Celtic Knotwork Tutorial

Table of Contents
Introduction..................................................................................................................................................................................1
Tutorial Source and Background.....................................................................................................................................1
Knotwork Background and History..................................................................................................................................1
Symbolism in Celtic Art....................................................................................................................................................2
Basic Interlace Construction......................................................................................................................................................4
Basic Interlacing..............................................................................................................................................................4
Basic Interlace Example..................................................................................................................................................5
Curved Interlace Example...............................................................................................................................................6
Simple Borders ("Plaits").................................................................................................................................................7
Advanced Interlacing...................................................................................................................................................................8
Interruptions and Interlacing Breaks................................................................................................................................8
Interrupted Panel Construction........................................................................................................................................9
Borders with Corners ("Mitering")...........................................................................................................................................11
Introduction....................................................................................................................................................................11
"Sliding" Pattern into a Corner.......................................................................................................................................12
Pattern Modifications into a Corner...............................................................................................................................13
Filling Spaces with Knotwork Interlacing................................................................................................................................14
Knotwork Band Treatments......................................................................................................................................................18
Introduction....................................................................................................................................................................18
Band Width....................................................................................................................................................................18
Band Edge Effects.........................................................................................................................................................19
Colors............................................................................................................................................................................19
"Doubling" Interlace Patterns...................................................................................................................................................20
Analysis of Existing Patterns...................................................................................................................................................21
Translations from Existing Works..................................................................................................................................21
Limitations of Cellbased Interlacing.............................................................................................................................23
NonSquare Grids.........................................................................................................................................................23
Building Your Own Patterns.....................................................................................................................................................24
Triangular Knotwork..................................................................................................................................................................25
Introduction....................................................................................................................................................................25
Triangular Knotwork Panels..........................................................................................................................................25
Advanced Triangular Panels.........................................................................................................................................26
Triangular Knotwork Borders.........................................................................................................................................27
Further Topics (not covered in this instruction).....................................................................................................................29
Tutorial Bibliography.................................................................................................................................................................30
Basic Sources................................................................................................................................................................30
Further Topics Bibliography...........................................................................................................................................30
