Diva Challenge #260: " Monotangle : Shattuck"

It has been a while since I have had time to participate in the Diva Challenge. I have missed it. I have not totally been away from it, just not participating. I have usually checked out what the challenge is and also looked at a few of the posts. Have not had much time to do anything. When I saw this week's challenge, really wanted to participate as Shattuck is one of my "go to"tangles. I have always liked it. I have used it a lot. I am not sure exactly what the attraction is at is not a particularly difficult tangle. It is one that I find easy to get into that relaxation zone. I think it is the repetition of the same stroke that helps accomplish this.  I have used it in all kinds of ways. I have used it as a border, as fill, as part of other tangles....  This week's challenge is also a monotangle. If you look at my tile, you can see that maybe this is not a true monotangle as I did include a little Zander. I was not thinking about it and just started doing it as it seemed to fit. It is pretty minimal and I stopped when I realized that this did not fit with it being a monotangle. I still like the result. Here is what I came up with. I hope you like it.

I used a 2B pencil for the shading.

Here are only a few other examples of when I have used this tangle.

If you  have not all ready done so, I would encourage you to go to I am the Diva and look at the different pieces of art that others have posted. I am hoping to look at as many as I can. I hope I will be able to post a few comments as well.

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

Go Tangle !!

An Adventure in water color: The teacher as student

I have not had any extensive art training. The most training and experience has been with my work with tangling and becoming a CZT. I have always been interested in art but did not think I had any skill in art.  I could doodle, as the margins of most of my notebooks from college could attest. I usually stuck with more geometric designs and use to jokingly say that if college did not work out maybe I could get a job designing wall paper.

One of the things that tangling provided me with, was an experience that allowed me to be creative in a non-threatening way. It helped me be less critical of things I did and to relax and enjoy what I was doing. I have experimented with different things since starting to tangle. Some remember that  while back I posted a water color that I started. I have not had much opportunity to take any classes on anything. Well that changed this past week. One of the local artists, that also teaches at the Gallery where I teach Zentangle® method, offered a class that I was available to take. I was a little apprehensive and waited until the last minute to commit, but I did attend.

It was an enjoyable experience but I also think that it will be helpful to me as I continue to teach classes. It reminded me of the anxiety, nerves when attempting to do something new that a lot of my students experience. One thing I remember thinking vividly is "Oh no, I have to draw something".  It gave me the opportunity to practice those things that I tell students to do like, breathe, don't be so critical, and take it one step at a time.

I was not able to finish the piece that I was working on so this will probably be a post that will continue with updates as I attempt to finish the piece. Besides not being very familiar with any other medium, one of the other things that was new was that we did not use brushes to apply the paint. We used water color blocks to apply the color and draw out the piece and then used a brush to spread it. I need to work a lot on this technique as I tended to not put down enough color and also tended to use too much water. But that is why you practice. You learn.

Here is the picture that we used as a prompt.

The teacher admitted that after doing it she used a photo shop app to add the stippling in the picture. She was just trying things and liked it enough that she left it. 

Here is what I have done so far.

I do not have any of the water color blocks so I will either be using a brush to add or blend some of the colors as I go along or I will use the Inktense water color pencils that I have. I have a small 12 pencil set. I actually did use some on these on this in class for some of the red.  If I decide to add the stippling, will probably use my Microns or an IdentiPen. I should add that on the one bloom I did a little highlighting with pastel chalk blocks. the teacher wanted to show how this could make come of the colors pop a little bit more,

Not sure when I will get a chance to get back to this but will post an update so stay tuned.

Thanks for visiting. If you made it all the way through this entire post, again thanks as it is much longer than most of my posts and it is on a subject I do not usually deal with. As always, comments are welcomed, encouraged, and appreciated.

Go tangle and create some art - using any medium.

Diva Challenge #253: "New Tangle: Molygon"

Although it was the first Monday of the month, the UMT challenge was an opportunity to focus on a new tangle from HQ. I actually got to teach this to a class before it was released to the public. I do not think that has ever happened before. I like this tangle just be cause it is open to so many variations. I have not looked at what others have done with it but am guessing there were a lot of interesting posts. The tangle is Molygon. It uses simple strokes but you can get complicated depending on what you do with it. I almost did not get this posted. I started it early in the week and then it just sat there, partially completed for most of the week. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Molygon, and Bales. Shading with 2B graphite pencil

This is one of those tiles that has grown on me. As I stated above, I started this early in the week but never seemed to have time to finish it. It got down to yesterday and I knew I was going to have to do something if I was going to get it posted. I struggled deciding what to do and finally decided to just do something and let it go where it wanted. Was not even sure how I wanted to shade Bales. Decided to just go with some simple shading.

