Throwback Thursday! Three years ago today, I did a reset on this website. I changed the style and the content over to be able to show you my art. While I have been tangling, more than anything else, I also do other kinds of art. But I have to confess, tangles often slip into it. This quick Halloween drawing was created with colored pencil. But you’ll probably find a couple of tangles here and there!
One of my favorite things to do is use colored pencil to add depth and definition to a page. If you compare today’s image with the one posted yesterday, you can see how the page is coming to life. I used Koh-I-Noor Hardmuth Polycolor pencils. They tend to be a bit more opaque than some of the others. In addition, they will blend a bit if rubbed with a stump.
I was reorganizing Studio II before the holidays. I wanted to get all the little buckets of pencils off of the drafting table so that I could use the table itself. A couple of days after I started thinking about how to do this, we were walking through Ikea for exercise (you can get a lot of steps in if you walk the whole showroom and marketplace!) and I came across a solution!
Inchies. Remember last week when I showed you my desk scattered with some old art pieces? Well, here’s what I did with some of them! I created an inchie mosaic following Eni’s instructions in her Inchies Mosaic Video Lesson . Inchies are little, 1-inch squares of art. This is my first mosaic, following the instructions in the lesson. I got my tiles cut a bit wonky, which is totally my fault.
This beautiful Spundala was created by CZT Amanda Higbee! I am blown away that she used Pea-nuckle in the round. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen anyone do that before! It certainly never occurred to me to try it! Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a purple and pink, Sakura Pigma Micron pens. Shading done with watercolor pencils. Tangles: Crescent Moon Emingle Keeko Pea-Nuckle
SpundalaZ. Yesterday, I reviewed various tools that could be used to create the base for a SpundalaZ. Today, I’m showing you one done on one of the bases, this one. I used colored pencil to push the coloring a little more towards violet in various areas, and also added the violet coloring to the background with Distress ink and colored pencil. But you should still be able to see where the rings and color changes are.
Velvet Elvis. This odd-shaped tile is totally experimental. A couple of months ago, my older daughter came for a visit. One of the things we did while she was here involved using Oxide Distress Ink on scraps of black card stock. Besides just having fun, we were trying to see if the inks would work on black, since they contain white pigment under the dye ink. I had a couple dozen scraps of 4" x 3" paper, and we inked most of them.
Dance. I love sayings about dance. For example, one of my favorites is “Dance like nobody’s watching.” So dance is my inspiration for this tile. It’s as if all the Mookas are having a midnight party, each one dancing to the music and all of them together creating a wonderful ballet of shape and color. This is probably my last tile in this series of Mookas for the time being.
Starfish. I decided to try an alternate color scheme for my Starfish tile, based on Eni’s Starfish Line Interrupted video lesson. I generally prefer cooler colors, such as blues and greens, but I also happen to like pinks and oranges on occasion. This choice is based on recently seen actual living starfish at the aquarium, where they tend more towards these colors in real life. I added the frame, with the tiny details from the Tan Treasure lesson just to add some interest and frame the design.
Line interrupted. This tile was actually supposed to be just a practice for the full Starfish from Eni’s new Sarfish Line Interruped video lesson. However, I was having so much fun, I decided to complete the tile adding a companion baby Mooka 3d and a lightly tangled background! I liked this so much, I can hardly wait to do the actual starfish design. Want to play along? You can get this video by signing up right now for Eni’s Art Club !
This is the second of a pair of tiles for my current project . I didn’t want both tiles to match exactly, but I wanted them both to have the same theme. The pictures of these have come out a bit paler than the actual tiles. Hopefully, the pictures of the end result will show the colors better! Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a brown Pigma Micron pen.
Another piece in my current project! I had so much fun making this part. I hope the rest of it goes like this! Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a brown Pigma Micron pen. Shading done with Copic marker, colored and graphite pencils. Color was done with Distress Ink markers. Tangles: Hollibaugh Kuke Web
Twofer. In last Friday's post , I talked a little bit about project I was working on, and I showed you the first piece. Here it is again, with two more tiles I’ve completed. Both of these have the same tangle on them, Emingle. I liked the contrast of this tangle with the first piece. But it didn’t occur to me how long it would take to draw that many little lines on two entire tiles.
Today’s Zenbutton is brought to you by the season: Spring! Here, the weather can’t make up it’s mind. One day we’re handed Spring, another Summer and then we’re back in Winter. I have to check the weather report before I can get dressed! So, I decided that I wanted to encourage Mother Nature and gift her with a Zenbutton that embodied flowers and leaves and the happy spring colors of warm pinks and yellow greens.
Yes, another Zenbutton! Last Valentine’s day I really wanted to participate in the Valentangle challenge. I ended up admiring everyone else’s work, but didn’t get anything of my own done. So, now that I’m on a Zenbutton kick, I did the challenge from February 5th! I did use four circles rather than 3. And I went with “hearts and flowers”, in as much as Toodles looks a bit like a heart, and I used actual heart shapes on the innermost ring.
While I was working on yesterday’s tile, I was thinking that I would like to try this technique on a tan tile, with a Southwestern, Native American pottery theme. I gave it a shot here. I’m not totally enthralled with it because I feel like the entire tile reads too “brown,” without enough light contrast. I will probably give this another try over the weekend. That said, I do like the tile for what it is!
I had so much fun creating yesterday’s Zenbutton I decided that I wanted to do more of them in different styles. So, for this one, I’m using Marguerite Samama’s Delft Delights style. If you need instructions in this style, they are available from AcadiaLaserCreations on Etsy. Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a blue Pigma Micron pen and a cobalt Copic Multiliner. Shading done with colored and graphite pencils.
This tile uses a basic technique referred to as a Zenbutton. CZT Marguerite Samama is credited as the inventor of this technique. She was experimenting with methods for using Fragments in different ways when she discovered it. You can watch an instructional video, created by Melinda Barlow, CZT, here , to see the basic technique. I’ve been thinking about trying it for a few days. Yesterday, I sat down and went for it.
I’m still working my way through the various fragments in the Zentangle Primer. For this exercise, I chose K14. This is another very geometric fragment, and it is like Emingle, except triangular. I actually drew it twice in each triangle, once in blue-black and then again in blue. By shading it with blue pencil it was possible to create another star-like pattern. I find these very relaxing to do.
Emerald Isle. There is so much about Ireland that has influenced culture all over the world. Literature, music and dance come to mind. In the United States about 33 million Americans claim some Irish ancestry. These ancestors came to the U.S. as immigrants, and brought with them their heritage. In speech, dress, religion, foods and traditions they influenced the American way of life permanently. Just as any other cultural group that is different from the main, the suffered prejudice.