Alhambra Geometric Design

Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation in parts of Spain governed by Muslims (given the generic name of Moors), at various times in the period between 711 and 1492. The Moors were the most culturally sophisticated people in Europe. The Alhambra designs from the palaces in Granada are used as our inspiration for our lesson. We used geometric patterns and shapes to create our work. These designs can look simple but very complicated .

Materials: Heavyweight sketching paper, sketching pencil, ruler, card stock for template. Your choice of materials to finish project.

Step #1: Draw guidelines down the center and across the middle of the page. Use a ruler to make a 3" square template. Outline the 3" square template where your guidelines intersect. Then take your 3" template and turn it 90 degrees clockwise and outline it again as shown below.

Step #2: Start from the center and create your symmetrical design. For this example i was inspired by flower design.

Step #3: Continue your geometric design off the squares, see example below;

Step #4: Try to use geometric shapes such as circles, square, rectangle, oval and triangle. Once the design is complete use a sharpie to outline all the lines you want to keep. Then erase all the left over pencil lines.

Step #5: Now its time to finish the drawing with your choice of materials. Have fun and be creative.