Diva Challenge #224: "Monotangle - Tipple"

This week's Diva Challenge is an interesting one. It is interesting not only because it is a monotangle but also because of the tangle that is used. She chose Tipple. Normally, will use this tangle to fill or augment a tile or other tangles. Trying to do a whole tile with it reminds me of the stippling challenge that was done a while back. You are creating something else with this tangle. I am looking forward to seeing a lot of really unique and interesting things that people have done.

There was something else that was unique about this challenge. I have no other art training other than Zentangle®. Before that it was only the mandatory classes that I took through elementary school. I have known people that who can form an image in their mind and they translate it to paper. That does not describe me. Over the almost 4 years I have been tangling there have been times when I was doing a challenge or just working on a tile that before I started, I would have some of idea of what I hoped/wanted it to look like. Was not really pre-planned, just a concept of what I wanted at the end. I know that seems a little contrary to the whole Zentangle process but not really. I learned to enjoy what the result was. I also learned to not make any judgments about a tile until it was done. It was not always what I envisioned but it did not mean I did not like it. Sometimes, I liked it better than what I had envisioned before I started. Well, this tile was the only one that I can remember that the end result really was like what I envisioned.  I will say more about it after the picture.  Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Shading is always a challenge for me even when I like the result. It is particularly a challenge when I am trying to shade any color or in this case the brown micron. I have tried a number of things but never was all that pleased with the result. This was done with a layering of Prismacolor pencils. I probably tried about 15 different combinations before I came up with this. This is probably the best one that I have come up with. It is first a layer of Goldenrod, then White and lastly Burnt Ochre. I then used the blending pencil to smooth and burnish it. As I said, I was pleased with the result. 

I have only seen things that have shown up on my blog reader and that is not many. Looking forward to seeing a number of great tiles. If you have not done so, go to I am the Diva and check them out. Try it your self even if you do not post it.

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

Go Tangle !!                                               

Square One Focus Tangle: Meer

This week's focus tangle on Square One is Meer. I have not used it a lot but it does have some interesting possibilities. I have to admit, I was not feeling particularly creative when doing this. I decided to keep it simple. I have seen some really creative uses of this tangle posted in the FB page. That being said, I am not disappointed with the way that this turned out. Probably one  of the biggest challenges was trying to decide what orientation I would use to photograph it. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Cubine, Meer, Jonqal 

Shading done with #2 pencil.

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

Go Tangle !!

Pea-nuckle Tangleation

Came up with this when exploring different things to do with the "S" stroke. Was a conscious effort to see what it would look like using the same finish as Pea-nuckle. The concept of tangleations is one that is still somewhat unclear to me. This time it was a little clearer as I was deliberately trying to change the look of the tangle. However, does that mean that all ways of finishing this are also tangleations? When do they become different tangles?  If you use the same basic structure but the finished tangle is entirely different is it still a tangleation. If you are looking for an answer, sorry but will not get it here.

I think I have stated in an earlier post about now there are many tangles that start from the same basic structure. A lot are squares or combination of squares and lines. Bales is a good example as well as Dex and Florz.  These are the ones that come to mind quickly. Is it a separate tangle because it looks different? Or is it a different tangle because it was not an intentional attempt to change the tangle? Is it a tangleation because it starts with the same basic structure no matter what it looks like at the end? Again, wish I had some answers. Here is the definition of tangleation from the Zentangle® website.  

A variation of a tangle by itself or in combination with one or more tangles. Basic tangles are like paint out of a tube. Tangleations are the result of altering a tangle, or mixing one or more basic tangles together in different proportions. 

Not sure that helps a lot. Oh well. Just more grist for the discussions on the FB pages. Here is the step out. 

Here is a picture of something from my journal and a bookmark. Are these tangleations or new tangles.  Would be interested in your thoughts.

