What if I create a pattern in an Art Deco style out of elongated pentagons?

(c) 2014 Amanda Balough

I have been looking at the stylistic graphic design style used in vintage art deco print ads. I love the geometric borders and shapes defined by bold lines. I noticed many of them have the same shape repeated to make new spaces within that shape.

I started in with a simple vector art drawing. I chose a long pentagon and starting duplicating it all over my page to have my building blocks. I layered the shapes until I created a pattern that reminds me of an old theatre logo. I wanted it to burst outwards in three directions, to mimic the sunburst seen in so many art deco prints, so I rotated the shape to point left, right and upwards.

Then I filled in the new shapes created in the spaces with shades of blue, depending on how many layers were overlapped. I left one small pentagon outside the mass to show the original shape used to create the entire piece.

I think it is fascinating how the lines and proportions made this pattern on its own and will take some patterns to a more complex level next time. I’m thinking patterns like these could be the basis for a lovely stained glass project, some metal working, or a pen an ink study.

(Brain Teaser: Can you count how many pentagons were used in this drawing? :))