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 #315: "Tangle study = Molygon"

Finally able to get something together for the Diva Challenge. I do miss participating regularly, but have to make some decisions about where I spend my time.  Have to admit, part of what made it possible to participate is the tile I used is one that I had prepared and worked on in a recent class. I had not finished puting  tangles in it so decided to add this week's focus.

Have to admit that I have not done Molygon since it was first introduced. Not one of my favorites and not particularly thrilled with the way that these turned out. I like the tile but not how Molygon turned out. part of my "problem" is that I tend to do things in a smaller size. Do not think that this works with this tangle. I also did not get quite enough lunar shape to them also. Well it is what it is.
Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Cadent,  Poke root, Poke leaf, Henna Drum, ING variation, and Molygon

As I indicated above the tile was from a class I was doing. We were doing water color washes to add color. This was done with Faber-Castell  water colored pencils. After used the pencils to put down the color used a wet brush  to blend and spread out. This was just one part of the class as we also did a larger piece using alcohol inks. Was a fun class.  But I digress.

Did not do any other shading or highlighting on this. Thought about doing a little on the Molygon but decided not to.

I have not looked at any of the other pieces posted. Hopefully will have some time to do this later. If you have not been to I am the Diva, would encourage you to do so. There are always some great works of art.  

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

Go Tangle !!

A Challenge Piece that did not get completed in time

I have not posted or participated in any challenges for quite some time. I won't bore you with any of the details/reasons for this. There were a couple of recent Diva Challenges that I wanted to participate in. One I did not even start. The other I just did not complete during the week of the challenge. Since I had not posted anything for a while, figured I would at least put it here since I finally got it done.

I combined the two challenges to come up with this piece. The first one that I wanted to do was the Tripoli challenge. I enjoy this tangle even though it does present certain issues. The second came from a FB post regarding the difference in how we may tangle depending on whether it is for a class or just for our own enjoyment. There were a number of folks who indicated they thought there were significant differences. I do not know if I would say that there are significant differences, but there are some. When doing for my own enjoyment/relaxation I tend to use tangles that use simple repetitive strokes and I do not have to refer multiple times to a step out. I also tend to fill most of the tile. I do not think about if it is cluttered. I also tend to try some new or different things when I am doing a tile just for me.

Enough information, here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Poke Root, Poke Leaf, Opsess, Shattuck, Dansk, Tripoli

Shading done with HB pencil

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

Go Tangle !! 

New Project: Tangled Letter - Step II, Cut out

Was not sure that I was going to post each step but got this done and decided to go ahead. I completed the areas that I am cutting out. May have to go back and clean up a few of the cuts. Still not sure what I will put it on. To give an idea of where the cuts were made I took a picture with two different backgrounds. Not sure what I will end up using. Will probably be something neutral so very likely that it will be black. Not sure what I will do for a frame.

Tangles ( from the bottom): Mooka, Rixty(variation), Tripoli, Flora, Nymph, Cubine, Keeko, Poke Root, Poke Leaf.

This is a time consuming process. Not sure how if I will do this as a class and not sure how to structure it. Concerned that it did it in two or more classes not sure how would charge for it. Also not sure if many  would be willing to put that much time into it. I cannot do longer classes. 

Did notice that in doing the cutting, What I did on Tripoli, it really changed the way that the tangle looks. Probably better to use more organic or linear tangles when you do this. Have a couple of different size stencils. Do not have a 2" which would probably be better if doing more than one letter. May try making my own stencils by picking fonts on the computer, enlarging them and then tracing those. Will wait and see.  Nest will probably do with a little more traditional block letter.

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

Go Tangle !!

New Project: Tangled Letter

I really do not remember who the CZT was that originally posted this. The first time I saw it I thought it was great and wanted to try it. That was some time ago. I never gave up on it, I just did not work on it a lot. Part of that at first was that I did not know if I wanted to do the letter free hand or to use a stencil. I ultimately decided to use the stencils that I won in Genevieve Crabbe's give away. They are a 5" stencil. I used the letter for my first name, a D. I am not done with it yet as I have only completed tangling and coloring. I hope to complete the cutting out of sections soon but wanted to post what I had so far. Here it is. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Mooka, Rixty(variation),Tripoli, Flora, Nymph, Cubine, Keeko, Poke Root and Poke Leaf.

Colors where done with Prismacolor pencils. Some are layered and others are single colors. I used a blender on all of them.

Two things that I have to decide. One is what color matte I will use as a background and also what to cut out and what to leave. Will post when I have it completed. 

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

Go Tangle !!

