This month’s pattern is a tessellating shape that takes its inspiration from tile work at the Alhambra Palace – a great source of pattern inspiration and one I’ve covered before and no doubt will revisit in future. I’ve looked for a name for this pattern and come up with several people are using – variations on plane or aeroplane and ‘tacas’ which google translate tells me means peg or cleat in Spanish. They do look a little like those sneaky stealth planes! I didn’t have a name for them when I was playing with the pattern so I’ve been calling them ‘interlocking arrowheads’. To research this pattern, I used the classic ‘Grammar of Ornament‘ from 1856 which features this design in its section on patterns from the Alhambra.

If you’re a Community tier member, check below for your monthly downloadable files so that you can paint this pattern. There are ‘print and paint’ options, with very feint grey lines that you can print onto watercolour or mixed media paper from your home printer and start painting straight away. These are A4 and letter sized files so choose the one that matches your paper. The other download option is a traceable file. This is the same image but with a black outline. These you can print out and trace to your final paper or sketchbook. Either use carbon paper to transfer or scribble all over the back of your printout with a soft pencil and use that to transfer the line. You’ll also find a link to the forum where you can share your work with us, ask any questions and get support.

For Pattern Makers, you’ll find two videos this month. I decided to split the process into a ‘drawing’ video where I share the process of making the pattern using ruler, pencil and compasses. The second video is a painting video where I share my watercolour process – and add some gold outlines. You’ll also see my supply list for this project including all the colours I used.

For Pattern Lovers, I shared two variations of this pattern live on zoom on 27th September. You’ll find the recording of this session below, and some extra downloads for the pattern variations.