A “chromatized pattern” is one in which the principle design element — typically a tile — is deployed in such a fashion that its colors do not remain the same when it is iterated in different parts of the final image. One or more clines are used to shift hue, brightness, and vividness in various directions within the picture. The complexity of the clines is limited only by the patience necessary to write the program code that generates the transitions.

The chromatized patterns featured on this page are based on the six tiles below:

Damask		Filigree		Medallion
Ornate		Roseate		Screen

The design below is a simple pattern using the Roseate tile, with no clines or other transformations. Each iteration is the same as all the others, simply a repetition of the source tile using the chosen foreground and background colors:

The second image applies several clines to cause foreground and background colors to shift as the tiling proceeds horizontally and vertically. Different clines are used for the foreground and background colors, and also for horizontal and vertical progressions:

A similar process is used with the Ornate tile to make the image below:

Ornate Wall

A somewhat different set of clines and a smaller Ornate tile are used to generate “Indra’s Wall”:

Indra’s Wall

The most sophisticated application of multiple clines is probably this Damask wall, which uses the Damask tile. Eleven distinct clines operate simultaneously in multiple directions. Different clines are used for the top and bottom sections of the central motif, creating the illusion that the damask material is somewhat shiny, and differentially reflects ambient sources of light:

Damask Wall

A somewhat more advanced process is achieved by using clines to modify a composite of a relatively simple pattern, the “woven” tile shown at right.

Complexity is introduced by applying multiple clines in four directions (horizontal, vertical, and both diagonals). Clines governing hue, brightness, and vividness operate independently in those directions, causing the appearance of the pattern to shift in surprising ways.

You’ll notice that when the green and red components of the weave are relatively close in brightness and vividness, the design looks like normal cross-hatching. But when one of the components is brighter and more dominant, it moves into the foreground, relegating the other elements to the background.

Woven Wall

This produces the peculiar effect of horizontal and vertical lozenges that appear to come into conflict near the center of the image. Where the clines cause them to display the same hue and brightness, the distinction between them is lost, and they form a simple grid pattern.

All of the above occurs within the same image, producing the optical illusion of constant shimmering movement.

The same process is applied to the Damask Wall in the image below:

Damask Wall #2

To introduce more complexity to the pattern discussed earlier, the Roseate tile metamorphoses into the Screen tile as we proceed from left to right. This pattern and the next one are discussed in greater detail in Chromatized Transformations:

(Click to enlarge)

The second pattern adds distortions of size and shape to the metamorphosis, so that no part of the pattern remains the same:

(Click to enlarge)

To take a somewhat different tack, the following image uses nine different clines of hue, brightness, and vividness. At the same time, the tiling elements metamorphose both horizontally and vertically. The Filigree Tile may be seen at the top left, while the Medallion Tile is at the top right. At the bottom left is the Roseate Tile, while the Screen Tile is at the bottom right.

Each of these four elements transforms itself into one of the others as it moves in a horizontal or vertical direction. The tile at the center is a meld of all four elements:

Multi-transformed Pattern #1

With the color changes mandated by the clines, no portion of the above pattern remains the same as the portions adjacent to it. Yet such is the sophistication of the human eye and brain that the pattern appears distinct and coherent to the viewer.

Another form of complexity involves imposing a chromatized pattern on the background of an image, while leaving the foreground unaffected.

In the example below, the branches of the tree had to be masked off so the Damask Tile pattern could be restricted to the sky, which was a tricky process:

The Nothing Tree in Bloom

A version of the same image was generated to provide the front cover of The Nothing Tree in Bloom.