How to Draw Celtic Knotwork
A summary on the various artists who teach how to draw Celtic knotwork. Also, lessons by Shane Clark.
There are many methods for drawing celtic knotwork. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. The method you choose will depend on the details of your project and your drawing preferences. This page provides some coverage of a few of the most popular methods. Instructions for each method are available in books by the respective authors. Here you will find a basic introduction to each method. I strongly advise you to visit the Celtic Bibliography page for information about the books. Genuine Celtic knotwork has a number of general properties. You should familiarize yourself with them. First, take a look at the eight basic knotwork patterns identified by J. Romilly Allen. A lot of people email me asking about the origin and meaning of celtic knotwork, which is why I put all that information on another website called Celtic Symbol Meanings.
Iain Bains - Drawing methids include 4-cord knotwork and 3-cord knotwork. We reccomend his methods if you are using rectangular spaces that are easily divided into squares. His methods are not very good if you have irregular or curved spaces to fill with knotwork. These methods are beginners methods.
Andy Sloss uses a method of building a knotwork pattern square by square. He starts by enumerating all the ways in which cords can pass through a given square. Building the overall pattern, then, is simply a matter of repeating the various possibilities in the right sequence to achieve your desired pattern. This method is similar to computer-based knotwork, because the process of creating and duplicating the squares is easily reproduced with current computer software
Aidan Meehan has a whole series of books about celtic artwork. One book in the series is on the subject of knotwork.
Sheila Sturrock has a book that does not have much on methodology or construction techniques, but contains examples of different knots, including heart motifs and zoomorphics (animal shapes).
Marc Wallace uses a Web page to describe his methods of creating simplified knots. His technique does not use gridlines.
Christian Mercat uses a Web page to describe his method of creating knotwork in an arbitrary space.
A variation on simple knotwork is double interlacing. A web page will be coming soon on the subject.
A popular knotwork theme is the celtic cross. I have a several pages showing various types of celtic crosses that I've drawn.
Ads by Google! What are you searching for?
|