 This drawing tutorial is the second in a short series of lessons to teach you how to draw a few variations of Celtic border knots. In the first tutorial, we used a grid system to draw a simple twist. In this blog, we will build on what we have learned in that lesson to create a braid pattern. The braid forms the building block for many Celtic-style borders. Below is a list of supplies you may want on hand (Amazon affiliate links are included), but you certainly don’t have to have all of these supplies to do this tutorial. Just find yourself a piece of paper, a pencil, and an eraser, and let’s get to drawing!
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 This drawing tutorial is the first in a short series of lessons to teach you how to draw a few variations of Celtic border knots. This first tutorial will show you how to draw a simple twist. The twist is not a Celtic style, but the tutorial series will build on this simple pattern, creating more complex weave patterns as we go. Twist borders can be found in many ancient art forms, such as Roman mosaics, and are easy to draw. If you use grid paper—or draw out a grid with guidelines—you will get a perfectly symmetrical twist every time! Below is a list of supplies you may want on hand (Amazon affiliate links are included), but you certainly don’t have to have all of these supplies to do this tutorial. Just find yourself a piece of paper, a pencil, and an eraser, and let’s get to drawing!  Image by ajcabeza on Adobe Stock. What would you say if someone were to ask you to describe a fairy? Would you envision tiny winged humanlike beings small enough to fit in the palm of your hand? Sure...this is the image conjured up by the modern mainstream. If you look up the word fairy, you’ll find descriptive terms like diminutive, magical, feminine, imaginary, and supernatural.  Image by Yuliya on Adobe Stock I love the month of March for two reasons—spring and St. Paddy’s Day. Most years, I try to find some cerebral topic to write about for St. Paddy’s Day as a way to embrace my own Irish heritage respectfully…but this year, I thought we’d just have a little fun! No sense in taking ourselves too seriously, right? This year’s topic is fun facts about the little green men. No, not aliens…Leprechauns! What do you know about those little green goblins called leprechauns? Today, I thought I’d give you ten fun facts you can share at that St. Paddy’s Day party!  Celtic knot painted on a decorative tray. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022. Welcome to part two of my DIY chalk-painted tray project! In part one, I chalk-painted a decorative tray using a “chippy” weathered effect. Now, let's go through the steps I took to design and paint a border around the vertical exterior sides of the tray. This will not be a tutorial on creating Celtic knots—that would turn this blog post into a book (which is in the works, by the way)! The goal is to help you create a simple design that can be traced onto the newly painted decorative tray for a bit more pizzazz.  Celtic Shamrocks Wood Burned Decorative Plate by Di's Studio Designs. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2019. The legend of the shamrock is closely tied to St. Patrick—a man who was born in Roman Britain, lived as a slave in Ireland as a youth, escaped his bondage, and then spent some time back in England, where he seems to have become a Christian missionary or priest. In Part 1 of this project blog I repainted a frame from a mirror I bought at a local thrift shop for dirt cheap. My original intention was to paint a base coat for the reddish undertones I wanted to show through a crackled gold top coat. The end result looked ok…for a different room. The almost solid gold color just looked gaudy in my dining room, even though I have a lot of decorative things with gold accents. This mirror, unfortunately, was just too over-the-top gold. The end result was me painting over it with a new layer of crackle and white craft paint.  Painted frame from the previous DIY project. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.  Finished painted mirror in dining room vignette. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021. During a recent trip to my local Goodwill, I found this really sturdy second hand mirror with a nice wood frame. The mirror was marked 9.99, but I think I only paid 4.99 for it, which is quite a steal because mirrors this size (26” x 18”) go for close to $100 or more brand new. There was just one issue—it was the wrong color for my dining room! But no worries…That’s what paint is for!  Celtic Motherhood Knot. Artwork done by Diane M. Lilly, 2021. So I Googled Celtic Mother’s Knot…thinking I would find THE Celtic symbol, break it down into its components, and do a quick sketch or two and explain my process…Not so easy! Turns out there are many variations of mother’s knots, some more modern than others. Some knots are more artistic expression than actual Celtic symbolism, but symbolism can be in the eye of the beholder anyway. So long as the symbol expresses the appropriate feeling and meaning, it’s all good.
 The Tree of Life…There are not too many symbolic icons that stretch so far back into the mists of time and mean so much to so many cultures. It’s a symbol that represents anything from the afterlife, the bond between heaven and earth, the connection to the earth, and the cycles of life (birth, life, death, and renewal). The trees were sacred to the Celts, and different trees held special meanings to the people of the time.
So, of course, I had to create an art piece with the Tree of Life! In this video, we will explore "breaks" in knotwork construction. This design starts like the last knotwork design, with a 4 x 4 grid and a diamond pattern with the circles. This modified design, however, will need to work around a break in the center of the grid. A break is a line that cannot be crossed by a thread, forcing the thread into a different direction than it would normally go. The break for this video is an X in the center of the grid, which will allow us to create a Celtic design called Four Linked Hearts. It's a beautiful design signifying love and is perfect for weddings or Valentine's Day. So, I hope you enjoy this video, and feel free to leave a comment, like, or share this video! (A special thanks to my son, Christian Lilly, for helping me with the video editing! Music from iMovie.) Related blog posts you may want to read: Basic Celtic Knot tutorial part 1 Celebrating Irish Celtic Art for St. Patrick's Day The Celtic Motherhood Knot, a symbol of love Celtic Tree of Life A foray into customizable artwork Getting out of my own way Today, I'm sharing short tutorials on creating--and modifying--a very basic weave or knot, which can be used as the foundation for any Celtic-inspired design. Part 1 walks you through creating a simple weave pattern using a 4 x 4 grid. Part 2 modifies the same knot pattern using a "break" to create a different design!
 Celtic Tree of Life Wood Burned Decorative Plate by Di's Studio Designs As March 17 approaches, the world becomes obsessed with all things green. The internet is flooded with imagery of shamrock pots of gold and leprechauns. Everyone gets caught up in the fun of St. Patrick’s Day, and anyone can be Irish for a day! Young people re-enact a time-honored tradition to hit the town and down pints of Guinness (or other alcoholic equivalent) until the world spins. You know there’s something special about being Irish when EVERYONE wants to be Irish! |
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