Completed cutting board: Burned tangled cow

After 20+ hours I finally finished the cutting board.  Most of the time was spent doing the shading/burning.  Did not realize would take that long.  Probably could have made the striping a little bigger.  That would have cut down on the number that I needed to shade.  Here are the pictures as it progressed.

I am not going to repost all the pictures from the original post but this is what it looked like in the begining. 

Here is the next step of tangling the hooves and creating the legs. Used the tangle Paradox for the hooves.  Only one more step but it was a large one. 

And here is the finished cutting board.  Thought about adding a bell to the collar but opted not to add this.  I am still a "newbie" when it comes to pyrography.   I still have a lot to learn. I could have spend a little more time preparing the wood. I thought I had it pretty smooth, but as was burning, there were a few rough spots.  Think it lead to some feathering, or over burns.  This was also probably due to not having the heat setting quite right. Have the same problem with water colors.  Get impatient.  Try to do things too quickly.  

Tangles used in this are: Tail-Shattuck: Horns-Fassett; Collar-Hybrid variation; Hooves-Paradox; Spot-Striping.  The end of the tail is just line work.  

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

Go Tangle !!  

Another pyrography project: Cutting board - Cow shaped

Now that I finished the wood cuff, have moved on to the next project.  I bought a couple of wood forms at Michael's a while ago. One is shaped like a turtle and the other is shaped like a cow.  Not sure why I chose to do the cow first.  Maybe is was because I did not know what I wanted to do on the turtle.  Of course I did not have a clear idea of what I wanted to do with the cow either.  This will be combination of tangles and just some shading.  Have a lot to do yet but here is what I have so far.

Wanted to take a picture of the blank form.  Almost forgot as I started on the tail a little  before I took the picture. 

I started with the tail.  The bottom is just line work and the tail uses the tangle Shattuck

Next I moved up to the ears and horn.  I used Fassett for he horns and some shading for the ears.

This was the hardest section so far.  Most is just shading and making it as dark as I could.  Had to go over it a lot.  The nose was not too hard to do.  The real problem was with the eyes.  I usually do not try to pencil in something but I had to with the eyes.  Tried a couple of things before I finally settled on this style.  I looked at a lot of pictures and tried a couple of different things.  This is the only thing that looked half way decent.  Made me realize why I do not like doing realistic art.  The collar is probably a little too high on the bottom but since I burned it, it has to stay.  Maybe will add something to it.

Will probably work on the feet next.  Have an idea of what I want to do on this. Then will work on the body.  Will probably be a lot of negative space.  Not sure how often I will post the progress on this.  May just do a series  to the end.  

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

Go Tangle !! 

Special ZIA Update : Finally finished

Had earlier posted this ZIA when I was working on it. I finally finished it. just not as soon as I would have liked. As a reminder, this is what it looked like at the first post.

The actual drawing is about 6" x 10" 

I used various size Microns to do the outlining and the tangles. The color was done layering Prismacolor pencils. For blending I first used a white Prismacolor pencil and then also used the Prismacolor blender.  Here is the finished product. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used starting in the lower left corner: Paradox, Poke Root and Poke Leaf. 'Nzeppel, Fassett, & Shattuck.

In the original post I mentioned I was not sure what I was going to do with Paradox and Fassett. I decided to only do graphite for shading on these two tangles. 

It will soon be on it's way to Alabama. 

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

Go Tangle !!   

Larger ZIA for a special occasion.

Do not usually do large pieces and it is really unusual for me to do a special  piece. This one is for an anniversary. Had hoped to have it done before the date but will not make it. The other thing that is less often for me is using color, particularly coloring tangles.  I have used color washes more frequently.  Was not sure about using color at all and almost did it only in basic black and white. Decided to take a risk and add color.

Not sure if I will put color on all the tangles or will do a couple with just graphite shading. Thinking of using this on the Paradox and the Fassett. Still have not decided what I will do.

