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Truchet Tiles

Black paper covered in a randomised pattern of various tiny diamond, circle, and line-based shapes, drawn in silver pen
Print Date
Print Duration
49 minutes, 12 seconds
Paper Size
20×20 cm
Distance Drawn
22.72 m

Another whirlwind visit through a simple established technique — this time “Truchet Tiles”. These plots are made up of repeating tiles, each with randomised rotation. The result is a lot more complex in appearance than expected, when compared to the simplicity of the tiles in isolation.

This plot uses 2500 tiles, in a 50×50 grid. There are eight possible tiles in use, picked randomly and rotated by multiples of 90 degrees.

A timelapse of the printing process

Pens used

  • uni-ball Signo Metallic

    — 0.8mm
    Silver, UM-120NM, Archival ink
A close-up view of a selection of randomised tiles
A simplified screenshot view of the design, black lines on white, with grey grid lines separating each tile
A digital example of the eight tile types with rotation disabled and grid lines added

Earlier Exploration

A more traditional Truchet Tile design