Diva Challenge #178: "Duotangle by the Letter!"

The Diva is back. This week's challenge is a duotangle. Unlike other duotangles where everyone used the same tangles we get to choose. The parameter though is that we are suppose to use tangles that begin with our initials. My initials are D W. I contemplated a few different tangles before I settled on the ones that I used. This tile is also a stretch for me. The last couple of challenges I stayed with basic Zentangle ® method using black with graphite shading.  I enjoy doing those, but challenges are suppose to challenge us. I chose to do this with color. I've done some similar things on cards that I made but this is not the norm for me. I was pleased with the results. I will add a few more comments under the picture. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Dragonair, Wells(freehand)

I used both my Inktense and Irojiten colored pencils on this. I am still working on this process. I did not burnish any of the color. If I have time I want to go back and do that. May post what that looks like when I do. On the other hand I also like the texture that this provides so I may decide not to. Comments/suggestions on this would be appreciated. 

I got a little carried away on the Well when I first started. In true Zentangle® fashion though had to decide how to remedy it. While not exactly what I was envisioning in my mind, it did turn out. I used Helen Williams of A Little Lime for the inspiration to do a free hand well and not do a grid. You can see her examples of different ways to do Well by clicking here. This will take you to her pattern page. You can scroll down to see what she did. She also has a duotangle on her home page of Well and Punzel. You can see that here.

Some day I hope to be able to be a little closer to her proficiency in doing such tangles and use of color. 

If you have not done so, would encourage you to visit I Am the Diva to look at what others have posted. I have only seen a few on my reader so am anxious to see all the different pieces.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle!!

Diva Challenge # 177 : " Truffle by Caroline Broady, CZT" #2

While the first one I did was okay, did not think that I really did justice to the tangle. I also wanted to try a few new things so I made a second tile. This time I used a larger scale for Truffle and I did the work on a Renaissance zendala tile. Probably the biggest thing was that I wanted to do more with color. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Truffle, Maryhill, Scrawlz

Probably not the best choice but I used a combination of different colored pencils. I did want to see how smooth a finish I could get with my generic Loew-Cornell® pencils. I got these because they were inexpensive and could get a lot of different colors. They do not cover, or go on as smoothly as my Irojiten, Inktense or Prismacolor pencils. The white is the Prismacolor and the green on Scrawlz is the Irojiten.  I did learn that I have to be patient to get a richer color with the Loew-Cornell pencils. Needed many more layers. Over all I am pleased with the results and did accomplish what I wanted.

Want to try some more experimenting with different things. If I have time and get them done, will post them later. If you have not, make sure that you check out the other postings on I am the Diva. If so inclined, make a comment. I know that most enjoy hearing what you think of their work.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #177: "Truffle by Caroline Broady, CZT

Had another guest poster for this week's challenge. It is by the youngest CZT, Caroline Broady. It is basically a UMT challenge. Her tangle is Truffle.  Do not know that I had seen this one before. I know that I did not use it before. Was a little unsure what to do with it. So when in doubt back to the basics and do not over think it. Put Truffle in first and then just let it develop from there. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Truffle, Diva Dance, Y-ful power, Flux, Fescu, and Zinger

Now it is off to look at what others have posted on I am the Diva. Would encourage you to do likewise.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !! 

Diva Challenge # 176: " B.Y.O.B" - # 2

Won't go into any of the background on the challenge as this is my second tile. I decided to do another one as I was less than satisfied with my first. While I was not any more enthusiastic about the challenge, I was more pleased with the result. I chose to do the second one on a zendala tile and I made a much larger stain. I think this helped with deciding what I wanted to do, but it still took some time. Here is what the stain looked like before I started tangling.

Here is what I came up with. I kept it simple. I hope you enjoy it.

I usually take a couple of different pictures, using different setting of my completed tile.  I could not decide which one I liked the best so I put them both on here.

Tangles used: Phicops, Florz

I used a sepia marker to do Phicops. The shading was done with both Derwent  and Irotijen pencils. The Derwent was Baked Earth and I used Bamboo and Maple Syrup Irojiten pencils. I was pleased with the results of the shading. I thought about shading Florz but decided not to. Some of this was based on time, but also I liked the contrast that the simple black/white tangle provided.

Thanks for visiting. I know this one was submitted at the very end of the time. I appreciate any views on this one.  As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !! 

Black Tile Technique: Zenstone wash with Glaze pens.

Did these as examples for a class I am doing. Had tried something similar to this before but cannot find the picture that I took. That one did not use the Zenstone but used colored pencil wash. They were hard to photograph because of the reflection of the Glaze pens. Tried to diffuse but was not successful. Is a little beyond my photography skills. Ended up scanning them.