Did not measure this to get an exact size. It is done on an 11x14 sheet.  I am guessing it is about 10x7.5.  Will have to be custom framed when done. Will get to that later.

Open to any suggestions about this. Color is done using layered Prismacolor pencils.  Will post more on this when I post the finished work.

Here is what I have so far. I hope you enjoy it.

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


Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #262: "UMT - Fassett by Lynn Mead"

This week's challenge is a Use my Tangle (UMT) challenge. I like to participate in these because it does get a chance to try something new. It was not the case this week as the tangle is one that I am familiar with, and have used often Fassett by Lynn Mead. It really is a versatile tangle. I like the different shapes you get just with simply varying the way you make your triangles. I did do something different with this challenge. I usually do them on the 3.5" x 3.5" tiles. I had started this while I was at an event and was trying to work on something simple.It is an insert that is about 1.5" x 2.5" I just decided to do Fassett. Low and behold, before I finished it this week, it was the UMT for this week's challenge.  Enough rambling, you are here to see some art work. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Used an 01 Micron to do the tangle. The color is done with Faber- Castell pencils. The orange is a water color pencil and the bluish section is a layering of two Metallic Colored pencils.  The bottom layer is Blue Stratosphere and the upper layer is Silver. I did not do the silver all over but only where the blue and the orange  meet. Did minimal blending with my finger of the pencils. 

Here is a picture of the completed project, a key fob.

I have not had a chance to look at any of the other things posted except for a few things that showed up on my blog feed. Hoping to have some time to see what creative ways people have used this tangle. If you have not done so would encourage you to go to I am the Diva and look at the other pieces of art.

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #252:"String Theory: "Tangle within a Tangle ... it's like inception ... but with tangles"

This week's Diva Challenge is an interesting one. Was not sure what I wanted to do. Most of what I thought about first were grid patterns, which I did not really want to do. I had seen some interesting ones before. I remember one my sister did a while ago when she did Beeline inside of Beeline. It looked neat but did not want to repeat it. One of the first thoughts that I had was Mooka. I have used Mooka as a string before so I wanted to do something different. Just begun looking at different tangles and thinking about how I could use them in this challenge. I finally decided on Well. I used the one variation. This variation did not have the lines that made it look organic. Maria did one on their blog when the tangle was introduced. I chose to use Helen Williams variation of Well. Not sure if this is the random dot version or the free hand but it is definitely not a grid. If you want to see her work on this go to a little lime. This link will take you to her pattern page and will have to scroll down to see Well. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: The string is Well. Used Fassett and Betweed inside. Zinger and Fescu used as embellishment.

Highlighting done with white charcoal pencil and Zenstone. 

I used a Renaissance Zendala as I still had not put any of the original tiles in my kit. It gave me a chance to work on these though as I have not done any for a while.

Not particularly pleased with either the charcoal pencil or the Zenstone. It is a while since I used them. Not sure if it was the pen or the tile, but the charcoal pencil seemed to smudge the brown micron. Not as much with the Zenstone but it still did a little. Oh well, it is all good. 

If you have not all ready, would encourage you to visit I am the Diva and look at the other pieces that people have posted. I am hoping to have some time to do this. Better yet, give it a try yourself, even if you do not post it anywhere.

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

Go Tangle !!

Zendala Dare #107

Did not realize how out of practice I was in doing Zendalas. I have used the round Zendala tiles before but more recently it has not been with a template. It is taking me a little bit of adjustment having a template and deciding how I want to use it or even what tangles come to mind when I look at it. I have to admit that the recent templates have been an additional challenge for me. The template is similar to a string and it is a guide that you can decide how you want to follow. I have tended to not modify the templates in the past. May have to revisit that. Here is what I ended up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Auraknot, Finery, Fassett, and Zenith

Shading done with HB, 2B, and 4B pencils

I was hoping to participate in the Zendala Dare a little more regularly. Have not been able to do so. Will have to examine that as I continue to have a number of other things that are occupying my time. Not sure if some of the challenges lately have been the style of the templates or just my lack of doing them. Am looking forward to looking at what others have done. If you have not done so would encourage you to go to The Bright Owl and look at what others have done. Give it a try yourself. You do not have to use a circle tile to do it. 

