Customer Reviews

159 Celtic Designs (Dover Pictorial Archive)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is an excellent clipart resource for those who have Celtic projects in mind. It has a variety of designs from smaller, comparatively simple knots, to intricate frame style knotwork borders, bands, zoomorphic designs, key patterns and spirals. There are also two complete Celtic knotwork alphabets, one uncial style alphabet, and another thats not really Celtic but very pretty nonetheless. I've used it already for several tattoos, and some graphics for my website as well. As with most of the Dover clipart books, there are very few Copyright restrictions, which is a great value at this price!

This contains quite a bit of basic Celtic patterns and art. However, I was somewhat disappointed: the knot work is not terribly intricate nor original. Also, the ink quality of each graphic is low... they already look like photocopies. The publisher could have taken a little bit more time and money to improve the images and remove the obviously granular appearance of each image.

There is value in the book though: it contains 4 different Celtic-style fonts (each containing solely the 26 letters), plus there is a good variety of bands, circles, and knots. In addition, each piece of art is spaced well apart so that one can easily photocopy and then cut out the patterns if so inclined. Both sides of each page are used for different pieces of art though, so I would not recommend cutting the original pages.

Due to the simplicity and low quality of each print, I feel that this book would be great only for a grade school art project or similar crafts. It simply does not have enough detailed Celtic art to be of use for works that require higher quality or detail.

Don't waste your money on this book. I only paid a few dollars for it used, but I'm still embarrassed at having thrown away my cash. The work shown is very amateurish, with terrible line symmetry and line quality. It's the kind of work you'd expect to see in an art student's sketchbook. I've seen better art on walls as graffiti. -Chris

I have not had a chance to use this book yet but if I ever need a Celtic knot - I will not lack for one.

This is a great book if you need some good clipart in a hurry.

This book gave specific examples about the intricate artwork of the celts.