Basically, the process is covering the tile with a wash using the Zenstone and then using the black Glaze pen to make your tangles. Think it would work equally well with other gel pens, just would not get the 3-D effect that get with the Glaze pens. I did find out after doing the first one that you really do need to load up the soapstone as some of it will rub off as you are working on the tile. Did not do this with the square tile. Here are the results.

This was the first one I did. The wash shows up a little on the scan. It is also lighter as I tried to put a fixative on it and accidentally sprayed too much on it. Since it is wet, it took away some of the contrast. Still looks good though, probably better in person.

On this one I put a lot more of the Zenstone on the tile and it did not rub off as much. Not sure that the scan really shows the 3-D effect of the Glaze pens that well. While the black on white is a nice effect, I think I may like a little color for this technique.

Still learning to use the Glaze pens. Like the other gel pens have to use a light touch to get a thinner line. If not, it does drop a lot of ink and will use the ink quickly. When have some time plan to experiment with what it will look like with different colored pens or even metallic pens.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #176: "B.Y.O.B."

This week's challenge is another guest post/challenge. It is from Amy in Tennessee. The challenge was to bring your own beverage and use it in your art. I have to be honest. These types of challenges are not my favorite. I am not sure why I have a less than enthusiastic reaction to them. I could speculate, but I am not going to go there. But that is what a challenge is for, to push you out side your comfort zone. I decided to use my morning coffee like a wash. I drizzled some of my coffee on the tile, spread it a little by tipping the tile and then let it dry. This did not provide any great inspiration as to what I might do with the tile or tangles to use. Here is what the tile looked like before I did any tangling.

Was not sure what to do so I just started with some familiar and old favorite tangles. Here is what I ended up with. I hope you enjoy it.

 Tangles used: 'Nzeppel, Cubine, Basquals ( variation), Cadent, Flux, and Zinger. The tangle in the lower left is unnamed. It is part of my experimentation with the basic "S" stroke. 

I have not looked at many of the other postings yet. Hope to be able to do so now, provided my internet service is working. I keep losing connection so it takes a lot longer to do anything. Can go to I Am the Diva by clicking on the blog name.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated. 

Go Tangle !!

Embossed/Impressed Technique: On Black Tiles

I was not fortunate enough to go to Tangle U but I knew a few folks who did. I heard about the session that Maria Browning did on using color on the black tiles. I also saw a couple of examples, some on line and some in person. I then realized ( read discovered)  that Maria had included an example and brief explanation of this technique in her Time to Tangle with Color book. I had tried it once before but was not pleased with the results. Not sure if it was my pencils or what I used to make the tangles. On the first one, I did not have an old ball point pen so I used the stylus from my PDA. I think that that was mostly the issue. It might have worked but I would have had to really push harder than I did. To protect the screen, it has a soft cover on the point. Well awhile ago I purchased an embossing tool and recently I just purchased some of the Tombow Irojiten pencils. They were on sale for $.99 each. And guess what came today. I had been working on the tile for a couple of days. but when the pencils came today it was a stronger motivation to finish the tile and experiment a little with the new pencils. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

I only used a portion of the pencils that I received. The colors I used were Straw Yellow, Sunset Orange (Shattuck), Vigorous Green ( Printemps), Cameo Pink (Triangle), Lightning Yellow (Bales), and Horizon Blue ( Paradox).  The only color that I was disappointed with the way that it turned out was the Straw Yellow. I did not use it a lot and it may just not be a good choice for the black tiles. Will withhold judgement on this color until I have a chance to experiment with it on other things. 

As I mentioned earlier, I think the hardness of the embossing tool made a difference in how it turned out. I must say thought that the Irojiten pencils were nice to work with. The color went on very smoothly, much more than my generic colored pencils I used before. It was much easier to get a smoother cover and layer it with a lighter touch than what I could achieve with my generic pencils. I guess the quality of the tools that you use can make a difference. 

I am doing a class this Saturday on this and other techniques on the black tiles. I am glad I had a chance to practice this again.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !! 

New Tangle, Tangleation, or just a pattern? Not sure: Basquals

Finally getting around to posting this. I had posted it earlier on a FB page for CZTs and got a number of comments. This is a tough one as I think there are some basic shapes and/or elements that can be a base and it can then go in a lot of different directions. A prime example of this is Bales. There is a basic structure and there are so many different ways you can take it. Are these tangleations of Bales or are they new tangles. I really do not have an answer to that question. I can show you what I did. This picture is what started it all. Saw it in an ad on the internet. Had not seen it before, so decided to play with it.

 Here is a step out and a simple way to fill it. There are numerous other possibilities, and I will show you what I came up with later.  Here is the step out.

Not terribly difficult. Step #5 is just one of about 15 possible ways that I came up with to finish it off. I enjoy doing this. Start with a basic element and then just experiment. I did this with "S" shape also. Did not name anything on that and have not gotten it posted to My Tangle page yet.  Here are the different ways that I came up with to finish Basquals.

