Ornamental: symmetrical harmony

What ornamental is and is not

Ornamental is a style that does not tell a story. It has no protagonist and no
scene. Its job is to frame the body, emphasise its shape, and create the impression that the
pattern has always belonged there.

That is exactly why it is the style that copies worst off the internet. A pattern that sat
perfectly on somebody else’s arm will read differently on yours — a different circumference,
a different muscle, a different run of bone.

Where it comes from

Ornamental patterns are among the oldest forms of decoration anywhere. They appear independently
all over the world — in Moorish architecture, in Celtic knotwork, in Polynesian tattooing, in
Indian mehndi and in Japanese textiles.

Contemporary ornamental draws on those but does not copy them. That distinction matters: Polynesian
tattooing carries specific cultural meaning and rules that come with it. Ornamental in the modern
sense is a visual language, not a borrowed cultural symbol.

How an ornamental piece is built

It starts with an axis of symmetry and with repetition. The way I work:

1. Find the axis. Usually it follows a bone or the centre of a muscle — the inner forearm, the middle of the back, the line of the thigh.
2. Set the frame. Where the pattern begins and ends. A hard edge reads as a band; a soft transition reads as part of the body.
3. Build the module. The basic element that will repeat — a teardrop, an arc, a diamond.
4. Adjust the scale. Where the arm narrows, the pattern has to narrow with it. This is the part that cannot be done from a reference image.

Where it suits

• A band around the arm or thigh — the most common request. It looks good and heals well.
• The back and the sternum — a natural axis of symmetry, ideal for a symmetrical pattern.
• The forearm — a pattern running along the bone.
• Filling out existing work — ornamental is excellent for closing the space between older motifs.

Ornamental and dotwork

The two are combined so often that many people confuse them. Ornamental decides what shape
the pattern takes; dotwork decides how it is filled. A stippled fill gives the pattern a
softness solid black does not have, and makes it read less heavy.

Dotwork is the slowest technique I do. The density cannot be rushed, because any unevenness shows
immediately. Expect an ornamental band in dotwork to take considerably longer than the same band in
solid black.

How it ages

Well — provided it is not drawn too finely. Solid black areas age superbly. Very sparse dotwork can
read paler after some years, so I tend to work it slightly denser than it needs to look on day one.

The commonest mistake I see is a pattern that is too small for the amount of detail in
it. Ornamental needs room. Given room, it lasts decades.

More on ornamental and dotwork on the What else I do page.