Rippled Surface is a typical Escher piece. It is necessary to study the image for a little while to work out precisely what is going on. The complex composition initially obscures the subject of the print, which is the moon shining through the bare branches of a tree.... It is also worth noting that Escher chose to create this image as a linocut, a print-making technique he rarely used as an adult. It was easier to carve the fluid parallel lines in linoleum because it is much softer than wood.