A few things I've been working on lately. I've gone back to an unfinished Tengwar drawing, made myself a new sketchbook with more than a few mishaps along the way, and spent quite a bit of time working on the geometry for Lúthien. I've also put together the first few steps of a ruler-and-compass guide for anyone who fancies having a go themselves.

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I’ve spent quite a bit more time with the Book of Durrow since the last post and, rather annoyingly, the more I’ve worked on fol. 1v the less certain I’ve become about exactly how it was put together.

That’s not to say I haven’t found anything. Quite the opposite really. I’ve got a much better idea of some of the geometry, I’ve worked through both Stevick and Mackinder properly, and there are a few things inside the page which are much clearer than they were before.

The trouble is that I’ve also found out just how much the page has distorted, and that has made some of those apparently nice answers rather less useful than I first thought.

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Hello there Everybody!

The last time I wrote I was talking about rabbit-holes, roundabouts and side-projects, and compared what I was doing to digging a series of interconnected tunnels.

Well, some of the tunnels have actually led somewhere.

I have finished things.

Two of them, in fact.

Before I get to those, though, I need to go backwards a little bit, because something else has happened which I really wasn’t expecting.

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This post has a distinct, and unusual for me, lack of pictures. There are good reasons, all of which will be revealed below, you also get a sneaky-peak view of a side-project of a side-project, which itself is a side-project of a side-project – I’m not so much digging a hole for myself as I am digging a series of interconnected tunnels – and I promise myself I finish one of them some day.

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This post covers a new commission for the Beyond Bree calendar, a look at the bird-heavy knotwork currently on pause, and how a return to the guitar has reminded me that discord is a physical drawing tool.

Last time out was mostly about the new Celtic–Tengwar project and getting the Geometry Primer live on the site. I also shared a first look at the book—specifically how the Elwë reconstruction is coming along.

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I hope you’re all keeping well. I’ve been at the desk a lot lately, and before the bigger updates arrive I wanted to share a small, very focused one with you.

This is a shorter update than usual, but unusually specific. I hope you enjoy it.

A New Celtic–Tengwar Piece

First up, the newest pictures.

I’ve started work on a new Celtic–Tengwar piece. It’s a gift for one of you, so I’m keeping the details quiet until it’s finished. For now, here are a few progress shots. This one is going to take a long time — I’m planning on packing it with detail.

GeoGebra, the Primer, and the Book

I’ve also been upgrading my GeoGebra skills. This is the software I’ll be using to illustrate the book, and I realised I needed to get much more fluent with it before I start producing the final diagrams.

Simple geometry for the website.

To force myself to learn properly, I built a Geometry Primer for the website. It’s now live. Creating it meant drawing every basic geometric move I use, step by step, in a way that someone seeing these constructions for the first time can follow without confusion. It was a great test of clarity — and a good warm‑up for the book.

You can try the Primer here: https://theartofmichaeltaaffe.com/geometry-primer/

If you do give it a go, I’d genuinely love to hear how you get on. I want to know if the explanations are clear enough, or if anything needs tightening.

This is a photo of one of the GeoMetra images that I printed off.

Now the News

I’ve drafted a few chapters of the book. (Yes, I know — I’ve been busy, and now my back is broken. I really do need a new chair.)

I’ve chosen Elwë as the first full reconstruction because he’s the simplest device, and that makes him the best place to demonstrate how the method works without getting bogged down in too much detail. Elwë lets me show the full workflow — the geometry, the reasoning, the corrections, the way I test ideas — in a clear, uncluttered way. Once you’ve seen the method applied to Elwë, the way I work makes far more sense.

He’s the cleanest doorway into the rest of the book.

Where the Book Stands

• Chapter 1 — the introduction — is in a solid, readable state.

• Chapter 3 (Elwë) is now print‑ready and shows the method in full flow.

I’ll be sharing both chapters here so you can see how the project is developing. You’ve been supporting me as an artist for a long time — not the book specifically — so it feels right to let you see what your encouragement has helped me grow into.

What’s Next

Next on the desk is Melian’s device. Melian is slightly more delicate and more layered than Elwë, and she lets me build on the lessons learned from working through his chapter. I’ve already completed a full Melian piece — painted and finished — and many of you will remember seeing it. Now I need to go back and recreate it from scratch, this time taking careful notes and explaining each step so that someone else can follow the method and build it themselves. That’s the real challenge: turning something I’ve already made into something I can teach.