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #223:"Official Tangle - UMBLE"

This week's Diva Challenge uses  one of the tangles that is in the Zenthology, Umble. It was also the focus recently in the Zentangle® newsletter. I have not used it a lot. I think I first saw it in Sandy Steen Bartholomew's Alpha Tangle book. It is interesting as it uses the hollibaugh effect but the rest is pretty basic. This being the case I did want to change it up a little. Also did it on a Renaissance tile. Have been using mostly the original tiles as most of what I have been doing and posting has been on the Square One FB page and that is all you can use. I did remind me though that each tile takes pencils differently. The Renaissance tiles are a little thinner and do not necessarily do layering of colored pencils that well. Had some difficulties with the paper flaking. Did not cause major problems, but just had to be careful. This is what I ended up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Intwine, Umble, 

Inside are Dew Drops. The shading/highlighting is done with lays of Irojiten colored pencils. The bottom layer is Lightning Yellow, the next is Bamboo, and the last is Maple Sugar. If I felt the paper would take another layer I would have tried a red tint to get closer to the brown micron but did not want to chance it. 

Have not looked at many of the other posts, only seen those that showed up on my blog reader. I had all ready started mine when I saw them so was all ready set on what I was going to do. If you have not all ready been to I am the Diva, would strongly recommend you do so and look at the great art submitted by all the other participants. Try it yourself and take a real plunge and post your own.

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

Go Tangle !!

Square One Focus Tangle: Arukas

I am posting this with a little trepidation. Just recently checked out a site that is stealing peoples' images and then selling them on posters. This really makes me angry as some of the images were posted within the last couple of weeks. Do not really know how many of mine are on their site, but saw probably about 10 before it stopped letting me look at images. Do not know if they have sold any posters using my images. I would post a message to them in this blog but I am sure they do not read the blog they just steal the images. The information that I read indicates that it somewhere out of the US. Probably makes it impossible to do anything about it. Have to come up with some easy way to watermark my images so it will make it hard for them to use.  Enough venting, on to the Focus Tangle.

Arukas is a fun tangle to do. Not always sure how to get it to "play well" with other tangles. Just started and let it go where it wanted. Not sure what I think of this one. Do  not hate it but to me is a little disconnected. Did have a chance to try a new tangle which if I can remember it, will use in other pieces. The new tangle is Intwine.  Here is what I came up with. Hope you enjoy it,(except you Wallpart!!!)

Tangles Used: Arukas, Shattuck, Meer, Cruze, & Intwine

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

Go Tangle !! 

New Tangle, Pattern, Tangleation: Opsess

Those of you that have followed my blog for a while may be familiar with my different posts on using the basic stroke "S" as a basis for tangles. It began about 2 years ago when I was working in my journal.  At the time I did not do anything to do step outs or even name anything. Part of that was deciding what, if any of them constituted a tangle or what was just patterns. Did not really feel like anything was that unique. Here is the page from my journal.

There are 2 on here that I  have used before, but never named. They still remain unnamed. They are the first one in the top row and the fourth one in the bottom row. I used them recently on a bookmark that I posted on Stacked and Tangled and also did a blog entry. Did not get a lot of feedback on it. I came up with a few different variations on the bookmark. To avoid having to go between pages, here is another copy of  the bookmark 

You can see most of the ones from my journal on this bookmark. The one above Knightsbridge was a new variation. After I did it I began thinking about what it would look like if I varied the direction of the "S".Tried a couple of different things and that is how Opsess came about. I did a tile and posted on the Certified Zentangle FB site. Did not get a lot of feedback or comments but decided that it was different. Think the basic structure of the tangle leaves things open for a lot of variation. I have not played with a lot but here is the step out and a few variations.

Here is the tile that I had posted earlier.

The one on the top left was developed at the same time and is a tangleation of Pea-Nuckle. I have a step out of that in process and will post it sometime in the next couple of weeks. 

If anyone knows of Opsess by a different name, please comment on this post or message me. 

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

Go Tangle !!

Square One Focus Tangle: Flux

This week's focus tangle is Flux. I have not done a focus tangle for a while. Have too many other things demanding my time. When I saw that it was Flux figured that I could get something done before I need to focus on prepping for my class on Saturday. I enjoy doing this tangle. I also use it regularly in my Basic class as it is a good tangle to demonstrate the flexibility of Zentangle®, and that there are no mistakes and no hard and fast rules. Rick and Maria have very different ways of doing this tangle. I liken it to the different fonts on a computer. Commas, apostrophes and quotation marks look different in different fonts but we still see them as the same thing. Both ways of doing this are recognized as the same tangle. Here is what I came up with I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Flux- both versions, Scroll Feather, Ahh, Antidots, & Featherfall. I do not know if the vine with Antidot has a name or not.

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

Go Tangle !!