General Celtic Art Bibliography.....................................................................................................................................30
Web Page Resources....................................................................................................................................................30
Sample Grids..............................................................................................................................................................................31
Regular Grid (1:1 Ratio)................................................................................................................................................31
Wide Band Grid (1:1 Ratio)...........................................................................................................................................32
Narrow Band Grid (1:1 Ratio)........................................................................................................................................33
Doubled (Lindisfarnestyle) Grid (1:1 Ratio).................................................................................................................34
"Pictish" Grid (3:4 Ratio)................................................................................................................................................35
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
i
Introduction
Tutorial Source and Background
This instruction is based on a class covering beginning Celtic knotwork construction (Introduction to Celtic Knotwork) I gave
during Pennsic War XXII (the week of 20 August 1993). The Pennsic Wars are a longrunning series of large yearly events
held by the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA, with URL: www.sca.org), a nationwide organization of those interested in
pre17th century activities.
This information should be considered introductory in nature, and assumes no experience in Celtic art or design; just a
fascination with it! It does not cover what I would call "art" or "design" as such (I don't feel I'm qualified to teach in those
areas), but is more "technical" in nature. This tutorial covers basic interlacing techniques, simple border and panel
construction, analysis of existing patterns, interlaced corners, more advanced patterns (such as "doubled" knots), and
provides links to other, advanced sources for your further research. Techniques from this tutorial can be (and have been)
applied to both hand drawn and computerconstructed designs (for example, see my Celtic Computer "Art"Images page
(www.erols.com/mihaloew/celtic/cel_images.shtml). The techniques described in this tutorial did not originate with me.
(Please see the Tutorial Bibliography for original sources.) I only use the techniques in my work, felt that they were not
wellenough known, and hoped that the class (and this web site tutorial) would help them gain wider appreciation.
Knotwork Background and History
Where did what we call "Celtic Knotwork" come from? Interestingly, knotwork (and much of what we see as "Celtic Art"
today) corresponds to only the latest style in a long tradition of Celtic art. Who were the Celts? Roughly, they were a
nonClassical European society differentiated by language. They flourished in central and eastern Europe from (at least) the
7th C. BC, moved into the British Isles by about the 3rd C. BC, and remain there today. What, then, is "Celtic Art"? Besides
the obvious definition ("art done by Celtic peoples"), Celtic art has several special features. For example, from [Megaw]
comes a "minimal working definition" of Celtic Art:
...encompasses elements of decoration beyond those necessary for functional utility, though these
elements represent a form of symbolic visual communication which is only partially accessible to us.
From [Green] comes the concept that Celtic art was closely integrated with its society; that the Celts were used to seeing art
as part of their every day life. She maintains that "...in Celtic society it is virtually impossible to make a distinction between
art and decoration."
The roots of regognizable Celtic art go back at least to the 6th or 7th centuries B.C. The earliest Celtic art seems to have
been influenced by the existing Iron Age Mediterranean cultures. Some possible influences can be seen in art from Persia,
Africa, Egypt, and other places (see [BainG], page 27 for some speculative examples). Celtic art went through a number of
recognizable phases over time (see [Green], [Megaw], and [Laing] in the Bibliography for further details). The Celtic art
phase I've concentrated on was a late development, sometimes known as "Insular", and exemplified by the illuminated
manuscripts of the 6th12th C. AD. This style was influenced by a number of sources: Christianity (about the 3rd C. ADIt
is interesting how the Christian influence, especially Roman and Irish monastic, seemed to enrich rather than replace the
earlier pagan artistic traditions.), the native northern British tribes ("Picts"), AngloSaxons (from the 5th C. AD on), and the
Vikings (from the 9th C. AD on). A view of these influences is shown pictorially in the following:
Introduction 1
Sources for patterns used in this tutorial (and in the associated Celtic Computer "Art"Images page
(www.erols.com/mihaloew/celtic/cel_images.shtml) are taken from illuminated manuscript Gospels; Durrow (ca. 680 AD);
Lindisfarne (ca. 700 AD); Kells (ca. 800 AD); and from carved stones (especially see [BainG] and [BainI]; also [Meehan2]). In
the case of the great manuscripts, it appears that masters designed and initiated patterns, with students (monks?) completing
the work.
For an interesting look at the earliest origins of Celtic art in general, Barbarians on the Greek Periphery? a hypertext PhD
thesis, on the web at URL: www.iath.virginia.edu/~umw8f/Barbarians/first.html.
Another good resource is The Origin and meaning of Celtic Knotwork, found on the web at
http://home.ctnet.com/drew/knotworkmeaning.html. The author, however, feels that Lindisfarne was the earliest major
knotwork effort (Durrow is usually cited as the earliest), but agrees with the ca.700 AD time frame for the creation of
Lindisfarne. The author also mentions that plaits broken and reattached (see Basic Interlacing Construction and Interrupted
Interlacing for examples) were first used in Italy in the early 700's; a claim I'd not heard before. The Origin and meaning of
Celtic Knotwork site includes a good bibliographyit can be reached from the link noted above.
Symbolism in Celtic Art
