Eric Broug

Islamic geometric designs are admired worldwide for their beauty and marvellous intricacy, yet in truth they are seldom understood. Indeed, their complexity and artistry can seem almost beyond the powers of human ingenuity. In this handsomely illustrated volume, artist and teacher Eric Broug analyses and explains these complex designs in their historical and physical context. His own original drawings accompany magnificent photographs of mosques, madrasas, palaces and tombs from the Islamic world, ranging from North Africa to Iran and Uzbekistan, and from the 8th to the 19th centuries. Chapters are devoted to each of the main families of geometric design fourfold, fivefold and sixfold and to the complex combined patterns. Every design is carefully explained, and illustrated with a wealth of stunning photographs and clear, meticulously detailed drawings. Readers can follow the design processes by which these patterns were created and even learn to reproduce and invent geometric patterns for themselves, using exactly the same tools as the Islamic craftsmen of old: a ruler and a pair of compasses.

In this inventive interpretation of the popular colouring book concept, Islamic design expert Eric Broug helps readers to create their own patterns, based on compositions from across the Islamic world. The book opens up the world of intricate Islamic patterns, allowing artists, designers and doodlers alike to learn about these works of art as they produce their own. With 48 Islamic geometric compositions from around the world to choose from, artists at all skill levels will relish the myriad opportunities to replicate these intricate patterns or create their own. The workbook's clever design invites the pattern-maker to consider a composition in the book, take a corresponding loose leaf from the back of the book and figure out which sections of lines to trace to make the composition. Readers will have the unique satisfaction of making patterns appear where previously none were visible. Compositions - including a mix of more familiar geometric compositions and those that have scarcely been documented - are categorized by region and have various levels of complexity, making it possible for beginners to get started and artists or designers to develop their skills.

Geometric patterns are perhaps the most recognizable visual expressions of Islamic art and architecture, magnificent in their beauty and awe-inspiring in their execution. Now, with the aid of this book, anyone can learn how to master this ancient art and create intricate patterns or re-create classic examples. An introduction guides the reader through the basics, and is followed by some of the best examples of geometric patterns from around the world, arranged into three levels of complexity, with careful, step-by-step instructions taking the reader through the stages of composition.