Throne Room – tangle pattern

ThroneRoomThe third of four tangle patterns based on items of Islamic art in the British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum. This one is based on glazed tile decoration in the throne room of Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon, around 605-562 BC. The colour scheme is white daisies on a royal blue background with orange highlights and the centre diamonds in a pale blue. This pattern will repeat well as a border, or keep repeating the diamonds to fill in an area.

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Balawat – tangle pattern

BalawatThe second of four tangle patterns based on centuries old Islamic art. This one is from the carved stone threshold of a pair of massive gates from the palace of Shalmaneser III at Balawat, dating from 858-824 BC. The cross hatching should make the ‘petals’ appear like pine cones, a common feature of a lot of the patterns, particularly the carved ones. The lilies between the pine cones are an example of another regularly repeated motif.

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Tangle 026

I had a play with a broad Signo white pigment pen and a page in my 12×12″ Derwent black page sketchbook… and this is what happened over around three evenings:

Tangle 026

 

I particularly like the ripples – will be doing more of those in the future! The white Signo ink is very opaque, though pens seem to vary in respect of smooth ink flow. I’ve found from experience that if a pen is misbehaving, it’s better to chuck it away. Not necessarily the most cost effective way of managing it, but far less frustrating!

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Intertwine – tangle pattern

Intertwine - tangle pattern

 

The final carved pillar inspired tangle pattern following my trip to the Natural History Museum in London. This one doesn’t make any effort to weave the curved mouldings – it might be good to try if you have the inclination. Please note the offset ends in step 4, which helps the placement of the curves that are ‘underneath’.

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