Once Melian is complete in this new, fully documented form, the structure of the book will feel even more secure.

A Small Note About the Book

One last thing — and this is just between us.

The book is still very much under wraps. I won’t be talking about it publicly or mentioning it anywhere else until we’re much, much closer to launch. So for now, keep it secret, and keep it safe!

You’re getting this early look because you’ve been supporting me and my work for a long time, not because you signed up for a book project. I appreciate that more than you know.

I’m sharing Chapters 1 and 3 with you through a private page on my website. It isn’t listed anywhere publicly, and there’s no download option — it’s just a quiet place where you can read the chapters in full. You’ll find it here:

➡️

Please keep this link between us — keep it secret, and keep it safe!

A Closing Note

Thank you, as always, for being here. Your support gives me the space — and the confidence — to keep pushing this work forward, even when progress is slow or life gets in the way. I’m grateful for every one of you who takes the time to read these updates and follow along with the strange, winding path this project is taking.

As Sue would say ‘hasta la vista mi amigos’

Mick.

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It’s been a while, and I’m sorry this post has taken so long to arrive. The last couple of months have been very full, even if the visible artistic output has been a bit thinner than I’d like. I’ll explain.

Black Friday and Christmas in the phone shop took their usual toll, and it always takes me a while to recover from that hectic stretch. On top of that, I was preparing and delivering a one‑to‑one personalised Celtic Art masterclass, which took a lot of focus and energy. Those sessions are finished now, and I feel like I’m back at the wheel with my foot to the floor again.

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Hello everyone,

Just a quick update on goings on since the last post, and a bit of a reflection on the lasy 12 months.

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Get ready to embark on an exciting creative journey!

In this tutorial, I’ll be diving into the intricate and mesmerizing world of Tolkien’s Numenorean Tile. With just a few simple tools, you’ll learn how to bring this stunning geometric design to life step by step. It’s a fun and rewarding process that will leave you with a masterpiece to be proud of.

Let’s get started and unleash your inner artist!

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I hope you are all doing fantastically well.

The world changes from day-to-day,

hour-to-hour, minute-to-minute, and so on...

everything constantly changing –

the stars at night, the seasons, the clouds in the sky,

the flowers bloom and then die,

empires rise and fall, fashions come and go,

technology evolves, and old tools are cast aside.

Through all this constant flux, Geometry remains constant, immutable -

a Truth, an Anchor for a Soul on the seas of Time and Space.

In this post I continue my exploratin of Tolkien’s Numenorean Tile .

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Just a quick update from your creatively challenged artist friend.

In the last post I described how I was feeling as if I was at the end of one journey and starting a new one, albeit without any clear direction or motivation. Well, I think the wind has picked up and I found a direction.

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Mick shares an update on his artistic journey, explaining that his posts have become less frequent due to preparing for the Celtic Art Conference and grappling with self-doubt. ​ He discusses his exploration of colour theory, attempts at various art projects, and reflections on achieving his artistic goals, such as creating artwork for the Tolkien Society and a Chi-Rho page. ​ Mick expresses a desire to move beyond being labelled solely as a "Celtic Artist" and focus on learning and experimenting rather than creating for financial gain or commissions. ​ He seeks feedback on his upcoming presentation and reassures supporters of his gratitude, while acknowledging his struggle to find direction and create meaningful work. ​ Mick hopes his audience will continue to support him as he evolves and experiments in his artistic endeavours. 

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I hope you’ve all been doing great since my last update! Today, I wanted to share my journey with "Tomatito" – the vibrant red Volkswagen Beetle that’s quickly becoming a favourite project of mine (and holds a special place in the heart of one of my supporters).

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I hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane in the last post. I will have some more of them over this Summer as I prep for the ‘Celtic Art Conference’ (news on that later). In this post I update you on my learnings, trying new stuff, and creating things that didn’t exist before!

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Hello Friends,

Since I am currently preparing for a presentation, I have no new artwork to show you. Yes, very sad indeed. However, I’m nothing if not creative. When a main character in a TV show is unavailable for filming a series sometimes the show runners will go back in time to create an earlier story arc for another character. I intend to do something somewhat similar for you.

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I’ve got some exciting news to share!

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Hey friends!

At the end of the last post, I said I was going to spend a while painting. That’s exactly how my time-off started. As the painting is a picture from scratch, without any reference photos, I realised that there’s a lot more I need to learn, its not just a matter of putting the paint onto the canvas. So, I took another step back with the aim of moving forward. 