I've often been asked about the symbolism in Celtic knotwork, or in Celtic Art in general. Many visitors to my Web site ask if I
have a list of knots and what they mean, or if I know of a knot that symbolizes a particular concept. I'm sorry, but my
research indicates that the Celts probably had no such meaning attached to their work; and, if they did, we would not be able
to interpret it today. Drew Ivan (among others) has studied knotwork symbology, and says, on his site (URL
www.craytech.com/drew/knotwork/knotworkmeaning.html) that:
Therefore, it's my opinion that the Celts did not use knots as specific symbols. They did not have different
knots to represent specific ideas or concepts. Knots were just nifty ways to fill a space. The symbolism of
connectedness and continuity seem apparent from simply looking at knotwork patterns. This may have
been an intended effect, but I've uncovered no evidence to suggest that knotwork patterns mean anything
more than that.
This is likely to disappoint a great many people. Ivan goes on to mention that: In "Brigit's Feast" (Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 9, 11)
Frank Mills writes...
The interlaced patterns with their unbroken lines symbolize humankind's pilgrimage, both as a quest to
return to our divine source and our spiritual growth as we move along in the quest. The pattern is to be
mentally unraveled, which, while occupying the mind with a repetitive task, creates a deeper concentration
enabling us "to see." In this it is akin to the use of a mantra or rosary beads.
...though in a footnote Mills says...
It must be remembered that in our interpretation of Celtic art we cannot know the mind of the ancient Celts
who developed these forms, thus the best we can do is to hopefully 'read between the lines' correctly and
make some educated guesses.
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Symbolism in Celtic Art 2
This theme is reiterated, for Celtic art in general, in [Megaw], where they state:
...we cannot tell the precise meaning to a Celt of even some of the commonest motifs... Some may have
been, like a threeleaved clover, a charm; others may be heraldic symbols like the American bald eagle or
the Tudor rose; yet others may have a significance as profound as a crucifix has for a Christian.
Please read the facinating works [Green], [Megaw], and [Laing] (referenced in the Tutorial Bibliography) for further information
about the symbolism of Celtic Art.
Now, on with the tutorial!
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Symbolism in Celtic Art 3
Basic Interlace Construction
Basic Interlacing
The most basic rule of interlacing is: "First under then over then under then...". Some early documented construction
techniques (see [BainG]) involved drawing lines, then creating ribbonlike bands around these lines, and then erasing the
interlaced areas. Later construction techniques (see [van Stone], [van Stone2], [Sherb], and [BainI]) involve generating a
grid of cells using points laid out like "dice 5", and only drawing the lines needed, with little or no erasing required. From
evidence on the manuscripts themselves this appears similar to the actual techniques used by the Celtic scribes.
One "cell".
These cells are repeated and grouped to give a "grid" (in this case of 3 cells by 2 cells) of dots, circles,
or diamonds. That is, the dots, small circles or diamond shapes are drawn to give guidelines for the
knotwork bands. The following table provides pros and cons for using the different pattern layout
variations:
PROS: CONS:
Dots: Quick and authentic, little or no erasing
required
Harder to keep constant band with
Small
Circles:
Easier to keep constant band width, and
easier to hand draw
Some erasing may be required in corners and along walls
Diamonds: Most accurate and consistent band width Hard to hand draw (but easy on the computer), and will
always require some erasing
Bands are drawn at 45to the original grid, between but not touching the dots. If bubbles (small circles) or diamonds are
used, then the edges can touch the circles/diamonds. The bands "bounce" or "turn" off the edges and corners of the grid
(referred to as the "walls" in this tutorial). Please see the following example:
Basic Interlace Construction 4
Basic Interlace Example
1. Build grid (example uses 3 cells by 4 cells and uses diamond shapes to mark the centers of the
grid points).
2. Draw 2 parallel lines starting at the edges of the circles, diamonds (or just off the dots), not the
centers. Think of bands of ribbon placed between pegs.
3. Now draw the perpendicular bands on either end...
4. ...and bands running "under" the middle of the original band...
5. ...then continue with all bands until you run into a "wall" or corner.
6. For now, just "square off" the corners and wall turns (we'll get into curving these later).
7. Finally, fill in the background with black to cover the dot/circle/diamond layout markers.
Please attempt this interlace on your own. Download a sample grid from the web site and work with it as is, print a grid from
this document (in the Sample Grids section) and use behind tracing paper (or plain paper on a light table) as calligraphy
guides are used, or use graph paper.
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Basic Interlace Example 5
Curved Interlace Example
Most examples from actual documents use curved lines, not the angular corners we've done so far. Doing curves requires
thinking ahead in the corners and walls. To get a smooth curve into the corner and against walls, you need to start back from
the edge of the line that will hit the wall. Then smoothly curve the lines into the corners and walls. Try to keep the band a
constant width, even though you may overrun the circles (or diamonds) in the centers of the cells. You'll see many examples
of curved knotwork designs in the remainder of these instructions.
1. Start with the initial example, at step 5.
2. Smoothly curve the lines into the corners and walls, overlapping cell boundaries as needed. The
new curves are shown in red.
3. Clean up any stray marks "inside" the lace, and fill in the background with black as before.
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Curved Interlace Example 6
Simple Borders ("Plaits")
A row of cells can be used to form a border. The simplest version is one cell wide. The example below shows the grid, a
section of the plait, and the same section filled in:
As the colors show, it uses two bands to form the border, which repeats every two cells.
