How to draw AUSEKLIS

You might be wondering what Auseklis has to do with Wednesday’s Valentine’s Day. In fact Auseklis truly has a love connection.

According to Wikipedia, “Auseklis was a Latvian god, and the personification of the celestial body Venus.” So there you go.

Auseklis is a tangle from Belgian CZT Rita Nikolajeva who shared her cool Borbz tangle with us some time ago. Rita is a multilingual conference interpreter with fluency in English, German, French, Latvian and Russian. About her tangle she writes,

“Auseklis” is Latvian for “morning star”, it’s an ancient symbol based on a double cross. It offers protection against evil and forces of darkness, and keeps safe the soul of a sleeper. Stars are usually female in Latvian mythology, but Auseklis is a he-star, and often referred to as the bridegroom of the Sun.

 The Wikipedia page linked above shows the image below, a way to draw a continuous line version that’s different from today’s tangle. It was believed that drawing this particular eight-pointed star without lifting the hand/pen would ensure protection from evil.

How to draw a continuous line version of Auseklis – Image by Xil at the English language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0

There are various versions of the Auseklis eight-pointed star and Rita’s lovely one is very easy to create. It can grow outwards as much as you have space for, and with a pretty end result.

My example has a small variation around the outer edge. This is because a stroke on one of the diamonds went astray so I added the errant stroke all the way around then filled the shape in. Also added a touch of shading.

On flickr, look for this arrow in the lower right corner of your screen to download the steps.

Rita illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Auseklis here on her flickr account where she includes an “unadorned” version and two embellished ones.

Rita also posted a Zentangle®-inspired Artist Trading Card (ATC) featuring Auseklis here.

As you enjoy any of the tangles on the site, please leave a comment of thanks and encouragement to show the artists you appreciate them for sharing their creativity to inspire yours.

Check out the tag ritan for more of Rita’s tangles on TanglePatterns.com.

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