Variations on M. C. Escher’s Name in Arabic Script
by Mamoun Sakkal

Variations No. 2-8

I used Square Kufic calligraphy again to make another group of variations based on a triangular shape. This triangle shape suites the proportions of the letters that make the word Escher with the initial letter Alef as the highest of the group and the final Re as the lowest. The letter Re usually goes below the base line, but here, as in the final version of variation “1,” it was raised to sit on the base line like the other letters. This was possible because of a calligraphic tradition where the beginning of the letter Re is raised up when it comes after the letter Sin or Shin.

In the initial design I made three “teeth,” or vertical strokes, that make up the letter Shin variable in height by elongating the first one on the right and shortening the last one on the left, then I trimmed the top at 45 degrees to create the triangle shape (a). Although these teeth can be written with this type of dissimilarity in height, the extreme length of the first tooth did not look natural enough, and something had to be done to improve its proportions. The solution was to add the three dots that would distinguish the letter Shin, as done in variation “1,” but here they are arranged in a triangular fashion that is quite common in the cursive styles of Arabic calligraphy (b).

In order to make the overall shape of the triangle more defined I made the lines of the calligraphy bolder (c), and used this last shape to build up the final image of variations “2” and “3” (d). Then inspired by Escher’s sketches from his 1941-1942 notebooks where triangles rhythmically diminish in size, receding towards the center, I made variations “4,” “7,” and “8.” The version of the triangle design without the dots was used in variations “5” and “6.”