A border "1 and 1/2" cells wide uses three bands, as shown by the colored example below:
This type of border is uses as a basis for a number of Celtic knots, as will be seen in some of the examples. It repeats
every three cells.
A 2cell wide border (often used in Celtic work) is initially four separate bands, repeating every four cells:
Please note that all these plaits are constructed in the same way as the simple interlacing example, except they have no
"corners", just "walls".
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Simple Borders ("Plaits") 7
Advanced Interlacing
Interruptions and Interlacing Breaks
Celtic artists usually devised patterns in single bands where possible. How was this done?
We see that Celtic knotwork panels (and even whole pages or the sides of carved stones) are often designed to be formed
from a single band. For simple interlaces, this only works when the ratio of the number of cell sides has no common factors
(for example, in 2 cell X 3 cell templates, 3X4, 5X3, etc. ).
An interlaced 2 cell by 3 cell panel generates a single band.
A 2 cell by 2 cell panel, when simply interlaced, results in 2 bands.
The same 2 cell by 2 cell panel, with one added wall, results in 1 band. The first part shows the
2x2 cell grid with the additional "wall" added. The second part shows the band generated by
this template with the same rules and methods used in basic interlacingover and under,
changing direction ("turning", or "bouncing off") at walls and in corners. The third shows the
band filled in with color.
The trick is: knowing how to add the "walls" into the panel patterns to end up with a single band in the end.
Advanced Interlacing 8
Interrupted Panel Construction
Most Celtic knotwork designs can be seen either as connected panels (with a side partially removed) or interrupted borders
(with extra walls and corners); the two concepts are very similar. The tutorial descriptions use the "panel grid with added
walls" interpretation. The original Celtic designers used these breaks and interruptions to develop their striking patterns.
They often broke down long rows of border cells into areas like the 2X3 panel above, making designs that cover whole pages
(or the sides of standing stones) using one long connected band.
The following example knot is taken from [BainI], pg. 43, using a pattern found in Lindisfarne, especially on Folio 27:
1. It is formed on a 3X5 cell grid with additional crossshaped walls forming four new corners.
2. The bands are generated in the same way as for simple interlaced panels, "turning" at
corners and walls.
3. The bands can then be colored in, as with the other panels. For other ways of treating
bands, see the section on Line Treatments.
This pattern can be expanded into a border (as in the pattern below) as well as a panel filling pattern (see the associated
Celtic Computer "Art" pages (URL: http://www.erols.com/mihaloew/celtic/celart.html).
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Interrupted Panel Construction 9
The second example knot panel is also taken from [BainI], pg. 107, using a pattern taken from Lindisfarne, folios 27, 95, and
211:
1. It is formed on a 3X6cell grid with five additional walls.
2. The bands are generated in the same way as for simple interlaced panels, "turning" at
corners and walls, whether the original panel walls or the added walls. A new feature used
here is the longer curve used above the short added wall. Note that the radius of this curve is
made to fit "over" the shorter curveit is not simply two short curves with a straight section
between. For a better description of these curve types, see [BainI], Chapter 3.
3. The bands can then be colored in, as with the other panels.
This pattern was originally used as a border and was designed to be "mitered" to fit around corners. See the tutorial section
on Mitred Corners for more information.
The third example knot is a border pattern taken from [BainG], pg. 40 plate E, originally from Kells:
1. The basic pattern is 2 cells wide, repeating every 6 cells, using four additional walls
to make two extra unconnected corners.
2. The bands are generated in the same way as for simple interlaced panels, "turning"
at corners and walls, whether the original panel walls or the added walls. This pattern
also uses longer curve used above the short added wall.
3. The bands can then be colored in, as with the other panels.
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Interrupted Panel Construction 10
Borders with Corners ("Mitering")
Introduction
Getting border patterns to properly turn corners is fairly trickyto the best of by knowledge there is no consistent,
predefined method for generating patterns that properly miter (that is, that turn corners) without drastically changing the
underlying patterns, introducing loops or extra bands, etc.
You can try to either "slide" or rotate existing cell patterns into the corner, or try a different pattern that fits better into the
corner space. Please expect some very strange bands (even those outside the cell boundaries) when a complex pattern turns
a corner!
Borders with Corners ("Mitering") 11
"Sliding" Pattern into a Corner
As an example of a "sliding" pattern, please see the border below (from [Bain] page. 35, plate 10 upper right).
1. To the left is the underlying panel template and band treatment, from [BainI], page
43, based on a pattern found in Lindisfarne, Folio 27.
2. This figure shows the template extended (by removing parts of the two end walls) to
form a border pattern.
3. This figure shows the template shifted and rotated to allow the corner to be turned.
Then walls were removed to keep the pattern constant.
4. Finally, the bands were formed and filled in (as usual) to build the final panel. This
can be further rotated and extended to form rectangular mitered panels of any desired
size.
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
"Sliding" Pattern into a Corner 12
Pattern Modifications into a Corner
The second example, taken from Kells, shows a template modification allowing the pattern to "turn" a corner.
1. To the left is the underlying panel template and band treatment, from [BainI], page 103, based
on a pattern found in Kells, Folio 124R. It is a 2X4 cell pattern, with the repeating group offset by
a half cell.
2. This figure shows the original template flipped and used in a corner pattern. There is not a
smooth way to shift and reconnect the pattern as in the one above.
