Creating Tessellations With Paint

Open Microsoft Paint. Go to: Start, Programs, Accessories, Paint

Change the view to zoom in: –Click on View, Zoom, Custom…

Then, select 600% and click OK

Turn the grid on to see the individual squares: –Click on View, Zoom, Show Grid

Select the rectangle draw tool. Select no outline mode. Select the a fill color.

Click on the Draw (rectangle) tool and draw a small rectangle in the middle of your screen.

Fill in the rectangle you drew by selecting the Paint Bucket key, and clicking in the middle of the rectangle

Modify the Top and Bottom Choose the Select Tool Start outside the black top edge of the rectangle and select a section of the rectangle

Modify the Top and Bottom Drag the selected section of your rectangle to the opposite side of the rectangle and place it exactly in line with its starting position.

Modify the Left & Right Edges Choose the Select Tool Start outside the black top edge of the rectangle and select a section of the rectangle

Modify the Left & Right Edges Drag the selected section of your rectangle to the opposite side of the rectangle and place it exactly in line with its starting position.

At this point, if you haven’t already, Save your work !

Make a “Mirror” Image You need two copies of your shape. One Black and one Red (or whatever color you want). Choose the Select Tool

Make a “Mirror” Image Draw a selection box around your shape. From the Edit menu, select Copy (Ctrl C) From the Edit menu, select Paste (Ctrl V)

Make a “Mirror” Image Move the copy of your image to an appropriate spot. Change the color of your copy to another color Now move both of your “originals” to the top of the screen

Create the Tessellation Check the settings: *make sure that the transparent background is still selected *make sure background color is set to White

Piecing it Together Using the Select tool, make a copy of the one of your shapes and place it in the middle of the screen. Next, make a copy of the different colored shape. It should fit exactly next to the other shape.

Piecing it Together Continue placing copies such as black, blue, black, blue…to build your tessellation like this

Completing the Design Can you fill in the space right to the edge like this? Can you think of any other ways to “finish” the edges of the tessellation?

Summing it Up! Think about the Technique *What can you say about the surface area of the shape you created compared with that of the original rectangle? *Why is this important? Experiment with Other Ideas *Move more than one section on each side *Try using the freeform tool to move other shapes *Use more than 2 colors