Interlacing, Transforming, and Curious Perspectives--wonderful tricks in art

I was trying the Zentangle ® step-out (step-by-step instructions for drawing a pattern) for the tangle “F2F” or “Fringe to Fringe”, and it occurred to me that someone who creates one tangle that appeals to me may have created others. So I tried looking up Tomas Padros to see what other tangles he might have created.  (Apologies for failing to get the accents over the first "a" and second "o" in his name.)

I found his instagram page, with all sorts of fascinating drawings on it. This brought to mind M. C. Escher and some of the things I like about his drawings: things that go under and over each other, transformation from one repeated shape to a different one, and curious perspectives.

What is it about these features that is so appealing? 

The appeal of curious perspectives is perhaps the easiest to explain. Escher has his impossible waterfalls, his stairs that seem to defy gravity, which trigger a sense of “what the heck?” and an urge to look more closely. I’m not sure if Tomas Padros has any impossible drawings, but some of his designs give me a similar sensation of fascinated bewilderment.

The appeal of transformation seems the next easiest to explain. Escher is famous for art in which fish transform into birds, or dark birds in daytime become white birds at night. In other Escher works, simple repeated shapes gradually become detailed drawings of animals. 

I think the fun is in seeing first the contrast between the two extremes, and then following, step by step, the changes that lead inexorably from one to the other. In Padros’ case, he combines and contrasts related tangles, and variations on them, in ways that suggest transformation.

Finally, what is it about patterns that interlace, entwine, and basically go over and under themselves? I love basket-weave patterns, Celtic knots, and the Hollibaugh tangle. Why? 

It’s hard to say. These over-and-under patterns create an interesting sense of depth, for one. And perhaps by “hiding” parts of the design (those parts don’t actually exist, but it feels as though they do, somewhere out of sight) it appeals to the part of me that likes secrets and hidden connections between things. Clearly Padros likes patterns that interlace, too. And while I don’t think there is as much emphasis on interlacing and overlapping in Escher, there is certainly some.

In summary, it’s amazing what effects can be created with pen and paper (or printmaking.) Amazing and wonderful.

Till next post.

P.S. If anyone knows how to change line-spacing in Blogger, let me know.