3. This figure shows the wall to be removed (in red) to smooth out the corner turn. When doing
these on your own, try to not add a loop, but keep the underlying pattern going as much as
possible.
4. Finally, the bands are formed and filled in as usual to build the final panel. As with the first
example, this can be further rotated and extended to form rectangular mitered panels of any
desired size.
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Pattern Modifications into a Corner 13
Filling Spaces with Knotwork Interlacing
Interlaced panels can be used to fill in areas of a page, like complex borders, between other forms, or inside of large initial
caps, etc. The basic design concept is to divide the required space into cells of appropriate scale, and add breaks to make
things "interesting" (i.e., single band, no loops, etc.).
The following example approximates the look of Durrow in it's use of knots only on the "carpet" pages (pages with patterns
onlynot containing text).
1. Divide the required page into cellsin this case into 9 cells by 12 cells. Please
note that on a real carpet page the number of cells used would be much greater.
2. Break down the page into shaped panels. The remainder can be considered a
borders. A common division included a crossshaped area (after all, the originals
were Gospels, yes?).
Filling Spaces with Knotwork Interlacing 14
3. Add additional "walls" and "corners" to break up the design, add interest, and
remove loops. In this design, I managed to get the panels to form a single band,
but I failed to do this on the border.
4. Interlace the border area, using the same techniques as described in the tutorial
sections on Basic Interlacing Construction and Interrupted Interlacing.
5. Interlace the panel areas. In this case I used the same band width throughout,
but could have changed it in the border or panels. For information on band width
changes, see the tutorial section on Line Treatments.
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Filling Spaces with Knotwork Interlacing 15
6. Finally, color in the bands. I've chosen to use two different band techniques
hereone for the panels and a different one for the border areas. Please see
the tutorial section on Line Treatments for other ideas on how to decorate the
bands.
You can also use predefined panels (see [BainG] or any of the other listed sources in the Bibliography), if the area you're
trying to fill "factors" properlythat is, if the number of cells filling the space you need to cover is an even multiple of the
number of cells in the original pattern. Existing examples used different interlace patterns on different sections of the same
page. In fact, some examples use knots, key patterns, zoomorphics, and spiral patterns on the same page.
There are particularly good examples in [Meehan2] (pages 72102), [BainI] (Chapter 10), [BainG] and, of course, any good
facsimiles of the actual manuscripts. A (rough :) example of a draft SCAstyle scroll study using this technique can be seen
in the following figure:
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Filling Spaces with Knotwork Interlacing 16
Also, please see other examples of space filling patterns provided on the Celtic "Art" pages (see URL:
http://www.erols.com/mihaloew/celtic/celart.html).
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Filling Spaces with Knotwork Interlacing 17
Knotwork Band Treatments
Introduction
To this point we've been simply using black to cover up the construction marks (dots, circles, or diamonds at the grid points)
and filling in the bands with colors. The Celtic scribes certainly used this technique in the original manuscripts. They also
used many other techniques to decorate the bands. Some of these are covered below.
Band Width
Try increasing the circle diameters/diamond widths without changing the grid spacing to construct thinner bands, and making
smaller circles/diamonds to help get wider bands.
This pattern is from [Meehan2], originally from Durrow. Here is the original grid size, and
a band generated using this template.
Here is a grid with larger diamonds generating a narrower band.
This grid uses smaller diamonds and, consequently, wider bands. Note that some
spaces between bands disappear with wider band widths. Sometimes the bands will need
to be adjusted to compensate for this effect.
Knotwork Band Treatments 18
Band Edge Effects
Besides changing the width, bands themselves were often decorated.
The band edges were often drawn in black, letting the background parchment show
through.
Bands often had lines or dots running down the middle...
...or two narrow bands running on the sides of the band.
Finally, the knots were sometimes simply drawn with red dots alone against the parchment.
Colors
Celtic work was incredibly colorful. Some knots were light on dark (as most of the examples), but some were dark on light
backgrounds. Colored areas were used on the bands and in the middle areas (between the bands) as well. Even if a band
was continuous, often more than one color was applied.
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Band Edge Effects 19
"Doubling" Interlace Patterns
"Doubling" can be considered a line treatment that forms a parallel double band from a broad interlace pattern; the two new
bands do not cross except where the original broad band did. This form of interlacing was quite popular with the scribes and
was extensively used in Kells.
Original construction techniques (see [BainG]) involved building the original wide interlaced band, then converting the edges
of these bands into new, narrow, parallel bands, then fixing up the interlacing. This requires a lot of erasing and fixing.
Doubling can be supported with the cell structures we've been using by following the procedure below:
1. Draw original pattern on doublesized cells compared to the desired final results.
This pattern is taken from [BainG] page 40, Plate E, and was originally from Kells. I
also used large (doublesized) diamonds to keep the ratio of band size to cell size fairly
constant.
2. Build a set of "halfsized" cells between the original points. I used diamonds smaller
than halfsize for band spacing here to reflect the Lindisfarne style of doubling. See
[BainI} pages 7172 for further information and alternative construction techniques. On
the illustration, the new cell diamonds are darker and the new cell sides are lighter.
3. Add interruptions to the new patterns (in the halfsized cells) based on the original,
