Diva Challenge #165: "UMT - Camelia" , Second tile

I got the challenge done quickly enough during the week that I wanted to try something entirely different, This time I used Camelia in a grid. This one was really for me as I just wanted to do something for fun. The tile was done entirely with Sakura Gelly pens and the shading was done with Simply Art colored pencils. I got the pencils a while ago at Meijers. They do not blend the greatest but for generic pencils they are not bad. Did not want to use  a lot of color but just adding highlights. I usually use Microns and may use the Gelly pens for parts of a tile or zendala. This is the first time I did it all with the pens.

 I wanted to try this tangle in the grid as my first one was free form. I saw a lot of posts that people were having difficulty with it. I think on some tangles it is just the way that someone process things. I did not find it a whole lot different than doing free form, except I had the boundaries of the grid lines. This was a little tougher to shade. If I do something like this again, may decide to do something entirely different. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used : Shattuck, Zander, & Camelia 

Took this with and with out a flash. I chose the one without the flash as the flash was too bright. Did not take the time to adjust settings to see what else I could not come up with. Not exactly sure why this had such a red tinge to it.

Again will encourage you to look at all the things posted on I am the Diva's blog. Are some unique and creative things that others have done. 

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

Go Tangle !!

More play with the Renaissance tiles - Shading

A few days ago I posted a Renaissance tile using the new tangle Rixty. When I was done I indicated that I did not think it was done but I was not sure what I wanted to do. Well I did do something to finish it. It is a different shading than I usually do. Not sure what I think of it. It definitely does make the Rixty stand out a little. I did find out why people were making some of the comments about the Renaissance tiles. When shading, did have to be gentler with these tiles. Was not just when blending, but also when using the white pencil. I used a Prisma white wax pencil for he shading. I tried a few areas with the Zenstone but that was too light so I went over it. I will keep trying. I think I need to get out my copy of Made in the Shade and do a little practice. I hope you enjoy it.

The original shading using the colored and graphite pencils did not seem to impact the tile as much as the white wax pencil. Did not try using a white charcoal pencil. Nest time I use the Renaissance tiles, may have to try shading with that to see what difference, if any there is. 

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

Go Tangle !!

Playing with Renaissance tiles and white highlights

Have been wanting to use the Renaissance tiles for a while but just have not set down to do it. As much as I enjoy doing the Zendala Dare, not having one this week did give me some time to experiment. It also gave me a chance to practice some techniques and tangles that I will be using in a Zentangle® Garden class in a few weeks. Definitely takes a little planning not only for planning out the different size tangles but what to do.

Besides this I had the opportunity to try highlighting with some new tools. I had used the Zenstone a few times but have not used it a lot. I also received a PrismaColor White wax pencil in a package from my sister. I received it a while ago but had not gotten around to trying it yet. I was pleased with it and like it better than the white charcoal pencil that had used before. I think the Zenstone and the charcoal pencil blend similarly but the Zenstone leaves a smoother effect. Maybe is just a difference in how I am using them. I feel it is easier to completely blend out the charcoal pencil. Not as easily with the Zenstone.  Did not use a white gel pen to do any highlighting on this tile. I was having fun with the highlighting and may have gotten a little carried away with it.

I know that Zentangle is not suppose to be representational but because of doing the class I did start out with ideas of what I wanted to do. I used Pea-Nuckle to create a basket to put my organic tangles in. I have not used it a lot lately, but I really do like this tangle.

Well enough rambling, here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Diva Challenge #155: " A Little White Space"

I think as an indication of how I have progressed/improved in my work, my reaction to this dare was, okay I can do that. It was a little confusing though as the title was a "Little White Space" and in the text of the Dare Laura wrote to try leaving a big open white space. Hmm! Which to do?  A little white space or a big open white space. I almost just used my piece from the Zendala Dare as I have typically tended to use white space a little more regularly, and comfortably, in zendalas. Not sure why, but may be the nature of the templates make it easier for me to just see it. I had enough time to do another one so I put in a big open white space in this one. For those of you who are regular visitors to my blog you are now going to read something that you have not seen here much before. One of the challenges in any Zentangle® or ZIA that I do is the shading. When I got done with this one I was pleased with the shading in general and I was very satisfied with the way the shading of the negative space turned out. Okay, all you folks can either get up off the floor, or close your mouth. You look silly with your mouth hanging open. I cannot say how often I will be making comments like that, but it is nice to see something come together. Well enough rambling. I appreciate those of you who have read all this. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Keeko, Knightsbridge, Hybrid, Shattuck, Bales, 'Nzeppel, & Beads

For the shading I used a variety of graphite pencils from HB to 6B. The gray on the bales is done with a Fabrico Dual point marker. 

