Systematic Study 1936

M.C. Escher created this intriguing design called ‘Systematic Study’ using pencil and watercolour. The almost meditative repetition of forms—figures, actually—calls attention to Escher’s painstaking process. The texture here is fascinating. Look closely, and you’ll notice how the thin washes of watercolor give the figures a luminous quality. The orange, blue, and white figures tessellate perfectly, each one interlocking to form the bigger picture, like a puzzle. There’s a playful ambiguity to the piece. Is the orange figure squatting? Or is the blue figure emerging from it? Or is the white one simply missing its colour? It's hard to tell, and I think that’s part of the fun. Escher's play with perception reminds me a bit of Bridget Riley, who also messes with our minds and eyes. Ultimately, Escher's art isn’t about definitive answers; it’s an invitation to get lost in the magic of patterns and visual trickery.