Trim-A-Rim: Final Versions

Finally was able to complete this. This comes in two sizes and I worked on the smaller one first. Don't have the exact dimensions but can find it by going to their web site by clicking here on Trim-A-Rim. I think the smaller one is about 7" and the larger one is about 10".  I posted the color version before. Here is the black/white version with shading. Not sure how well the shading shows up in the picture.

They come with some ready made rings, a stencil with shapes to create you own and two blank templates, which is what I used. It also includes a small black dry erase marker and some magnets that can be used to attach a message to it.  Here are pictures of it in the unit. First the B/W version.

Did not take all the packaging off as I am not sure whether these will be gifts or they will end up as sales items. 

Here is the color version. First with the mirror.

And now with the Dry erase board side

Forgot to mention that on the back of the ring there are about 5 magnets so that it can be attached to the inside of a locker. There is also a molded key hole that can hang it on a wooden door or wall with a nail. 

The color one was pretty labor intensive. not sure what I will do with the larger one. Right now am thinking more of a monotangle or duotangle just to keep it simple. If it is not too long before I get it completed will probably post it. 

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

Go Tangle !!

Trim-A-Rim : First version

I posted a plain tangled version of this previously. I asked for some responses about whether to use color or traditional black and white. Did not receive a lot of responses either way. Think that part of the problem is that people were too busy celebrating the New Year. At least it is the position that I am going with. I really was undecided. I wanted to try color, not so much because I like using color but mostly because I have a new set of Prismacolor pencils that I had not tried out yet. Even had a blending pencil, which I have never used before. My only art training is Zentangle® so anything else I do is a combination of experimentation and remembering a few things I have heard other people mention. I took some pictures of the process along the way. Did not photograph everything. Were more at the end as I was getting a little more comfortable with the blender and it also was the most dramatic change from beginning to end. I plan on doing one in black and white later. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it. I will post a picture of it in the frame after I have the other one done.  If interested in seeing the product itself click on Trim-A-Rim here.

Just as a reminder, here what it looked like when I started.

The first color I added was a blue that I then layered white on top to lighten it. 

Next I did the stem, which was again a two layer process, but this time the lighter color was used first.

(goldenrod & light umber)

The next step was the leaves. This was a harder one as I wanted to add some shading so I layered 3 colors. 

Again this was the lighter color first.

(apple green, spring green, and grass green for the center vein)

The Poke Root was the hardest. I experimented with a number of things and at one point was going to do another 3 layer technique. I decided against it after some more experimenting and only did 2 and did more with the blender. 

This first layer is blush pink

This next layer is the second layer before blending.

crimson red

Here is the ring after blending the blush pink and crimson red. 

This was a lot of work. Took me most of the day. Have a new appreciation both for those that do colored pencil art all the time but also some appreciation for the Zentangle® method that just uses black and white.

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

Go Tangle !!

To color or shade, That is the question

I won this in a  blog give away a while ago. Had been meaning to work on but other things took precedent. It fits in a plastic ring and the center is either a mirror or a dry erase message board. Has magnets so it can hang on a locker. Here is a link if you want to see them. I did not take a long time to do this but when done my brain is a little foggy. Looking for some opinions about whether should use color or traditional black/white and shading. This is not a voting thing. I will make the final decision, but just looking for feedback. Here is the basic design that I have so far.

Thanks for visiting. As always your comments are welcome, encouraged, and appreciated. In this case also requested.

Go Tangle !!

Square One: Bronx Cheer - It's a Focus not a Fix

As if I do not have enough to do, I joined another FB group that puts out a prompt for the week. Is not really a challenge, but has some similar elements. The group is focused on doing Zentangle® in its basic form. This means white tiles, black Micron and a pencil. No color, no figure strings, I think. I decided to do this as Erin has decided to put the Zendala Dare on hold at least until January. It also gives me a chance to really practice the basics more. I am enjoying using color more, but think I need to keep some focus on the basic b/w and the shading.  As you can guess from the title of this post, the prompt is to use Bronx Cheer as a main tangle and not to cover a mistake, which is probably the way that most people, at least early in seminars, tend to view it. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Bronx Cheer, Poke leaf, and Chillon

This was fun to do and did not take long at all. It also gave me a chance to not just focus on using the basic tools, but also tried to be focused on each stroke.  I have to admit, I did think a little about what I wanted to do with this tangle. Since the idea was to make it a main focus, I did not want to do something in the background that would make it look like it was covering something. I narrowed it down to Chillon and Batch. Either one would have worked, but Chillon is much simpler. 

I think anyone can view the FB page, but you do have to be a member to post. If you are interested, and on Facebook, type in Square One: Purely Zentangle® and the page should show up in your options. Click on it and look at what others have done.

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

Go Tangle !!