what inspired m.c. escher to become an artist?
Giovanni Battista Piranesi
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 Escher 's artistic expression was created from images in his mind , rather than directly from observations and travels to other countries . His interest in the multiple levels of reality in art is seen in works such as Drawing Hands ( 1948 ) , where two hands are shown , each drawing the other . The critic Steven Poole commented that 

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 In his early years , Escher sketched landscapes and nature . He also sketched insects such as ants , bees , grasshoppers and mantises , which appeared frequently in his later work . His early love of Roman and Italian landscapes and of nature created an interest in tessellation , which he called Regular Division of the Plane ; this became the title of his 1958 book , complete with reproductions of a series of woodcuts based on tessellations of the plane , in which he described the systematic buildup of mathematical designs in his artworks . He wrote " Mathematicians have opened the gate leading to an extensive domain . " 

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 Upon returning to New York , Koppelman continued his study of Aesthetic Realism , and under the G.I. Bill , he studied at the Amédée Ozenfant School and became Ozenfant 's assistant . While he continued to exhibit sculpture and drawings , he also began printmaking , a medium which , he said , combines the carving quality of sculpture with the subtleties of light and shade in drawing and painting . 

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 In 1935 , the political climate in Italy ( under Mussolini ) became unacceptable to Escher . He had no interest in politics , finding it impossible to involve himself with any ideals other than the expressions of his own concepts through his own particular medium , but he was averse to fanaticism and hypocrisy . When his eldest son , George , was forced at the age of nine to wear a Ballila uniform in school , the family left Italy and moved to Château @-@ d 'Œx , Switzerland , where they remained for two years . 

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 Escher 's special way of thinking and rich graphics have had a continuous influence in mathematics and art , as well as in popular culture . 
