Blast from the past

I think this piece is from when I first learned how to draw a star with geometry/compass and straight edge. I like stars but they're hard to draw. In first grade I couldn't draw a star very well, I hadn't learned the trick for drawing them and so a friend who was Jewish taught me how to draw a six sided star or Star of David, it was easier, just two triangles overlapping and going the opposite direction. Humorously I think I probably made a Christmas tree with a Star of David on top. Anyway eventually  I did learn the trick for drawing stars, but I loved being able to draw a perfect, or near perfect star. I also loved the idea that I could draw another star inside that star. This piece resulted I guess. Also blue and yellow are some of my favorite colors so I chose them for this piece. I love prismacolor's Copehagen Blue, which is what this color is, my copenhagen blue is probably the shortest of all my colored pencils.

colored pencil

9x9in

2007/8?

Sacred Geometry: A Primer

Since it's the 4th of July/Independence Day, this week: how to draw a five pointed star. Start with a line and a circle on that line.

Then make a vesica piscis.

Draw a straight line between the points of the vesica piscis.

Find the vertical half line of the original circle.

 Draw the vertical line.

Set your compass for the distance between the intersection of lines in the vesica piscis and the top point of the circle.

Arc down from the top of the circle to the horizontal line.

Set your compass from the top point of the circle to the new point and arc from one side of the circle to the other.

With your compass at the same setting, arc down from the point on the right side of the circle.

Continue from point to point until there are five points.

 Then connect all the points to form a pentagon. Come to think of it you could just make a star just then and there but that's not what I did.

When you have the pentagon you can connect the lines like this (ps, this is not a great example of a pentagon).

and continue on to form the star.

 The star has an inner pentagon and you can continue the stars as far as you can before they get to small.

Ta-da