I hope to get to look at as many of the posts as I can. Not sure how many I will be able to post a comment on their blogs. I try to as much as I can. If you have not all ready, would strongly recommend that you go to I am the Diva and look at the great post. I would also encourage you to try it yourself, even if you do not post it. This is a fun tangle to play with.

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

Go Tangle !! 

Something a little different: Crocheted afghan # 7

This is a different post than what you are use to seeing from me. It is not a Zentangle® post. Some of you who have followed my blog for a while may not be as surprised by it, but probably still unexpected. If you looked at my description of my blog and looked at some of the other pages, other than the Zentangle® related pages, will know that I also do knitting and crocheting. When our first grandchild was born I decided to make an afghan for her. Figured it was something that I could do that was unique. It turned out that way as 6 grandchildren and 6 afghans later, they still use them. Number 6 was a few years ago and I thought I was done, unless I lived long enough to have great grandchildren. Well we had a surprise and grandchild number 7 is due anytime now. This will also be our first grandson. With all the other things going on, was not sure that I would be able to get his done before he was born. Somehow I miraculously made it. Adding to the task is that I have done different patterns with each grandchild. Took me some time to decide on what I wanted to do. This one is a simple cluster pattern and like Zentangle® method. is a repeating pattern. Guess you could call it a mono-pattern afghan.Well enough rambling. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Used Caron simply soft yarn. Colors are Royal Blue and White.

Took the second picture so that you could see the repeating pattern better. 

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

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 !!

Diva Challenge # 251: "Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day"

This week's Diva Challenge is a special one. Special for the participants and The Diva herself. Those who have participated, or followed her challenge know that this is a syndrome that impacts her family. After many trials, her youngest son was finally diagnosed with Moebius Syndrome. Dealing with this has been quite a journey for the family. It is one that the Diva has allowed us to be a small part of by posting pictures and updates or her son as he is growing up and participating in this challenge which she also links with the Moebius Syndrome support group. You can read more about this her blog, I am the Diva.

Was not sure that I was going to get this done. It is a different tile for me. I chose to use a Zendala® tile instead of the standard square tile. I also used color a lot but it is still monochrome as it is only one color. Not sure I have done this before. I also left a lot of negative space. I have gotten more comfortable with this but it still something I will mull over a lot. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used: Knightsbridge, Diva Dance ( in honor of the Diva herself), and Hollibaugh

I used a purple micron for the Moebius Syndrome logo and to outline Hollibaugh. The highlighting/shading is down with multiple Prismacolor pencils; lilac, violet, parma violet. I have used the Prismacolor pencils before but I am not sure that I used them on an official tile before. I used the blending pencil but was not really pleased with the way that it blended. I could smooth it out but not really get gradients that well. Had to use very light pencil  to get that effect. This was, I think the first time I used a Prismacolor pencil for so much highlighting. I am pleased with the result. 

I am hoping to get a chance to look at the other submissions for this challenge. I also have a class tomorrow to finish preparing for also. If you have not all ready done so, I strongly encourage you to visit I am the 

Diva and look at the great art that others have created. If you do, take the time to comment on the sites that you visit. I know that most people appreciate this. Try it yourself, even if you do not submit it for others to see.

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

Go Tangle !!

  

Diva Challenge #250: " Bringing it Back to the Old School"

It has really been a long time since I have been able to participate in one of the Diva Challenges. I almost made it last week as I really liked the two tangles that were used in the Duotangle. This week's challenge is to go back to the basics of Zentangle®. That basic structure that we all learned and try to teach in our Basic classes. It was to use a square white tile and use only a black pen and a pencil for shading.

I, like the Diva wrote, see all the different things that people are doing and think ... I need to try that. Part of the appeal of tangling and the Zentangle® method is its simplicity. I still have not tried the gems that are popping up all over. I feel  like the last two months I have been in "production mode". Have done little basic tangling. I still have a lot of things to do but this was a nice break.

Here is what I came up with. In addition to only using the basic tools, I also used a string that I use in my basic class. Some, but not all the tangles, are ones that I use in a basic class. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles Used: Zander, Flux, Zinger, Cadent, Arckles

I have not looked at other posts so am hoping to do so. Would also recommend that if you have not you also visit I am the Diva and see some great pieces of art.

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

Go Tangle !!