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?
What makes the tech look like a Escher drawing is the fact that we have gradients that provide shadow and light to the crescents, which helps blend the composition together as a never ending loop, therefore allowing our piece to look similar to the style of M.C. Escher.
Two overlapping effects which adds a bit of unrealistic depth effect makes the technique look like an Escher drawing. The color fill of the rings consist of both a light and dark green color in a linear, vertical gradient, allow the shades to counteract especially after the opacity is altered to further change the tones. The usage of Gradients and Multiple in the Opacity, settings helped create the resemblance to M.C. Escher’s style of art once the rings are perfectly aligned to form the illusion of an eclipse circle.
When making a ring shape that creates an overlapping crescent the technique that makes it look like an Escher drawing is the mix of using tools such as Pathfinder to combine the shape, Transform which lets you experiment with the position of your shape , The blend tool helps give off that form of illusion like an Escher drawing because it adds depth to the overlapping of the shape and also helps you experiment with many different ways of blending , And the Gradient tool which has an array of different color blends you can into the crescent to add depth into it. With mixing all of these tools in adobe illustrator you can make a crescent ring look like an Escher drawing. On top of just mixing it with those tools, your positioning of your shapes with the help of the smart guides also help it achieve that illusion and make it look like an Escher drawing.
In adobe illustrator To create an overlapping crescent that makes it look like an Escher drawing you need to create a circle and use gradient colors but making one lighter than the other. You go to the pathfinder tool to divide it to make a Crescent, duplicate and rotate it to make it look like an Escher.
When making a ring shape that creates an overlapping crescent what makes the technique look like an Escher drawing?
In the lab for week 3, the ring-shaped graphic that was created in reference to graphic artist M.C. Escher’s work utilized Illustrator’s linear gradients, vertical alignment, pathfinder’s minus front option, the multiply blending mode, rotation, and placement of the objects with the aid of smart guides. In particular, it is the choice of colors selected for the object’s linear gradient, the use of the multiply blending mode, and the placement with the help of smart guides that especially helps to achieve a similar effect to Escher’s drawings where the viewer can interpret either crescents of the ring as the foreground in this case. The choice of colors selected must be the same for both crescents and the color stops and midpoint must also be placed at the exact locations. As such, it’s best practice to just create one crescent and then duplicate it. Because both crescents are identical with the exception of one crescent being rotated 180 degrees, when the blending mode for both crescents are changed to multiply and the crescents are neatly placed on top of one another to form a ring shape, the now transparent crescents come together to create two identical darker areas of the ring. It becomes impossible to tell which crescent is truly in the front unless the viewer investigates the layers panel.
The identical factor of the two crescents is an important part in the ability to create the illusion of the rings. This was a very essential key to making the design work and a great thing to point out. I strongly agree with you.
When the ring shape creates an overlapping crescent, what makes the technique look like an Escher drawing is using two colors that make them look like it’s opposite to each other. The gradient is important to use here because the shape of the will be positioned from an angle. By doing this it would be using two shapes and dividing the shape to make the crescent and having it multiply by the opacity. Having the other shape created and changing the angle to 180 will connect and create the overlapping with each other. From there it will be rotated to 45 to create the illusion of where it supposedly starts or where it ends. Neither is correct to see where it starts. It’s just the illusion of what the item is and the colors used to create the technique. It doesn’t need to have colors with what the drawing or digital is created here, it’s the way one sees with our own eyes and is confused about where the starting point is which does not exist.
Hi Jacqueline,
You make a good point about the importance of using contrasting colors to create the illusion of opposites in the overlapping crescents. Their emphasis on the manipulation of angles used to confuse the viewer about the starting point aligns with the Escher-esque effect we aimed to achieve for this lab.
When making a ring shape that creates an overlapping crescent what makes the technique look like an Escher drawing?
To create a crescent that looks like an Escher drawing, we need to create a circle using the Eclipse tool. The circle needs to be filled in with a linear gradient with the same color using a light and dark tone. The light tone needs to be set on left side of the gradient slider and the dark on the right. The darker tone then needs to be set to the location of 70%. We can now duplicate the circle and layer it on top of the first one. Using the pathfinder tool, we can minus front to create our crescent. The crescent then needs to be duplicated, reflected and aligned using the view outlines tool. Lastly we can group the two crescents and rotate it 45 degrees to give it the optical illusion of an Escher drawing.
I think the two different tones of colors overlapping each other plays a big part in creating the escher effect. Rotating and playing with the placements also creates more depth altering our perception of the crescent and creating that effect.
When making a ring shape that creates an overlapping crescent what makes the technique look like an Escher drawing?
