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Posted on 02/04/10 5:22:25 PM |
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Babybiker
Shadow Spectaculator Posts: 151 Reply  |
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
Celtic Knotwork Tutorial I posted my first attempt at creating Celtic knotwork in the forum gallery, and Mark Goodwin suggested that I create a Tutorial… so here it is! 
1- Start with a new document, the size is fairly irrelevant but ideally it should be square. (I think mine was 600x600px at 72dpi) 2- Bring up a grid overlay (Window/show/grid) and set the grid markers to 25% with 1 subdivision (Edit/preferences) These setting can be changed to smaller numbers for more detailed knots… 20% grids will give you a completely different pattern etc it’s just a case of trial and error. Make sure that “Snap to Grid” is on. 
3- ignoring the outer squares of the grid, as you will need a clear border shortly, use the pen tool, set to paths, and begin drawing straight diagonal lines through the grid. every time the path reaches the imaginary border, “bounce it back” and continue the process until you reach the start point and the path is complete. 
4- Depending on your initial settings, you may fill the page up with one single continuous path, or you may have to create another path in the document as I did. This should be done on the same work path in the paths palette, to save time and headaches later. 5- Once you have finished all the path lines, create a new layer, choose a round thick hard edged brush and click on the “Stroke path with brush” button at the bottom of the paths palette. Click off the work path to hide the lines. 
6- At this point I duplicated the new layer with the design on, and hid the lower one, so that if the final result wasn’t pleasing, I could return easily to this stage. Using an eraser that is smaller than the brush you have just used, start to make breaks in the pattern by clicking on a grid line, holding shift and clicking on the other side of the band. There are no hard and fast rules about which parts to split, but they should always be on a cross to ensure that the band(s) are continuous and never terminate in an open end. I have always preferred a symmetrical pattern of splits, but it’s not essential. For a very simple pattern, skip this step completely, and for a more complex effect add even more splits 
7- To create the “over and under” effect, switch off the “Snap to grid” feature and using an even smaller eraser, and the same “click/shift/click” method break the remaining crosses by clicking along the sides of the bands. The rule here is that once a band has gone over another band it must go under the next band, and similarly when a band has been “broken” to go underneath a band, it must go over the next one. It looks complicated in writing, but it is a lot easier to do in practise! Working your way round the bands in a logical order ensures that you won’t make a mistake, and end up with 2 breaks next to each other etc. 
8- To ensure continuity in the design, at this stage trim the outside edge of the design, so that the pointed comers are flattened… again using the eraser and click/shift/click method. Essentially this is a finished knotwork design. 
9- To add depth to the design, create a drop shadow to the band using the effects palette, and if you want a colour overlay. 
10- As the design looked like it was folded paper, I decided to add texture to the bands by rotating the canvas 45 degrees clockwise, apply the fibres filter, and then rotating the canvas back 45 degrees CCW. Cropping the new added canvas that has been produced. 
11- Finally to add extra depth, on a new layer, work around the design and add a thin black line at every turn of the band. As there are two outer corners to every turn it might take some trial and error to get the line in the right position (eg from the internal point to either the first or second point of the outside). This lines are easier to draw when zooming in to the document, and occasionally viewing the full document to ensure they are set out in some sort of order. 
Finally, add a little Gaussian Blur to the black lines to soften them, and a background (two yellows, Render Clouds and more Gaussian Blur).
Further ideas - When I get time, I want to play around with using Layer Masks instead / as well as the eraser for the overlapping stage, to keep the shadows “true” to the design. At the moment, when the band breaks to go underneath the crossing band, there is a shadow along the “end” of the line. I’d also like to try and work on a method where when the bands cross, there is no space, and the shadow, or a stroke effect defines the crossing, and the bands can be bevelled. I suspect that this would require several duplicated layers, a lot of masking and possibly some cutting and pasting too! Unfortunately this will have to wait for a few days at least (Unless anyone else is feeling brave?) For a full tutorial on how to create Knotwork on paper, I would recommend George Bain’s books on the subject… I will be replacing my lost copies very soon, and try and refresh my memory on the methods used! |
Posted on 29/07/10 10:36:27 PM |
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miggy2007
* Posts: 4 Reply  |
Re: Celtic Knotwork Tutorial
WOW, just WOW. I can now open a blank page in Photoshop Cs3.. lol, old corel guy and the learning curve is, well, daunting. thanks for the site! miggy2007 |