I do not know whether these are tangleations or some of them would be separate tangles. Some are very similar to Dex and Panes. Would be interested in any comments or ideas that you have.


Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Part of the satisfaction on teaching Zentangle®

This is going to be a short post. No pictures. Mostly because I forgot to take them. I had a Basic class today. There were two ladies who were friends and the one had kind of talked the other into coming. At the beginning of the class, I was hearing a lot of the typical negative comments that you hear such as I'm not sure I can do this, Yours looks so exact. After about he second tangle on the first tile, began to hear a change. Started hearing comments like, Wow, I really like that, and I did not think I could do that. She even began picking up here tile and holding out at arm's length, just admiring what she had done. The other thing that I experienced was that silence as at times as they were focused working on their tangles. The one who was primarily interested in taking the class would occasionally look at her friend and say, Isn't this fun? To which her friend would reply yes and state she was glad that she came.

What these ladies were not aware of is that they were also giving something to me. I had this class planned for about 2 months. To be honest, when I woke up this morning I really was not looking forward to teaching the class. This is unusual for me. I usually am excited about them. I was reacting to a number of disappointments in other areas and a little sore from a bicycle fall the day before.( that is fodder for a different post). Their enthusiasm was uplifting to me. They were so full of questions that the class went over about 20 minutes and I did not mind. I was more than willing to answer their questions. I thoroughly enjoyed the class.

That is probably one of the benefits of Zentangle® that does not get talked about as much, but it is still important.

Thanks for visiting. As always comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #175: "UMT - Crux by Henrike Bratz

The Diva is back, at least for a little while, and she decided to do a UMT ( use my tangle) challenge. I remember seeing this one before but have never used it before. Did not really want to do a monotangle but was not sure what to do. Decided to start out with making the frame and go from there. Instead of just drawing lines though, I decided to just use a tangle. Probably the hardest part of this tile was deciding what to do in the center. I thought about leaving it blank, but did not really like that option. I thought about using organic tangles, but that did not seem to fit with the layering effect that had developed. I ended up using an old standby, Paradox. It took me awhile to get comfortable with this tangle but now I have to be careful that I do not over use it. Here is what I ended up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used : Annee, Crux, Paradox

The shading was an interesting task on this. I am pleased with it, but it did not show up well when I took the picture. Some of the shading on Crux is very light in this picture. 

If you have not all ready done so, I would strongly encourage you to visit the Diva's blog to look at all the other great pieces of art that others create. I got done with mine earlier this week, so am looking forward to having more time to peruse them.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #174: Superimposing Strings

The Diva is back from Providence, but had another guest direct the challenge this week. Besides needing the time to get back into the swing of things, sounds like she had some other  issues to deal with, somewhat associated with her youngest's disorder. Hopefully things have settled down a little for them. I knew that this week was going to be busy with the holiday and some other things that were going on. Tried to keep it simple but still did not get to this until late. The two strings that I use a lot in my basic class are the "Z" and the triangle. I chose to combine those two for the superimposing strings. I usually decide on the first tangle and then look at what is left to go on to the next. I like Printemps, but I am never quite sure what to do with it as far as shading, etc. Surprisingly, using these two strings, I did not use a lot of the tangles that I usually teach in the Basic class. The only one that I use consistently is Zander. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Kightsbridge (variation), Printemps, Zander, Betweed

I am sure that most of you have all ready looked at all the other tiles /ZIAs posted on I am the Diva, but if not, would strongly recommend that you do so. I have not looked at too many. Have seen a few that were on blogs that I follow, or things posted on FB. Hope I can get to all of them.  If by chance you have not looked at them, you can do so by clicking here. 

One last  thing. I had an experience that does not happen often and thought I would share it here. There was a student that was in on one of my Basic classes a while ago and she is always complimentary when she sees me and has recommended my class to others. She is an accomplished artist and does some very beautiful things with colored pencils. She uses a layering technique and gets some fabulous results. This weekend at a First Friday she was the Featured Artist at the gallery where I teach my classes. While I was manning a booth/table trying to sell a few things and drum up business for classes she came out and talked with me. Before she left, she told me that when she had taken the class, she was in a really dry place with her creativity and she did not feel like doing any art. She said that the class really helped get out of that place and helped re-energize her creative juices.  It was after this that she joined the gallery and began plying her craft and creating some great art. I do not have any pictures of them, and she does not have a blog where she posts things, but she tangled on some small gourds. I do not know what type they are. They are a light color and about the size of a clementine.  I do not know what she used to tangle on them but I plan of finding out and will ask her if I can take a picture of them. I appreciated her coming up though and telling how the Basic class had helped her.

Thanks for visiting. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated. 

Go Tangle !!