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yankeedog β Samhain Cross
Published: 2003-10-18 14:38:45 +0000 UTC; Views: 1031; Favourites: 17; Downloads: 99
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Description
Samhain (OΓche Shamhna) is the most mystical and most celebrated holiday of the Celtic calendar. It symbolized the end of summer and the beginning of the new year. As with day and night, the Celtic calendar was divided into 2 parts, summer and winter, light and dark. Samhain was a time of feasting and celebration, it was the Celtic New Year. As Christianity took hold of the Celtic people Samhain took on new spiritual meanings, but even to this day, many of the Pagan beliefs still persist. It is believed that at this time the souls of the dearly departed walk amongst the living. It was these beliefs that have given us Halloween. There are some people who either through ignorance, stupidity or simply to further their own agenda, have attempted to demonize and profit from this simple Pagan festival. To them I say, lighten up and to the rest of you Happy Celtic New Year & Happy Halloween to you all!Adobe Illustrator 8.0, base on hand drawn design. MAC G3, OS 9.2
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Comments: 24
a similar thing happened with the Day of the Dead in mexico. it was originaly an aztec holiday that christian missionaires tried to abolish, but instead, as the people converted, so did the holiday, and now it is the mexican equivalent.
so instead of bickering over who has the "rights" to the festival, lets just appreciate its history and realise that it's a holiday shared among multiple faiths, which is indeed a rare and valuable thing.
i really like this, just because the added christian aspect seems to get lost amongst the gruesome decorations. there are some christians who forget that its their festival too, and also other christians who forget that it wasn't theirs to begin with.
the knotwork reminds me of the way naked autumn branches appear to intertwine when looked at from below, and the colour evokes the feeling as though the branches are illuminated by a fire below.
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Thank you! I agree, the last thing we need in this world is something else to argue about.
-YD
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i've featured this piece in my journal found here [link]
if you want the image removed, please note me and i'll do so.
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Thanks! I appreciate that!
-YD
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you're welcome!
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Man, I gotta ask, how long does one of these take you. I've thought about doing something with a celtic weave approach and just haven't done it yet. Seems like it would take a long time. Another excellent example.
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They take a while to do, but I'm getting much faster at them and can do one start to finish in a few hours. Every morning while my coffee is brewing, I do drawing exercises. These exercises almost looks like tribal tattoos. The simple exercises become the basis for the cross designs. The cross designs that I'm doing look much more complicated than they really are. Each design is basically one set of interlaced shapes repeated over and over. It's not true Celtic Interlace overall, but in it's basic form it is. See for a short tutorial: [link]
I also do true Celtic Interlace as well, if you go to my web site "Celtic Lace", you'll see a whole different modern twist on this style of art: [link]
I'm also lucky enough to have one of the top Celtic artist in the country (and the world for that matter) as a friend and mentor, Jerry Nasky, I designed and built his web site with the help of my son Shane: [link] Jerry's work in more traditional, but rather than copy the "Old Ones" as many of the other modern Celtic artist do, Jerry creates original designs. Another Celtic artist that I find inspiring and consider to be the best of the very best is the Irish graphic designer and illustrator Jim Fitzpatrick. Jim's work is epic and he has done a lot of illustrations of Celtic Mythology. One piece that Jim did years ago that few people know about is the graphic portrait of the revolutionary ChΓ© Guvera. He was also tight with the Irish Band "Thin Lizzy" and worked on a lot of their album covers and graphics. You can check out Jim's work at: [link] Jim is real cool too and will answers most e-mails, although his web site is so packed with info, that he leaves almost no stones unturned. Still he enjoys hearing from fans of his amazing art. Thus concludes our Celtic Art and history lesson for the day, I'll be collecting your last weeks assignment and there will be a test on Monday after the holiday, so study up...
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Wow! That is some cool stuff, at all the sites. I think that I already have an idea, if I can work it up. It'll probably take me a while though. You see, I was thinking of something that's a bit more asymetrical, but still containing the interlacing. I guess you could say it would be my own interpretation of it. Plus if I do it, I want to do it well. That always takes me longer.
And yeah, I remember Thin Lizzy. I've got their Jailbreak CD. Used to have Chinatown on vinyl.
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Interpretation breeds innovation! I've been doing Celtic designs since 1985 when a friend of mine, Dale McWilliams turned me on to George Bain's book " Celtic Art : The Methods of Construction" . This book shows a wide variety of Celtic styles and techniques including more asymmetrical type designs. My son Shane is the inspiration for this current crop of Celtic Cross designs I'm doing. [link] He was designing a tribal tattoo for a friend and showed it to me. I tried to make one and then elaborated on it. Experimentation is key to this as well, have fun with it! -YD
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You're sone is good, really good. And I'm gonna look into that book. Should be able to get it online somewhere. I've already started on my design. Haven't decided if I'm gonna do it in photoshop or illustrator. It would probably be easier in illustrator, just becuz I know the program better, but I've started it in photoshop already becuz I want to learn the program better. I guess if it doesn't work out in photoshop, I'll redo it in illustrator, becuz I like the design I have so far and I want to see it to completion.
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Thanks, he's been drawing since he was little and I taught him Adobe Illustrator, PhotoShop, StreamLine and HTML, plus he just learned on his own. He loves to draw and we've e done our best to encourage both him and his sister to be artistic. I think Amazon and B&N both sell Bain's book. I guess you could do it in PS, I would save your paths and you could always use them in Illustrator. Good luck! -YD
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Good to see you encourage them. That usually makes all the difference in the world. And just so you know, I did save the paths. I tend to oversave until the piece is done.
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I can't wait to see the results! -YD
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Thanks Samantha! These crosses are sort of a penance for me, a way of giving thanks to God. I'm not much of a church goer, so this is about as religious as I get. -YD
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Happy Halloween to you Don, this cross is wonderful 
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Thanks Sis! And thanks for the +Fav too! -YD
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Is it Welsh or more Irish where Gwynn ap Nudd takes over then? I can never keep it strait. Regardless, it's new year for me, and I think this is a wonderful work of celebration. Thank you
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I'm not too familiar with Welsh, I'm Scots and Irish, but the Welsh call the holiday: "Nos Calan Gaeaf" meaning " Eve of Winter's First day". In Scots Gaelic it's "Samhuinn". in both Irish and Scots Gaelic, the "S" has a "sh" sound. At any rate, a significant holiday to all the Celts regardless of from where they hail and what tongue the speak. Seven nations one soul. -YD
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Just had to applaude that sentiment
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