fullsized cell patterns as follows: if the original template has a corner, add a smaller
corner inside and a larger one outside (if possible); if the original template has a wall,
add a new wall one smaller on the "inside" (towards the middle of the panel or border)
and one larger on the "outside" (towards the edges of the panel or border); then add
walls of single cell edge size to break up any further walls and keep the new
strands/bands in parallel. On the illustration, the new walls are highlighted.
4. Interlace as usual. Curves will take a bit of extra planning in order to keep them
parallel and a constant width. In this example, the curves used could have been a bit
smoother (i.e., larger radius)this would have meant more adjustments in the corners,
though...
5. Color the bands as desired. The illustration is colored to show the continuity of the
bands across the repeating, doubled pattern.
Also see other examples of doubling provided on the Celtic "Art" pages (see URL:
http://www.erols.com/mihaloew/celtic/celart.html).
"Doubling" Interlace Patterns 20
Analysis of Existing Patterns
Translations from Existing Works
I've used the following techniques to determine the underlying cell templates for knots from a number of sources. The (rather
elaborate) example below illustrates these techniques:
1. Here is an original scanned image, taken from Kells, folio 124R, at the top of the border design:
2. Find the repeating patterns. I've outlined the repeating group from this image:
3. Here is the repeating group isolated, and the band highlighted using image processing
techniques.
4. Look at the "holes" in the knots (outlined in red) to determine the underlying cell patterns. In
this case, I started in the middle where the pattern was least broken (look for simple interlace
patterns) and worked my way out. After the cell pattern starts to emerge, it becomes easier to
complete it across the more complex areas. For borders concentrate on cell width; with panels
the panel dimensions (width X height).
5. Determine how the pattern is interrupted by observing the breaks in the overall interlace design.
These are added in red on the illustration.
6. I've removed the original bands to more clearly see the underlying cell and wall pattern. This
pattern uses 4X6 cells in the repeating group.
7. I've now placed the wall pattern on a regular grid, set up for a narrow band pattern.
Analysis of Existing Patterns 21
8. Reviewing the wall pattern, I observe that this is a doubled version of a 2X3 cell pattern, as
shown in the figure. For information on drawing doubled knotwork, please see the Line
Treatments (Doubling) section of this tutorial.
9. So, I now redraw the cells and wall patterns using the doubled grid. See the Sample
Grids section for a view of this grid.
10. I interlace the design, just as the other knotwork examples in this class.
11. This illustration shows the pattern colored with band and background shades taken from the
scanned original.
12. The template is extended to approximate the original panel design.
13. Finally, the generated panel is resized to match the original, and compared.
14. Not bad, but probably should have stuck with the original nondoubled style grid. :) In addition, the Celtic scribes
appeared to have used a variable width grid pattern and/or a pattern variance (the third repeat from the left does not have
the same grid pattern as the other three). These are not unusual occurrences in the original materials.
Below is a slightly modified version of the generated design that includes the pattern variance. Closer yet...
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Analysis of Existing Patterns 22
Limitations of Cellbased Interlacing
I'm sorry to report that some existing works will "resist" this type of analysis. Panels and pages based on triangular grids,
grids warped or adjusted to fit a particular space, or freehand knots will be difficult (and frustratingtrust me on this!) to
analyze. For triangular knot construction, please see the Triangular Knotwork class page.
Some spiral or circularbased knots are hard to reproduce using the rectilinear patterns found in cells. Some panels are
based on circles rather than interlaces (especially some of the existing carved stones). Certain patterns need the cells
turned 45from the usual configuration.
In these cases, try to find the page/panel/border already analyzed see [Meehan2], [BainI], [BainG] from the tutorial
Bibliography, and don't give up. Use the draw and erase techniques rather than cells, but keep on trying until the pattern
does what you want it to do.
And, Good Luck.
NonSquare Grids
Many panels and borders are based on grids where the sides form a ratio of 3/4 rather than the square (1/1) grids used for the
bulk of this class. George Bain (in [BainG]) calls this the "Pictish proportion". The example below illustrates a template with
3/4 proportion:
The usual square grid, with the Durrow template and a sample band treatment.
The 3/4 ratio grid (turned to make a 4/3 grid in this example) with the same
Durrow pattern set up.
The template above with interlacing added. The bands are interlaced just as in the
square grids, but you need to watch the band angles so they meet up with the grid
guides.
The band filled in and colored. Using 3/4 ratio grids can help if you need to squeeze in
a certain number of grid squares into a space that is not quite big enough. The original
Celtic scribes used this technique in several instances; they even used odd (neither 1/1
or 3/4) grid sizes to adjust border spacing.
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Limitations of Cellbased Interlacing 23
Building Your Own Patterns
In designing your own patterns, aim for "interesting" work; make it pleasing to your eye. Study existing Celtic knotwork (see
the references from the tutorial Bibliography) and attempt to reflect similar themes and overall designs (e.g., try for a single
band running through the entire panel/border...) Watch out for "loops", and try to get "knots" instead.
Example of a pattern with a "loop". The left shows the underlying grid (3X4 in this case) and
the right shows the bands. The "loop" generated is shown in red.
Similar pattern modified to make a "knot". The left shows the added "wall" (highlighted).
The right side shows the drawn and colored band, with the loop removed.
One way to begin (and my favorite method for doodling during meetings :) is to sketch the underlying cell patterns and
interruptions using graph paper. I then use the "bubble" technique (see the Basic Interlacing Construction section in this
