Each week you will need to respond to a question posted. Your response should be a minimum of 150 words for both questions. You should also include at least one response to your fellow students. The responses are a requirement for participation part of your grade.
Question 01 –
When making a ring shape that creates an overlapping crescent what makes the technique look like an Escher drawing?
To create a ring shape resembling an Escher drawing: Start with a circle, resizing while holding Shift. Apply a Linear Gradient with a vertical gradient at 90 degrees. Adjust gradient sliders, focusing on the bottom for light and the top for dark, set at 75%. Add a smaller circle on top, vertically align using the Align Center option. Select both circles and choose Minus Front in the Pathfinder palette. Set transparency to Multiply in the Opacity panel. Duplicate and rotate the crescent around the circle’s center. Use smart guides or cmd/ctrl + U to find the center for precise rotation. use Alt/Option and click on the intersection for duplication. In the Rotate dialog, input 180 degrees and copy to duplicate. Craft a visually appealing ring shape with overlapping crescents.
In Adobe Illustrator you can create a ring to appear as an overlapping crescent. To create a ring shape you need create the actual ring by using the ellipse tool and create two circles. You will then combine the 2 circles by using the gradient tool to appear as one. You can then use the Pathfinder tool and the rotation tool to create the illusion of a completed circle. The midpoint and the rotation tool come in handy and are important to create the 3 dimensional look and realistic feeling to mimic Escher’s drawings. You can rotate the gradient ring by 45 degrees to incorporate Escher’s techniques.
Create two circles, one smaller one larger. Overlap the circles slightly, and then cut out the top creating a crescent shape. Make two copies and flip one upside down. The shapes should have a gradient color, creating the illusion of the gradient O shape
To create an Escher-like ring shape with overlapping crescents in Adobe Illustrator:
When we made rings and formed overlapping crescent shapes in the laboratory, the crescent itself could not achieve the painting effect like Escher’s. The most important point was that the gradient effect we used turned the crescent shapes into overlapping and interactive visual effects. Because the gradient effect is caused by the difference in color depth, shadow and brightness. Due to the different colors of the crescents on both sides, when they cross and overlap with each other, the color of the overlapping position will be deepened into a shadow. After the shadow is created, other places without overlapping will appear very highlighted, thus achieving the transparent effect. When these factors hold, you will be able to distinguish between the space inside the crescent and the space outside. Because diagonally overlapping and darkening colors form a three-point line, it looks the same whether clockwise or counterclockwise.
Escher’s paintings also make use of shadows, highlights and color gradients in the graphic space to distinguish between the connecting points at each corner, and place the highlighted places at the bottom, so that the visual experience of one height and one low looks the same when they are superimposed on each other.
Hey Hayden, I really love your explanation. I actually tested out and got better results!
Achieving a ring-shaped composition with crescents that echo Escher’s distinctive style requires a deft application of optical illusions and principles of visual perception that Escher frequently employed. Here, we delve into techniques and elements that can infuse your artwork with the Escheresque vibe:
Escher’s hallmark often lay in his repetition of crescent shapes, meticulously maintaining overall symmetrical balance. He artfully introduced gradual transitions between objects, weaving surreal and mesmerizing effects into his works. Escher’s drawings garnered acclaim for their precision and meticulous attention to intricate details.
To emulate an Escher drawing, consider creating a tessellating pattern where crescents seamlessly overlap. Repetition and symmetry, key to Escher’s creations, can be powerful tools in your artistic arsenal. Additionally, employing stark contrasts between light and shadow enhances the illusion of three-dimensionality. Escher often incorporated motifs that defy reality, further mystifying the viewer.
By incorporating these techniques and elements into your artwork, you can capture the essence of Escher’s remarkable style, producing visually captivating and intellectually stimulating compositions that pay homage to his artistic legacy.
There are two things that make our ring shape appear like an Escher drawing. Those two things are math and optical illusions. Escher employs precise math into his works and we did as well. When making the ring shape, we had to be precise with the creation of it. It had to be a perfect circle, the cuts had to be from the center and so on and so forth. While the program does it for us, the perfect blending is also an example of the math that goes behind the drawing. It also contributes to the next part, which is optical illusions. Escher drawings are known to use various optical illusions in order to create impossible drawings. In this case, our ring, despite being 2 dimensional, can appear 3 dimensional. Another thing is the position of the ring. When we turn it around, its inside becomes the outside and vice versa. This isn’t possible in real life unless it’s a mobius loop.
Hi Kenneth, I agree with you that the ring looks from 2 to 3 dimensional. Due to the position of superposition and the prominent color depth, we have a clear distinction between the inner ring structure and the outer structure, so that we have a visual experience that can connect the inner and outer structures from clockwise to counterclockwise.
In Adobe Illustrator, in order to create a ring shape you need two overlapping crescent shapes. In order to create the ring you must start with the ellipse tool, creating two circles, but the magic happens when we use the gradient tool to combine them. Using this tool, we can fine-tune the color spectrum for both circles, resulting in visually stunning results. To achieve the perfect intersection of these distinct circles, these circles must be carefully positioned. Using the Pathfinder tool, we can shape these circles into elegant crescents, allowing creative freedom in the process. It is necessary to utilize guidelines and the rotation tool to conjure the illusion of a complete circle to find the crescent’s center point. Upon locating the midpoint, the rotate tool orchestrates a graceful pivot of 180 degrees while creating a duplicate at the same time. To infuse a touch of Escher’s artistic charm into our design, we deftly rotate the gradient ring by 45 degrees, giving it that illusion and 3-dimensional feeling.
