INNER BOTTOM RIGHT Kym
30 x 30 Minimum Complete Pattern 58 x 58 30 x 30 Minimum Complete Pattern 58 x 58 30 x 30 Minimum Complete Pattern 58 x 58 30 x 30 Minimum Complete Pattern 58 x 58 30 x 30 Minimum Complete Pattern 58 x 58 30 x 30 Minimum Complete Pattern 58 x 58
Creating Key Borders
Now we come to probably the most common use of key patterns - narrow borders. These are to be found in just about every Celtic manuscript in existence, and most likely in the hundreds that have been destroyed or lost. Even the most primitive of the manuscripts - such as the Book of Deer - which contain little of the decoration we think of as Celtic, still have key pattern borders. These make the greatest use of the Celtic edging, as they consist of little other than top and bottom edges put...
Key Pattern Rings
Although there are not many examples of key pattern rings technically known as 'annular' key patterns left, this is one of the more attractive uses of key patterns, combining as it does, the straight lines of the key patterns with circles. All the lines curve slightly, but the overall effect is not lost. The sweeping curves of traditional Celtic art can be seen tugging at the rigid, relatively modern form of decoration. They are, however, relatively easy to draw. It is best to start with an...
Drawing The Patterns
Now that we understand the basics of key patterns, we may as well learn how to draw them. The first thing we start with is the area that we want to fill. As key patterns are almost always used to fill an area with decoration, the area that they need to fill is usually defined before starting to draw. In my experience, the illustrations in this book are the first time I have had to start with the pattern rather than the area. This is why I have tried to include a variety of proportions in the...
Thickening The Lines
So far we have only dealt with key patterns in their thin line form. Traditionally, more often than not, they were drawn in their thick line form. This brings out the balance in the pattern as the background has now become a pattern of lines of equal thickness to the lines of the keys. Usually the keys are drawn or painted in a dark colour, almost invariably black, while the background is in a much lighter colour. This enhances the balance for the viewer because, when drawn the other way round,...
n 1
To simplify this we can write it as a basic formula, where x is the length of the first line and y is the length of the second line x, y, x 2, y 2, x 4, y 4, x 6, y 6, and so on, until the 'backbone', which is x a y b 2 i.e. two units longer than the two previous lengths added together. And it gets simpler. The second line must always be 2 units long in order to separate it from the last line of the interlocking key. So in the above equation y 2, so it can be rewritten x, 2, x 2, 4, x 4, 6, x...
Curved Key Patterns
The last variation is a new, but rather obvious, one. As the keys are simply square S-curve spirals, why not go back to the basics and get rid of the square All we have to do is take any key in this case 1237 and make the square ends round. From here on it is just a case of transposing the curved keys onto the square pattern grid. Working out what the edge triangles become is a bit harder but, with judicious use of the '1 unit away' rule and a bit of averaging and smoothing, we have it. The...
Another Variation
There is a second way of thickening the lines which creates a pattern that looks very different. This variation gives the rarer form of key pattern, although it is the form that gave the pattern its name - the key. In line with being described as an S-curve, this can be described as a J-curve or a y-curve. The patterns are intriguing because at first they look very similar to the S-curve, but the more you study them the harder it is to see the connection. This connection is very simple -1 line...
Creating The Corners And Edges
So far we have only been learning to draw the keys themselves, in fact, only the central repeat section. You can fill an area just using these sections, but there are two problems first, there are no examples of a key pattern being drawn or carved this way in traditional Celtic art, although this in itself should not stop you experimenting with it. Much more importantly it is just plain messy. Traditionally there are two ways of finishing off the edges the easy way and the not-so-easy way. The...
Circular Key Patterns
There are two ways of drawing key patterns to fill circles, one very rare in traditional Celtic art, the other fairly common. Strangely, the easier of the two is hardly ever seen, while the more common is slightly more complex to draw and the end result is less obviously a key pattern. We will draw the easier of the two first. As with all these variations, it is always best to have an idea of what the basic rectangular key pattern looks like. In this variation we are only going to need the...
