Knotwork Tutorial-Further Topics
There are a number of other topics in Celtic art that this tutorial
does not pretend to cover. These include:
- Interlacing on curves and circles--Cell panel or plait
patterns can be "bent" into a curve and interlaced along
the curved cell walls.
- "Animal" shapes ([BainG] calls these "Zoomorphics", which I
like!)--Many Celtic works (particularly Lindisfarne
and Kells use animal-like (birds, dogs, lizard-like
things, even humans) drawings and interlacing legs, ears,
necks, topknots, and whatever! Please see [BainG],
[van Stone], [Sherb2], [Sherb3], and [Meehan3] for examples
and instructions.
- Keywork--Think of "Greek Key" shapes, done with the usual
Celtic flair. See [BainG] and [Meehan1] for examples. I've
also done a few of these on my Celtic
Computer "Art"--Keywork page.
- Spirals--Many Celtic shapes are based on interlaced spirals,
and just plain spirals too. See [BainG], and [Nord] for good
examples.
- Figures--Many of the Gospels had human figures, sometimes
mounted, done in a rather realistic style... See
[BainG] and [Nord] for examples ([Nord] has good color plates
as well...) I'm no artist, so you're on your own!
- Page layout--Besides the quick introduction in the
Space Filling section
of the tutorial, [Nord], [VanStone2] and [Meehan1] have a
number of possible layout
for Celtic pages from various sources: these might be
applicable to SCA use. A (not terribly good :-)
example of a draft SCA-style scroll study using a simple page
layout technique can be seen in the
aoa9p1.jpg (81KB) file.
- Lettering, Including Illuminated Letters--Many initial letters
on the manuscripts were highly illuminated, often using
combinations of the knotwork techniques shown here, keywork,
animal patterns, and many more. See [BainG], and
[Meehan4] for excellent examples.