Creating a ring shape with overlapping crescents in Adobe Illustrator that evokes the style of an Escher drawing involves several design principles. Close attention to geometry is crucial. Escher’s work features precise tessellation, where shapes fit together seamlessly. To make a design that looks like an Escher drawing you have to make sure that the crescents interlock without gaps or overlaps. Maintaining an isometric perspective to keep angles and proportions consistent throughout the composition is also key. Escher’s use of impossible shapes, like the Penrose triangle, can also be incorporated as well as a limited color palette or grayscale. This allows the focus to remain on the geometry. One can also include shading and shadows to create depth, precise lines and curves to achieve the level of intricacy typical of his work. In summary, attention to geometry, isometric perspective, impossible shapes, color choice, shading, and intricate detailing are the key techniques that can make a ring shape in Adobe Illustrator resemble an Escher drawing.
Many techniques in Adobe Illustrator are involved when making a ring shape into an overlapping crescent. Creating two different-sized circles with the ellipse tool is involved but the main factor is using the gradient tool. The gradient tool allows us to customize the spectrum of our two circles. The two different-sized circles are used to overlap each other and then the pathfinder tool is used. The pathfinder tool gives us the freedom to create any type of shape we want using two different shapes. This shape is a crescent. Guidelines and the rotation tool are used to find the center point of the crescent shape if it were a full circle. After finding our middle point we use the rotate tool to rotate our crescent 180 degrees and copy it. This creates a gradient ring. Our gradient ring is then rotated 45 degrees to give it the illusion of an Escher drawing. The gradient, shape, and rotation help create its effect.
Creating a ring shape with overlapping crescents that resembles an Escher drawing involves employing specific optical illusions and principles of visual perception that were often used by Escher. Here are some techniques and elements that can make your artwork resemble an Escher drawing: Escher was known for his use of repetitive pattern of crescents and ensure that the overall composition is symmetrically balanced. Escher often used gradual transformations between objects to create surreal and mesmerising effects. Escher’s drawings are known for they precision and great attention to detail. You can create a tessellating pattern of presents that appear to overlap seamlessly. Escher frequently used repetition and symmetry in his works. Also, he often used strong contrast between light and shadow to enhance the illusion of three-dimensionality and used motif that creates the illusion of an object the cannot exist in reality.
I appreciate how you incorporated Escher’s work process and described how his illusions work. Escher work is one interesting illusion to the naked eye and mimicking it in Illustrator was fun to do.
I like how you went into detail to explain Escher’s drawings and I actually never heard of the “tessellating” so I learned a new word and I now know the definition.
To craft a ring shape, select a circle and size it while holding the shift key. Afterward, opt for the Linear Gradient and fill the circle with a vertical gradient at 90 degrees. Refine the light version at the bottom and the dark version at the top, then adjust the gradient slider to 75%. Create a smaller circle and place it on top of the larger one. To vertically align both circles, choose them and click on the vertical Align Center option in the Align palette. After selecting both circles, opt for Minus Front in the Pathfinder palette. Then, choose Multiply from the Transparency panel. To duplicate and rotate the crescent shape, determine the circle’s center using smart guides or cmd/ctrl + U. Use Alt/Option and click on the intersection point for the two guides. In the Rotate dialogue box, input 180 degrees and copy to duplicate the crescent shape. Lastly, craft a ring shape with a visually appealing overlapping effect. This technique creates a ring shape that evokes an Escher drawing.
Hi Stephanie, I like the way you described in detail how to create a ring shape that looks like an Escher drawing!
Really well explained and very detailed step by step!
This makes the technique look like an Escher drawing, creating a ring shape. First I click a circle and resize the circle by type holding the shift key. Then I click the Linear Gradient, and fill the circle with a linear, and select the vertical gradient 90 corner, then I edit the light version at the bottom, while I edit the dark version at the top, also I change the gradient slider located: 70%. Then I add another circle, but make it a little bit smaller, and put on the big circle, then Vertically center the two circles by selecting both circles. Then go to the Align palette and choose the vertical Align Center option. Then, with the two circles still selected, go to the pathfinder palette and choose Minus Front. Then go to the Opacity and choose Multiply from the dropdown menu. Then, duplicate rotate the crescent, go to view, then smart guides or hit cmd/ctrl + U, to find the center of the circle, it will end up with circle shape again when they double the crescent. Also, select the Rotate tool from the toolbox, type Alt/Option click exactly on the intersection point for the two guides. Then the Rotate dialogue box enters 180 degrees and copies to duplicate the original crescent shape. Finally, make the ring shape with a nice overlapping effect. In conclusion, this technique looks like an Escher drawing, by making a ring shape.
Escher is known for his realistic and optical illusion drawings, such as the bird and horse optical illusion; you can view them here: https://www.pinterest.com.mx/pin/702069029387461907/. He uses both positive and negative space to create that foreground and background, and we don’t even know which is which because our eyes shift back and forth. The ring shape that created an overlapping crescent makes it look like Escher’s drawing because when we clicked on the opacity palette and changed it to multiply from the dropdown menu, it darkened the images, making it look intertwined and creating an optical illusion. We don’t know which came first.
Hi Bonnie! I appreciate you for providing us with an example of what Escher’s drawings are known for. It helps us have a better understanding of optical illusions and how we can create them in Illustrator.