The Tombow brand has been around since it was founded in 1927. The parent company celebrated it‘s 100th Anniversary in 2013.
They began with the production of pencils and sharpeners and manufactured those for over 20 years. The production of felt-tip and ball-point pens began in 1958, and the solvent-free Tombow marker in 1974. The ABT Dual Brush Pen, originally in 72 colors was launched in 1984.
I‘ve been using Tombow Dual Brush Pens for as long as the company has been making them. I have some markers that are over 20 years old, and they still work. Because some of my original markers were lost or damaged, I finally purchased a new 96-color set early last year (2016) from Amazon .
Relaxation.
When I hold out this tile and squint at it, I get the feeling of a daybed, or the corner of a couch in an atrium. It feels like I could snuggle against the pillows with a good book or a sketch pad!
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen.
Tangles: Chillon coral Seeds Evoke Façade Onamato Orlique Prestwood Scena Vega
Today‘s marker review is all about Ranger‘s Tim Holtz® Distress Markers 61 Color Canister Set . This is a set of 61 differently colored, double-ended markers. I purchased these on line from Amazon because they weren‘t available in any local store that I knew of. They arrived in a couple of days.
The markers arrived in a cylindrical plastic container with a removable black plastic top.
There were two stickers on the sides of the container reminding the owner to store the markers horizontally.
For the first set of markers, let‘s take a look at a very affordable option: Crayola Washable Super Tips Markers, 100 count . This is a set of 100 differently colored markers.
I purchased these markers at a local Walmart store. They were not prominently displayed. They were on a bottom shelf, below the hanging and flat display for other Crayola products. Unfortunately, I don‘t remember the exact price, but it was under $20, which is very reasonable for this many markers.
Ca-Ray-Zee!
Ok, this is old, and I don‘t remember what I was trying here, other than to try tangling on a colored background with a different colored pen. This tile has no shading, and frankly, I don‘t think adding it would help at all. It looks like the string had lots of curves, but who knows how it all began!
Zentangle drawn on colored card stock using a sepia Micron pen.
Welcome to March Marker Madness!
Throughout this month, I‘ll be taking a look at all kinds of markers and sharing what I find with you.
What is a marker? Well, there is some variation in definition. Google will tell you that it is “a felt-tipped pen with a broad tip.” Wikipedia goes a bit further and says it is “a felt-tipped pen used for drawing and/or coloring.” Dictionary.com has the longest, most thorough definition, “Also called marker pen, marking pen. A pen designed for making bold, colorful, or indelible marks, as in making signs or identifying objects.
Meandering.
Several of the tangles in this tile decided to meander around and about on thier own, creating some interesting interactions!
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Bristol Vellum using a black Micron pen.
Tangles: Berries & Leaves Bumper Crazy Huggins Jay Six Pais
Speed.
Every so often, I like to challenge myself when I tangle. For this tile, I challenged myself to speed up from my regular slow-and-deliberate style. This mostly worked well, except for coloring the Knightsbridge. That was just slow so I wouldn‘t go outside the lines.
I also experimented with adding a bit of white highlights. I‘m not sure how I feel about them yet.
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Zig Millennium pen.
Drive by.
I think the Wheelz are out for a spin in the countryside. They‘ve driven by apartments, farms, a mountain and a river!
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen.
Tangles: Apollonian Waves Bales Emingle Flutter Footprints Jalousie Kitl Wheelz
Bamboo!
This tile includes the first tangle I designed: Bamboo. While it‘s not an “official” tangle, it‘s still one of my favorites. It works as a filler or a border. You could even use it as a tangelation with Hollibaugh!
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Bristol Vellum using a black Micron pen.
Tangles: Bamboo Chartz Chillon Echoism Flutter Pie Hollibaugh Nebel Spinners Vega
Tentacles.
What interesting creature is lurking behind the bushes in the garden?
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen.
Tangles: Bubble Love Fescu Flora Lollywimple Plum Leaf
Zen Gem: Rutilated Quartz.
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Coloring done with mixed brand gel pens and colored pencils. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Tangles: Chicken Wire
Winter is coming…
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Coloring done with Zig Real Brush, Crayola and Distress markers. Sakura Soufflé pen, Slicci metallic pen, Atyou Spica pens and glitter glue used for accents.
Tangles: Aah Flake
Steam time.
I decided to go in a bit of a steampunk direction with this monotangle. I like copper and green together and I‘ve been wanting to do more Zen Gems, so this tile made my artistic soul very happy.
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Coloring done with mixed brand colored pencils, Crayon and Distress markers. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Tangles: Waybop
How do you grow?
I feel like my tangling shovel dug a slice from the garden. Here, I can see the plants reaching for the sun, the soil, seeds and roots!
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen.
Tangles: Fescu Keeko Quabog Quipple Sedgling Umble
Pop!
Whenever I see Widgets, the tangle in the center here, I‘m reminded of bubbles popping!
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Bristol Vellum using a black Micron pen.
Tangles: Diva Dance Echoism Quare Screen Swag W-2 Widgets Worms
Love is in the garden.
Look at the giant heart-shaped flower that appeared in the garden! The love-bugs are so excited!
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Coloring was done with Tombow, Zig, Crayola and Distress markers. Accents were done with Distress and Stablo markers.
Tangles:Flee, Mooka, Pais
The process.
One of the things about tangling is that it is a meditative process. I focus on each line I draw, and often don‘t have a clear picture of where the over-all design is going. This is particularly true when I select tangles at random, as I did here.
Sometimes the over-all design works, and sometimes it doesn‘t. But there are days when the process is what is most important.
Neuron was recently featured as the challenge tangle on a couple of Facebook groups. I didn‘t do this right away, because I wanted to think about how to use the tangle as a string, as I did here. I also wanted to experiment with a few red accents, and I thought the triangles that appear in this design were perfect. I felt the center needed something contrasting, so I chose Nzeppel. Finally, I specifically chose the tangles to go into the other filled spaces so that there were a lot of close line work. It‘s kind of unusual for me to select specific tangles and here, I feel like everything worked very well.
Busy.
This tile is from a time when I used complicated strings and lots of tangles. But I think there are some interesting things here, that I‘ve further developed. For example, allowing one tangle to flow behind another. I also followed the string from the Cubine into the Striping.
Now days, those concepts are used often when Zentangling, and are specifically taught in classes, tutorials and books!
Zentangle drawn on Official Zentangle tile using a black, Micron pen.