun I tried out the triangle shape and got a wolf's head.  Here it is being traced over the surface using a light box.

Student work

Tessellation portraits

this is a 2 part project starting with tessellations.  students use a square of poster board as a template. They design their own tessellation and then apply it to a background.  they are then painted in with acrylics using either a warm or a cool color scheme.  Meanwhile I take their photographs and I digitally manipulate them using photoshop.  I adjust the contrast, changing to grayscale then posterizing it for the students.  I print this off and then go back to photoshop and flip the image.  1 more print in we are ready to trace.  students put their image on a window and trace the value shapes.  the resulting image looks like a paint by number project.  using their original photographs for guidance, they paint in different values of color.  this is then cut out and glued on top of the Tessellation page.

Tessellation Portraits.

This idea comes from Mrs. Kamp at Calver Schools in Baltimore.  It takes two projects I have done in the past and blends them together to get one unified, active, interesting artwork: Tessellations and posterized portraits.  The images are from her class, (we are going to start ours on Tuesday with  tessellations!

From Mrs. Kamps website

From Mrs. Kamp

So this project starts with tessellations.  I will teach them about simple translations.

(these directions are from Julianna Kunstler. )

here are few patterns that you can follow to construct a tessellation.

The basic one is "translation" pattern - where you attach the cut out pieces to an opposite side of your shape:

This is an example of a more complex tessellation pattern - "rotation" template.  Instead of sliding a cutout to an opposite side - you rotate it.

Now typically, when I do a tessellation project, we spend a lot of time turning these shapes into something we recognize.  For this project, we are using this to create an interesting colorful background.  While students are starting their tessellations, I will photograph each student and print out a posterized version of their face.  Students then trace the lines separating values, (probably only two, light and dark) this line drawing is transferred to the tessellation page, and painted in with tempra.

Terrific tessellations!

Another cross curricular lesson, this time, mathematics. 7 th graders cover tesselations in math second semester, but most of my 8th graders forgot all about it. Here is the instructions on creating fantastic designs using the " paper cut method" rediscovered by a 15 year old girl from tesselations.org




Here are some finished student examples.  They did wonderful!