In Adobe Illustrator, you can create Escher like effect with a ring shape covering a crescent by changing perspective, depth, and symmetric. Escher’s drawings are known for their mind bending optical illusions and unrealistic geometry, which can be created by carefully placing and scaling shapes/object with in a composition. By changing the crescent’s size and placement relative to the ring, you will create the illusion of spatial relationship, which means it’s something that looks like it could exist, but if you think about it more closely, you realize it couldn’t actually be real. It’s a trick that plays with our perception of space and makes us question what we see.
To create an engaging image of a crescent moon passing through a ring, start with the Ellipse tool to draw a perfect circle, holding the Shift key. Then, use the ‘Offset Path’ feature to create a ring around this circle. Duplicate the original circle and slightly move it to form the crescent shape by subtracting it from the ring using the Path Selection tool.Enhance the depth and 3D effect by adjusting the angles and applying contrasting colors to the overlapping sections, emphasizing the crescent cutting through the ring. Incorporate shadows and gradients to add realism and depth, making the interaction between the moon and ring stand out.This streamlined approach focuses on creating depth and interaction between the shapes with color and shadow, achieving a compelling visual narrative.
When making a ring shape that creates an overlapping crescent what makes the technique look like an Escher drawing? M.C. Escher used a combination of the disciplines of art and science in the commission of his artwork. Without the benefit of a computer or formal mathematical training, he used geometric grids to form intricate, complicated, interlocking. symmetrical images. When making a ring shape that creates an overlapping crescent, the techniques that give the appearance of an M.C. Escher drawing is the use of a geometrical shape (circle) and its repetition to create a new image (crescent). Other techniques used to create an Escher-like drawing are vertical/horizontal alignment and repeating patterns, and also dimensionality of space. Once we rotate the ring shape it has dimension and looks like an optical illusion. Is the ring pointed up or down? The genius of M.C. Escher’s work is that there are multiple points of focus in many of his compositions. They can be viewed from numerous perspectives because the eye will naturally move between them.
Hi Tiffany,
Totally get what you’re saying! Using geometric grids, repetition, and alignment, especially with a circle, brings out that cool symmetry that emulates Escher’s style. Rotating the shape creates dimension and, therefore, an optical illusion. Escher’s style is all about giving us different focal points, making his art super engaging from various angles.
When two ellipses are drawn, a linear gradient is applied and then cut out and set to multiply, the remaining crescent shape can be duplicated and layered to create a “ring” shape. The two crescents are layered on top of one another at key points which force the perspective to make them look like a continuous element that wraps around into a ring. I used the technique to create various Escher-like logos and abstract compositions to get the hang of using this technique to create three-dimensional effects using only two-dimensional elements that are combined in a clever manner. I chose to combine the “transparent” rings with solid elements to create “eyes”. I also tired duplicating the ring over itself creating an even deeper layering effect that also had a very clear symmetry. This is all related to Escher because they were known to create works that produced a visual illusion using only two-dimensional components.
I like that you put your own twist to your Escher rings with the use of creating eyes. Imagine Escher had Adobe Illustrator like us? His work is amazing, and he didn’t need the use of a computer. If he was alive today, I wonder how his work would’ve evolved in such a short period of time. We would probably see the most complex Illustrator art we have ever seen!
I think your technique of using ellipses and gradients to create three-dimensional effects through layering is both innovative and reflective of MC Escher’s optical illusions.
To create an overlapping crescent that looks like an Escher drawing, first create a circle with the ellipse tool, then fill in with a linear gradient color and multiply the color in Opacity. To make a crescent after creating the second circle, select both circles and then use the minus tool in Pathfinder. You can create a lot of different shapes with the pathfinder tool. To create the Escher drawing effect, duplicate the crescent and rotate it 45 degrees using the guides. This rotation creates the optical illusion of a ring that the crescent appears to reverse from inside put itself. Therefore, it’s important to use Multiply and Gradients for creating something resembling an Escher drawing.
Yes, I think it’s important use several Gradients create a Escher drawing and also i like how you can create many different shapes using the pathfinder tool.
Creating an overlapping crescent ring shape using the Multiply blending mode and Gradient tool in Adobe Illustrator achieves an Escher-like drawing. The Multiply mode enhances color interactions between the crescents, seamlessly blending them for a sense of depth and complexity. Adding gradients within the crescents brings in subtle variations in color and shading, creating a three-dimensional effect within a flat composition. The combination of Multiply and Gradients allows for the development of visually engaging, reminiscent of Escher’s optical illusions and unique perspectives.
Hi Melissa,
I like how you emphasized how the gradients inside the crescents introduce small changes in hue and tone, giving an otherwise flat composition the appearance of three dimensions.