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

Zendala Dare #96

After a significant absence Erin at The Bright Owl has again started to post the Zendala Dare. She posted one last week, but I was unable to get anything done for that. Before I was pretty regular in posting Zendalas. I like doing them but after not doing them with template for a while, it took a little time getting used to doing them again.

This is an interesting template. I do not remember one quite like this before. There were probably a number of directions one could go with this. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Paradox, Betweed, Stripes. Fasset, & Zander

Shading was done with #2 pencil. 

I have only seen Erin's Zendala. Hope to look at a few of the others. If you are not familiar with the Zendala Dare, go to The Bright Owl and look at what others have done. Give it a try yourself.

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

Go Tangle !!

Tangled Votive Candle holders

I had done some votive candles before where I used the technique of making the design on tissue paper and then used a heat gun to attach them to the candle. People would look at them and say how they liked them but they would not buy them because they were too pretty and they would not want to burn them. Kind of defeats the purpose of them. Wondered what else that I could do. Was in Hobby Lobby one day just looking at things. They have battery operated candles that have a wax covering. Thought that that would be too difficult to work with directly and did not know how the tissue paper technique would work. I may still try it. I was about to to look at other things and ran across these frosted votive candle holders. They came with battery operated tea candles. I decided to use an Identi-Pen to make tangles on the holders. Here is what they look like. I hope you enjoy them.

I kept the tangles simple on these first ones. The one on the right has different grid based tangles and the other is a monotangle using Fassett.  I guess that people would have the option of putting a real candle on the inside after the battery ran out if they did not want to replace the battery. They are the wafer type.

 I have a clear holder that I am going to try using the same technique. From working on clear glass ornaments, that presents some challenges as you see through as you are working on it. It can be difficult to keep track of the lines. 

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #184: "New Official Tangle: ING by Molly" , 2nd Post

As I indicated in the earlier post for this challenge I wanted to do another tile. Part of the reason for this is that it gave me more time to experiment with this tile. I did not try to change the lines of it that much and focused more on trying different things inside and not just shading it. Here is what I came up with. It has a Hollibaugh effect to it. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: ING, Stripes, Knightsbridge, Fasset, Ahh, Beads, Paradox, and Scrawlz

I was not sure about using Paradox as was not sure how it would turn out. I like the way it whooshes across the page. 

I have only been able to see about half of the things posted so far so hope to see the rest soon. There have been some unique and creative things that people have done. Go visit by clicking on I am the Diva. Try it your self even if you are not up to posting your work on line. That is not necessary to participate.

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #169: String Theory - Circles

This week's Diva Challenge is to use circles as a string. You could do them anyway you wanted to. I chose to do mine free hand and have them intersecting. For a brief moment I thought about doing something similar to Michele Beauchamp's post earlier this week. She used the basic tripoli pattern to make circles and then filled them with various patterns and then also connected them. I did not think about it very long and decided against it when I saw her feed on my reader.  For this week's challenge she chose to continue with this theme.  I did not want to try to match her. After I did the string I just began filling the different sections with tangles. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Bales, Tipple, Fassett, Paradox, & Shattuck. 

There are a couple of patterns that do not have names as far as I know. They  came about when I was experimenting with some basic elements of Zentangle®. Some of them are a part of the "S" pattern post from before. The other originated from a pattern that I saw on a plate. I may get around to naming them someday. 

I hope I have some time to look at the other submissions on I am the Diva. I have a busy week. I have a class this weekend and have a show/display next Friday. Would encourage you to go look and also participate in the challenge. You can click here to go to her blog. 

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

Go Tangle !!