tutorial) to regularize the band width, then draw out the interlace by eye. This allows a quick review of the pattern, and
allows me to remove obvious loops and clumsy areas of the pattern before formally drawing it out.
Building Your Own Patterns 24
Triangular Knotwork
Introduction
Many Celticstyle patterns are based on grids based on triangles rather than squares or rectangles. These seem to be (for
some reason) especially popular on the many carved standing stones in the British Islesespecially on those in eastern
Scotland. The most common grid seems to be one based on a right triangle, though some are based on equilateral
triangles, and inevitablysome are based on irregular triangles. It is the right triangular grid we will use for the class
examples.
The following example is for a simple triangular knot taken from [BainG] page 47 and [BainI] page 86. The original source for
the pattern is probably the Ulbster Stone.
1. This is the grid used for the knot. (Please see the Basic Interlacing Construction section for
information on the grid patterns used...) [BainI] would refer to this as a 4n gridit uses four
divisions across the long side of the triangle. You should experiment with different amounts
of cells across the long side. The original artists used just enough cells to fit their patterna
very tight grid. Four is about as small as one can go...
2. To build this simple pattern, first sketch in the corners of the triangle. Size the bands as you
would for the usual knotwork patternwatch the width of the band that moves across the top
of the triangle as it can be tricky to size properly.
3. This view shows how the corners are connected for this pattern. Unlike the knotwork
patterns (see the Basic Interlacing Construction section for details), I've always had to draw
the band edges first and then erase the overlaps while interlacing.
4. After interlacing the bands show the common over/under pattern of all knotwork.
5. Finally, the bands are colored and the background darkened. As with any knotwork pattern,
the bands can be treated in a number of ways. See the Line Treatments tutorial section for
details.
As with other knotwork styles, the line widths can be varied by using the narrow or wide grid types. Please see the Line
Treatments tutorial section for further information.
Triangular Knotwork Panels
A simple square panel can be formed by slightly modifying the grid pattern used above and repeating it to form a square. An
example follows:
1. This view shows the pattern sketched in. The "inside" corner pattern was changed to make
the bands "flow" over and under rather than turn the corner as in Step 2 above.
Triangular Knotwork 25
2. Connect the corners and interlace, as in Step 4 above.
3. This shows the pattern repeated to form a square. On the computer I simply copied, turned
the copy 90 degrees, and pasted it back four times. By hand, one duplicates the grid and
interlaces each of the four separately. Remember that the middle interlace drives the rest of
the pattern, so do it first.
4. Finally, color in the band and background, or use another band treatment of your choice.
Advanced Triangular Panels
I've found that most of these types of patterns look better when originally built on a wide grid. Please see the Sample
Grids section for more information. The following, more complex example (based on a pattern from the Dunfallandy Stone,
found preanalyzed in [BainG] page 41, Plate F.2) illustrates this technique:
1. The grid for this pattern is 8 cells wide across the top.
2. The Dunfallandy pattern is more complex, so I've used "walls" to represent the
places where bands split and curve. This is similar to the techniques used in
the Interrupted Interlacing section. I've also sketched in the corner bands. In
this pattern note that bands go "through" the sides of the triangle.
3. As with the simple patterns, I've added the bands and interlaced. With this
more complex design, you can see how the interlacing is related to standard,
square knotworkoverthenunder, the bands "turning" at walls and corners.
With wide bands like this, you need to really watch the width of the bands so
they remain constant. Things do get tight!
4. As before, I copied and repeated the pattern in Step 3 with 90 degree turns to
form the square found on the original stone. Use the same techniques as in the
simple panel above.
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Advanced Triangular Panels 26
5. This shows the bands and background colored in.
Triangular Knotwork Borders
One can combine triangular panel sections into borders using the following technique (illustrated with a pattern from the
Britford Stone):
1. This shows one fourth of the total Britford pattern. This could be
repeated and turned to form a square as with the
Dunfallandy pattern used in the previous section.
2. In this view I've flipped the pattern over and connected it to the
original. It was fairly easy to do this, since the band connections
lined up. If they don't line up naturally, the pattern will have to be
modified or shifted to make them connect.
3. For this border I had to put in a little placeholder knot to make it
come out square on the end. I should have worked harder on
this, since it makes a "loop" in the pattern :( On some of the
other triangular knotwork borders I put in a small zoomorphic
"lizard" head and tail to complete the pattern. Please see my
Celtic "Art" web pages for more examples.
4. I added a freeform knot on the other end as well...
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Triangular Knotwork Borders 27
5. Starting with the pattern from step 3, I can add step 2 sections 'till the pattern gets as long as I need, then
complete he border with a step 4 section. The result is shown below:
6. Finally, I colored in the bands and backgrounds. As usual, you can use any band treatment desired. The result
using simple colored bands is shown below:
7. Since the triangular patterns naturally turn 90 degrees, it is fairly
easy to have a triangular knotwork border turn corners. A pattern
for the corner is shown here. It can be combined (flipped and
rotated as well) with patterns from steps 24 above to form a
border of about any shape desired.
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Triangular Knotwork Borders 28
Further Topics (not covered in this instruction)
There are a number of other topics in Celtic art that this class does not pretend to cover. These include:

