The first step in any form of knotwork is creating a grid. In my penwork, I’ve progressed beyond a simple grid of squares into curves, circles, even tree branch shapes and grid cells with more than four sides. Here however, while I’m still learning to do this on a wacom, I chose to stay with the basic quarter-inch squares. So far, I’m liking not having to spend two hours drawing my underlying grid (you can just tell Photoshop to overlay a grid), but though it’s time consuming, grid creation is also something of a focus, making each knotwork as much a meditation as a drawing. Still, I can’t deny the appeal of not having my hands covered in graphite and being able to move right to planning the picture.

Digital Illumination Screen One