Art of Islamic Patterns: Mamluk Rosette – Part 1

To make the second pattern in this series, instructor Adam Williamson breaks the process into two parts. In Part 1, you use a straightedge and compass to construct the geometric pattern of the rosette’s central medallion. In Part 2, he shows how to draw, freehand, one slice of the biomorphic pattern that then, using tracing paper, burnishing and overdrawing, gets reproduced eight times to finish the design: It’s a pattern-maker’s hack that has been in use for more than 700 years.