For those of you who do not participate in the Zendala Dare I am also posting this weeks Zendala. This shows a little white space rather than a big space.

If you have not all ready done so, strongly encourage you to visit I Am the Diva and look at all the other great pieces that people have created. You won't be disappointed. If you have not before, you may also want to give it a try yourself.

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #142 with shading

I had mentioned in the previous post that I was unsure about shading in color. I decided to take the plunge. I am fairly pleased with the results, particularly on the Featherfall and the Antidots. I used generic colored pencils and did a layering. I put the darker color down first and then put the lighter colors on top. On the blue I used a white color pencil to soften it. I posted the original picture here also so you can see the before and after without having to flip back and forth.  First the one with no shading.

And now the one with the shading. You may have to enlarge it so see the shading better.

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

Diva Challenge #111: "More-Mooka-Madness Monotangle-Mania

It has been some time since I have participated in any of the challenges. It seems like it has been longer than it actually has been. Finally able to get some things cleared so that I would have the time. Also helped today that the office was closed due to getting about 10" of snow last night. Fortunately it is late enough in the season that it will not stick around very long. In fact are calling for temperatures in the 50's by next weekend.

What a great challenge to return to - a Mooka Monotangle. I have to admit I have not used Mooka lot. After trying to do this I realized it was not so much about doing the tangle itself, it was more about not knowing how to finish it. Usually I have used tipple near the base. Wanted to do something different. Thought about using a black tile but decided against that. Decided that I would try to do a little more shading as a way to embellish. It was fun to do and overall I am pleased with the result.  Here it is.

I am glad that you visited to view my tile. If you have not all ready been, would encourage you to visit I am the Diva to look at all the other great submissions. 

Hopefully this will be the beginning regularly participating again. As always, comments are always welcomed, encouraged and appreciated.

Diva Challenge #104: String Theory v. XXIII - Tangle Patterns String #003

This was a fun Challenge to do. I knew I would not have a lot of time so I wanted to do something relatively simple. When I looked at the string started to look at all the spaces and tried to visualize different ways to use them. Did not really want to do a different tangle in each section. That seemed too disconnected/disjointed. Was thinking about a class that I am planning on using tangles as strings. Decided this was a good time to get some practice as I had not done this for a while. Thus the beads. I was a little stumped on what to do next as there were still a lot of spaces. Thought of different things that I could do and started to do Keeko. Liked the way it was looking but after I was about half way up the tile, began to think that maybe just having that would be kind of boring so I began thinking of things that I might do. I did not want to do totally different tangles. As I looked at it it began to remind me or a necklace laying on a table. I thought of other things that might be on a table and decided on the flowers. If I had thought of it sooner I would probably have added a few more.

As is usual, the most challenging part of completing the tiles is the shading. I was not sure what to do but felt I needed to do something to separate out the different elements. Some of the blending did not go as I would have preferred but overall I am pleased with the result. I though about trying to do a little more rounding of the beads but opted not to do it.

Here is the tile:

If you have not been to the Diva's blog, would encourage to head over there by clicking on the highlighted link and look at all the other great postings.

As always, comments are appreciated, welcomed and encouraged. 

Bookmark featuring Phicops

Do not usually make multiple posts in one day but I was working on some things for an upcoming class. I try to make bookmarks and include them in their class kit. Besides being something that I can give them, it also allows me an opportunity to experiment. These are 2" x 6" strips of card stock. This one has a texture.

I photographed it horizontally as I could get a closer picture. The card stock is a very light tan. I used Sakura Metallic Gelly Roll pens to make the tangles. For the shading I used colored pencils. I layered two colors with the lighter one on the bottom. Tried to get a color that was at least in the color spectrum of the Gelly Roll pens. Not sure if the picture really brings out what it looks like but, it does have a slight two-tone effect. I was rather pleased with the results. 

Would be interested in hearing what others think of it. I am planning on doing a couple more. Not sure if I will use the metallic pens or just the Gelly Roll pens but will probably experiment a little more with this shading on other tangles.