Guest Author - Debbie Striker
Celtic knots are a beautiful and creative way to decorate. BUT drawing Celtic knots by hand is a very time consuming and exacting art form. Daniel Isdell has created a unique way to design Celtic knots in a fraction of the time it use to take and in a much simpler form to learn.
Daniel has taken Celtic knotwork apart and created a font that includes all the pieces you need to make amazing knots by typing on your keyboard! The attention to detail that is so obvious in this font is amazing and gratifying. I can tell that many, many hours were spent considering not just the clarity of the images but also making sure that it is very easy for someone brand new to Celtic knotwork to start creating intricate designs in just minutes. I have enjoyed working with the font to create knots that range from quite simple to very intricate.
For crafters of all kinds, these font packages are invaluable! No matter what type of materials you create in, it seems they've got your covered. If you enjoy peyote or brick style bead work that requires a diagonal grid, no problem, they've already done the graphing for you. There's also a square grid version available that is perfect for cross stitch, hooked rugs and looms. Stained glass and quilting artist will enjoy designing in the original outline style. It's also very easy to switch between graphed designs and the others, so you could share your designs with all other types of crafters. They even help get you started with over 250 designs ready and waiting for you to explore.
The good points:
Even if you have absolutely no experience in drawing Celtic knots, this font allows you to play around with different patterns and ideas in a quick and easy format. Changing the size and color of your knot work is as easy as changing the font size and color.
It's fun. Drawing Celtic Knotwork by hand is very time consuming and if you mess up even one section, you can find yourself starting completely over. With this font, you simply delete what you don't like and type something else.
It's inexpensive. For as little as $20, you can download the font and start designing almost immediately. Various font packages are offered, so you can select the style that best fits your needs.
The designs you create are your own. There are no royalties to be paid to anyone and you can use the designs on whatever you'd like, however you'd like. You will no longer need to pay for clip art.
Install it once on your computer and every program you have that uses fonts will have this font as an option. Have you ever had problems copying graphics from one program to another? Some programs use extensions that another graphic program just won't read. You can try to copy and paste it over, but sometimes the results are horrible. Since this is a font, you'll never have to deal with that again. Your designs will move smoothly between all of your graphic programs.
You can easily create fliers or other documents with a Celtic knot border in your word processor without ever having to switch over to a graphic program. When working in a graphics program, you can easily try out different color combinations before you begin creating your final project. If you;re really squeezed for time, they also include pre-made designs that you can use as is or tweak to make them uniquely your own.
The limitations:
You won't be able to create absolutely every Celtic knot with this font, but you can still use it as a starting point. Create a basic knot for your zoomorphic design and then hand draw the details. Play with it in any graphics program to create awesome effects. One package offered contains round knots and gives you in-depth instructions for creating your own.
There is a seemingly endless list of arts and crafts that can be created with this font as a pattern. Check out the website to be impressed and inspired by the examples of many different completed projects:
http://www.clanbadge.com
After working with this font for several weeks, I am thrilled with the results of the knots I have been able to create and work with. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves Celtic knots and wants the freedom to delve into the art more deeply.
