Celtic Knotwork Designs

by Sheila Sturrock

Book Overview

A foolproof, at-a-glance guide to this very popular type of design. No special skills or equipment are needed and the designs you create can be transferred to any medium, from carving to embroidery.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1861080409
• ISBN13: 9781861080400
• Release Date: December 1997
• Publisher: GMC Publications
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 7.4" x 9.8"

Customer Reviews

Create your own original Celtic knotwork design

This book is for people who would like to be able to design Celtic knotwork for quilling, parchment craft, woodcarving, painting, counted cross-stitch, or needlepoint (to name a few examples). It allows you to design beautiful frames, invitations, carved boxes, greeting cards, pillows--let your imagination run wild! I used this book to design watercolor frames.The author divided up her chapters according to the knotwork design's basic construction unit, e.g. small loops, hearts, fish, corner motifs, etc. There is also a chapter on "Creating Your Own Designs" and one on "Using Knotwork Designs in Other Crafts." All of the illustrated patterns are based on angles of 45, 90, and 180 degrees and are plotted on a dotted grid, which makes them fairly easy to resize and replicate on graph paper. All you need in addition to the graph paper is a pencil and the ability to find a quiet spot and concentrate on your design.The many colored illustrations are beautiful, and the knotwork diagrams are easy to follow if you give them the attention they deserve! The author has also written a handbook on Celtic knotwork, and one entitled "Celtic Spirals and Other Designs."

Detailed and Easy to follow

If you want to learn to draw Celtic knotwork, you need this book. It explains in detail and excellently detailed color diagrams how to plot the points for many different kinds of knotwork. From simple two-strand braids all the way up to interwoven animals, it is simply gorgeous and comeletely easy to understand. I can barely draw a straight line, yet I can use this book to create intricate designs for t-shirts, jewelry, embroidery and more. I've even had a couple friends who are tattoo artists borrow it to improve their techniques.

A good explanation of how to do complex designs

If you're looking for a good book that explains how to do a variety of celtic knots, from the simple to the complex, this is it. It makes everything clear, even for a beginner. It provides a wide variety of design suggestions, with short, but effective, explanations on how to execute them. I've never done this type of artwork, but was looking for creative design ideas to embellish a dress collar-- this book was all I needed.

An different construction concept, beautifully illustrated.

Bain is great for inspiration once the basic construction methods are mastered. Meehan is excellent for one familiar with geometric pattern construction. But Sturrock is outstanding for freehand scribblers and those interested in visualizing the development of a Celtic knot. If you are in the market for a first book - try Sturrock. Next is Meehan, then Bain. The reverse order might well scare away a potential Celtic illustrator before getting started.

The best book on Celtic knotwork I've read.

Sturrock's process for building celtic knots centers on common patterns inside the knot, like hearts and loops. Using the process she outlines here, it becomes very easy to visualize and construct original knots to fit areas of any size. Besides offering a simpler method of knot visualization, Sturrock also discusses methods of translating knotwork to other forms of craft.