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This is just a quick update to let you know about the progress on two different things that I’ve completed. One is the sketch of Earendil’s ship, which is the basis for a future painting. The other one is the second draft (1st detailed one) of ‘In A Hole in the Ground’.

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Greetings!

It has been some time since my last update, yet it feels like no time has passed at all. ​I do apologise for the lateness, personal things are afoot that I cannot speak about just yet, they are interfering with my time to art and to create updates for you.

In this update, I share my progress on various projects, including a detailed scroll featuring tengwar, and preparations for Oxonmoot. ​ I revisit previous works such as 'Eala Earendil' and 'In a hole in the ground,' aiming to enhance them with improved techniques. ​ I also discuss my enrolment in painting and drawing courses to develop my skills further.

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I had initially planned to return to the Tengwar birthday card project, but due to the discovered spelling mistake, I have decided to give up on it for now. ​ While organizing my studio, I came across a scroll I had started last year and decided to resume work on it. ​

In this update I describe unique solution to a desk problem, the initial stages of making a scroll, including laying out and drawing the tengwar

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Welcome to all new members and a huge thank you to everyone supporting my art!

I'm excited to share the latest progress on the Celtic Box project. ​ We're in the final stages, and the next update should feature the completed box! ​

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Dear Members,

Happy New Year! ​ I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. After a much-needed break following a hectic November and December, I am back at my desk, refreshed and ready to dive into new projects. ​

This year, my plans include completing the current Celtic jewellery box, revisiting and improving the first two greeting cards, and starting on two new ones. ​ I am also excited to announce that I am planning to attend Oxonmoot this year, where I hope to display some of my work. ​ Following Oxonmoot, I aim to create a Tolkien-inspired box and continue working on more greeting cards. ​

This week, I will provide updates on the following:

• Progress on the current Celtic jewellery box ​

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Since the excitement of the Westmoot logo has died down I’ve been working on something new, combining two of the things I’ve been doing for the last few years to design and make a unique jewellery box decorated with Celtic art.

I’ve based this box on a previous ‘Tower’ box that I made. The difference with this one is that it is larger, and I will be decorating this with Celtic stuff!

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The ‘Long time no see’ post.

At the end of the last post, I told you that I was invited to submit a design for a ‘Westmoot’ logo for the Tolkien Society, this post is about the development of that logo.

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I have finished (very much for now) the birthday greeting card. There are a few minor touches that I need to come back to before it gets ready to print, but for now here it is. Thank you for all your support.

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A new adventure begins!

This week I’ve started on another new card. This time it’s a birthday card – Tengwar, decorated in the usual manner. There’s a little more detail in this one. I’ll have a new piece to show you in about 2 weeks hopefully.

For those on ‘The Green Dragon Plan’ I’ve removed the paywall from the previous posts about the ‘Thank You’ card so that you can now view them.

Thank you for your support.

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This card in my own style featuring elements from early medieval Irish manuscripts and the Tengwar writing system developed by JRR Tolkien for his Middle-earth ‘Legendarium’ is a ‘Thank You’ card.

Cards like this had been on my mind for some time, and after the popularity of the Xmas card that I designed for the Tolkien Society last year I have decided to make a series of these which I will make available when I have six or seven complete.

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Painting the details is a slow process, and even when I get a lot done is doesn’t look as if I’ve done much. However, the good news is that I’m nearly finished painting the first greeting card and I should be able to start the second one soon enough.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my new members. I appreciate your support very much. Thank you.

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I’ve no new completed work this week.

I spent the week drawing hands and eyes to work on my line weight and shading, and to improve my ability to use different pencil lead weights to get different tonal values.

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This box changed very little from my first sketch.

The only difference is that I’ve removed the ‘teeth’ element from where the lid joins the base and just have a much gentler slope running from one side to the other.

The actual box is the red part, the black is just a sleeve that covers the box and is purely aesthetical. The box is constructed using 3mm greyboard covered with red bookcloth, the sleeves are 1mm greyboard and covered with black cloth. The base and lid are both made of two pieces of 3mm greyboard covered with alternating red and black cloth and glued to the sleeve which (hopefully) makes it look like the sleeves are covering just one red unit inside.

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As per my previous update I’ve started working on the two book boxes that I’ve been commissioned to make (I’ve completed one).

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