I chose this pattern because it uses very simple shapes and yet adopts a very thoughtful arrangement that requires much calculation and planning. At the first glance, you would think that it's just one simple multi-circle pattern repeating itself for tons of times, whereas in fact the patterns are arranged differently in each row, and the arrangement only repeats every 4 rows.

I like the simplicity and complexity of this pattern as well as the visual illusion it creates — as if the waves are pushing one another. In order to enhance this effect, I added two very subtle moving rectangles on top of it, so that when you stare at the image, you’d see it as if shimmering, just like the reflections on real sea waves.

Reflection

It took me a lot more time than expected to arrange the fundamental building blocks in a way that restores the original pattern. During my experiment, I came across some surprising results that actually look pretty cool and matches the traditional Chinese aesthetics. Here's one example:

Credits

This project was created based on the Illusion as Tactics by Katherine Moriwaki & Xin Xin.