Aquarium.
Even though there was little free liquid on this planet, it was the home to the Celestial Aquarium. Her crew had just brought in a new specimen for display. As they completed the delivery, she decided to take advantage of the situation and walked off to see all the creatures from this part of the cosmos for herself. Some were so odd, she didn’t even recognize them as life forms. She enjoyed guessing which thing in the tank was actually alive.
Miss Bunny.
I’m sure you know that even though I do a lot of tangling, I also do other kinds of art. For examples of another kind, you can look at the Art Journal Pages gallery .
One of my favorite things to do is cut up printed or painted (or stamped!) paper into shapes and make pictures out of it. So I decided to indulge in a couple of my loves to creat and easter card!
Paths.
She walked through the garden, following the path to gate. Nothing was in bloom yet, although she could see the buds just starting in some places. Some of the bushes were pruned into interesting shapes, mirroring the owners logos. The larger plantings were still wild and unkempt, not yet ready for the party.
I always find it amusing when a tangle that I use a lot comes out of the jar. Today, it was Printemps. It’s one of my go-to fillers. I almost threw it back in, but I didn’t because it provided a counterpoint to the straight lines of some of the other designs.
Tradition.
We all enjoy learning new things, pushing boundaries and growing in our art. But we shouldn’t forget where we came from in the process.
To keep with the original tradition of Zentangle, I have used the die and legend that came with my new Zentangle Kit to select the tangles that I used for this tile. I chose them one at a time, filling in a section before rolling for the next. I went around clockwise, starting with Bales. I think it’s fascinating how everything fits together and looks good without having to think much or labor over what to use where. That is what makes this type of tangling a very meditative experience.
Cargo.
The hold was full. There were so many interesting, unique things she was bringing back from all the planetary markets. Her favorite, though was the star-egg. They told her when it hatched, a new universe would be born! It would be such an exciting thing to see. She was planning on putting on an exhibition and charging people to view it.
Some times, the craziest combination of tangles comes out of the tangle jar. Just looking at them, I see no way to make them all fit togther. But one of the amazing things about tangling is that, when you’re done, everything still looks great! Tangles are just like merchandise… It’s how you pile them up in the cargo hold that makes them interesting!
I love creating Zentangles that offer optical illusions. This tile, for example is actually just Cadent with a square in the middle of it. But after the echo lines are drawn around the inside of each, you can’t tell where one begins and the other ends! And those simple white squares are magically lifted right up towards you in the design. Shading just further enhances the effect.
This concept came from a video recently added to the Zentangle Mosaic app. In the video, Rick used a random scattering of dots for the corners of his initial Cadent reticula. Then he created the central diamonds or squares by going from the center of one line to the center of the adjacent line. As a result, his design had irregular shapes, which was also interesting. I happen to find regular, repeating patterns calming, so I chose to make mine very “regular”. Either way, this concept makes for a really fun Zentangle.
Bones.
Their culture was built on the bones of their ancestors. The believed these relics spoke to them, leading them towards the future without forgetting their past.
This is another tile celebrating and exploring fragments. This is B2 from the Zentangle Primer. I ended up not putting the second set of lines inside each shape and just let the color define the areas. I chose to stop because it looked so much like a grid of bones. I just wanted to let it be.
Folds.
They were all folded to catch the rays of the overhead light. The sole purpose was to attract the customers, drawing them in with bright colors and patterns.
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Tangles: Arukas Black Box Drack Kuke Rain
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.
Embellishment.
This Zentangle came from watching a video published by Sakura of America in which Molly begins with the tangle Zenith and then embelished it. The end result was this fabulous diagonal design that looked like the hem of a beautiful skirt!
I pretty much followed the video exactly until the end of the tangling part. There, I added the Ruflz tangle to the upper, left side because I felt it needed something more. I followed the shading in the video to some extent, but I used different tools. Instead of the regular pencil, I used Copic Markers and a black colored pencil. I did my highlights slightly differently, and used white colored pencils.
Morning.
The sun shone through the open window, casting small shadows from the Creeper vines. The decorative designs on the windowsill captured her attention. They reminded her of the suns of home.
You may notice that there is a new addition to the sidebar on the right. In the “Explore” section, a random Zentangle will appear. You can click on it and go to the post about it. The choice of Zentangle is totally random and changes every time a page is loaded. Enjoy!
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. Irish Catholics were mocked in public schools. During the mid 1850s, the Know Nothing Movement tried to oust Irish Catholics from public office. Irish women were stereotyped as constant breeders and girls were considered to be industrious and moral. On the other hand, men were often thought of as drunk, always fighting, lazy and shiftless.
WhollyHollibaugh.
Recently, Zentangle released a new video, #18, in the Kitchen Table series that illustrated the principle of seeing behind parts of a design through a window, or cutout in a tangle. Hollibaugh was used to illustrate this, so I decided to create this tile for my collection showing the concept. They call the tangle enhancement “Wholly Hollibaugh.”
Zentangle drawn on Stonehenge Kraft using black and brown Pigma Micron pens and Sakura white gel pen. Shading done with Copic marker and graphite and colored pencil.
Incubation.
She found a group of eggs in various stages of growth in the Royal Nursery. She had no idea this was their method of reproduction until now. She wondered if each egg started with such elaborate patterns or if they were decorated after they were laid.
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Tangles: Caviar Meer Patena Printemps Purk Shattuck
Last Friday I received a package in the mail from Zentangle Headquarters. In it was some paperwork for CZT30 and an unexpected surprise!
But first…
I’ve had a Zentangle kit for years. Mine is one of the original, hand made ones. As you can see in the image above, it is covered in deep turquoise Lakota paper with the Zentangle symbol stamped on the cover.
The entire outside is covered with this paper.
Textiles.
She looked at varied shapes and textures hanging all around her in the stall. Of all the places on merchants row, this was the one that brought her the most inspiration. It was a never-ending kaleidoscope of color and patterns that constantly changed with the light.
Looking for new inspiration for strings for your tiles? Grab a magazine and open it to a random page. Look at the picture on it. How can it inspire a new string for you? For this tile, it was an architectural image of part of the front of a building showing how the stones were arranged along one side. Try it and see what you discover!
Crystalline.
The crystal structure at the center of the lab was stable, yet it would grow over time to take up more of the space. What would happen when it filled all of it? It was needed to keep the environment stable on the planet. Would the foliage survive? If the plants grew larger, could they control the crystals?
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Today’s tile is a doodle or a ZIA (Zentangle Inspired Art). I could have used tangles to decorate the flower petals, but I really liked the simplicity of just an aura and some dots.
If you would like to learn how to make decorative flowers, or have a better understanding of shading, or take your tangling to another level, I wholeheartedly recommend joining Eni Oken's Art Club . This tile is a result of following the instruction in her latest 3D Lotus Flower Video ! You’ll learn a lot about going from flat to dimensional design while creating beautiful flowers with a touch of watercolor.
If you will recall, I was experimenting with using Membranart as a background behind other tangles, here . I made a fairly complex version of it to provide some tension with the foreground.
Amanda liked the idea of that, so she decided to experiment, also. She chose a simple tangle, Hollibaugh for the foreground so that she could concentrate on the Membranart itself. This was a new tangle for her to tackle, and I think she did a great job here!
Today’s focus came from a post in the Mosaic app by Maria Thomas. She illustrated a new way of drawing Molygon, which she referred to as articulated! I love this idea! It ends up looking a bit like a string of beads, or a caterpillar, depending on what you decide to draw inside of each segment.
I needed something to put behind it, and the very first tangle out of the jar was Locar! Absolutely perfect for this situation!