Interlacing on curves and circlesCell 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 animallike (birds, dogs, lizardlike 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.

KeyworkThink 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" page (URL:
http://www.erols.com/mihaloew/celtic/celart.html).

SpiralsMany Celtic shapes are based on interlaced spirals, and just plain spirals too. See [BainG], and [Nord] for
good examples.

FiguresMany 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 layoutBesides 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 (rough) example of a draft SCAstyle scroll study using a simple page layout technique can be seen in
the figure in the Space Filling section of this tutorial.

Lettering, Including Illuminated LettersMany 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.
Further Topics (not covered in this instruction) 29
Tutorial Bibliography
Basic Sources

[BainG] Celtic Art: the Methods of Construction, George Bain, 1973 (reprint of 1951 work).

[BainI] Celtic Knotwork, Ian Bain, 1986.

[Nord] Celtic and AngloSaxon Painting, C. Nordenfalk, 1977.

[Sherb] "Interlacing Without Erasing", M. Sherbing, from Tournaments Illuminated No. 53, Winter 1979.

[Meehan1] Celtic Design, A Beginner's Manual, Aidan Meehan, 1991. Also see the home page for his Celtic
Design book series at URL: Coracle_Archive.tripod.com/celticartcoracle.net/library/celtic_design/about.htm.

[Meehan2] Celtic Design, Knotwork, Aidan Meehan, 1991.

[van Stone] Wall hanging poster of Celtic Design notes, now out of print.

[van Stone2] Celtic Knots: Techniques and Asthetics (Part 1: Basic and Intermediate Knots), Mark van Stone,
Alphabet Studio, 1992.
Further Topics Bibliography

[Baker] Celtic Hand: stroke by stroke , A. Baker, 1983.

[Meehan3] Celtic Design, Animal Patterns, Aidan Meehan, 1991.

[Meehan4] Celtic Design, Illuminated Letters, Aidan Meehan, 1991.

[Sherb2] "Aviforms from Kells", M. Sherbing, from Tournaments Illuminated No. 83, Summer 1986.

[Sherb3] "Drawing the Lindisfarne Dogs", M. Sherbing, from Tournaments Illuminated No. 88, Fall 1987.
General Celtic Art Bibliography

[Green] Celtic Art: Symbols and Imagery, Miranda Green, 1996.

[Megaw] Celtic Art: From its beginnings to the Book of Kells, Ruth and Vincent Megaw, 1989.

[Laing] Art of the Celts, Lloyd and Jennifer Laing, 1992.
Web Page Resources
For other web resources, please see the Celtic "Art" links (http://www.erols.com/mihaloew/celtic/cel_links.shtml) page.
Thanks for visiting, and enjoy yourself.
Tutorial Bibliography 30
Sample Grids
Below are a few grid examples, using various grid spacing and diamond sizes, plus one in the 3/4 ratio used in some
knotwork. Feel free to download, and use them for computerbased knots, or print and use behind plain paper to allow for
"invisible" grids (like calligraphy spacing guides). You'll probably need to double the grid size when printing to use them by
hand, unless you have excellent eyesight and really good pen control :) Light tables make these guides really handy.
Regular Grid (1:1 Ratio)
Grid I've used for most of the samples in his tutorial, using a medium band width (no, this is not a networking pun!).
Sample Grids 31
Wide Band Grid (1:1 Ratio)
This uses the same spacing as the first, but smaller diamonds generating wide bands. See the Knotwork Band
Treatments section for more information.
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Wide Band Grid (1:1 Ratio) 32
Narrow Band Grid (1:1 Ratio)
This uses the same spacing as the first, but larger diamonds generating narrow bands. See the Knotwork Band
Treatments section for more information.
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Narrow Band Grid (1:1 Ratio) 33
Doubled (Lindisfarnestyle) Grid (1:1 Ratio)
This is the grid I've used for experiments in "doubled" knotwork. See the Line Treatments section in the Knotwork
Construction Tutorial for information and instructions.
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Doubled (Lindisfarnestyle) Grid (1:1 Ratio) 34
"Pictish" Grid (3:4 Ratio)
This grid attempts to lay out a 3:4 ratio cell space.
Have Fun, and Good Luck!
For further information, please contact Reed Mihaloew email address: mihaloew@mitre.org .
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
"Pictish" Grid (3:4 Ratio) 35