Diva Challenge #276: "DuoTangle - Poke Root vs. Drupe"

Found a  little time here at the end of the week to get a tile done for this week's Diva Challenge. This challenge is to use two tangles, Poke Root and Drupe, in your tile. Figured this would be one that would be less time consuming than other challenges. Of course the other part of the challenge is to decide how to have these two tangles dance with each other. I have not looked at any other ones so not sure what others have done. I kept it pretty simple. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used : Poke Root, Drupe

Shading done with HB pencil, and PrismaColor 10% Warm Grey and 20% Cool Grey pencils.

Have a lot going on this weekend but hope to get a chance to look at what others have posted on I am the Diva. There is always some great art. I encourage anyone that has not gone there and looked, to do so.

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

Go Tangle !!

Diva Challenge #265: "Stripes"

I have not been able to participate in many of the recent Diva Challenges. When I saw this week's, I thought that this was doable with the time I had. Unfortunately, it was not until the weekend. I finally did get it finished. I have not looked at many of the other posts. Most of what I have seen are ones that show up in my blog reader. This is a fun challenge as there is a lot of opportunity for variation. Usually the results are very interesting.

At one point I thought of doing something a little different, like Huggins. Decided I did not really have the time to do this so I went with a more traditional approach. I did at least vary it a little by making the stripes curvy. Here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it.

Tangles used (top to bottom): Tipple, Munchin, Cubine, Shattuck, Keys(?), Tropicana, & 'Nzeppel.

Shading was done with HB and 2B pencils.

 Put the question mark as I am not sure what the name of this pattern is. I have seen it used and wanted to try something different. 

As I said, I have not seen many of the other posts. I am hoping to get a chance to look at as many as I can. Would recommend that you take the opportunity to visit I am the Diva and look at the creative things that people have posted. 

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

Go Tangle !!

What's in a pattern? Can they be claimed?

Recently, as well a couple of times in the past, there have been discussions in some of the FB tangling groups about patterns. Some of this has focused on what is a new pattern and what is a variation of an existing pattern. There have also been discussions about naming and claiming a pattern. My own belief is that there are probably not any new patterns, or in Zentangle® vernacular tangles, just variations. Patterns get used in the textile industry, in architecture, knitting, crocheting, quilting, art and nature. I think what has happened with tangling is that it is the newest to use patterns and over the last 10+ years, the number of tangles being used has exploded.

Are any of these new or are they just new to tangling? My belief is that the later is probably true. Think about how most patterns/ tangles come into being, even the ones that Rick and Maria included in their original publication and sometime get referred to as "Official tangle". They come from observations of other things. What the Zentangle® method provides is a way to deconstruct them. Even this is not a clear though as I have seen things posted where the end result is similar but the steps to get there are different. Maybe that is why people will talk about a step out being copyrighted and not reproducing them.

Well, this post is getting off the track. What made me think of it is a very common pattern. Here are examples of this tangle in the tangling world.

The tangle I am referencing is the one in the corners. In the tangling world it is known as Keeko.

On the left is another example of this tangle as an edge.

   

Here is an example of the same tangle used as a background. 

This same pattern is used in other things as well. Some that are familiar with my blog know that I also knit and crochet. Here is an example of it being used in this craft. 

In this "world" it is called basket weave. 

I think that anyone that has ever used Keeko recognizes it as a weave pattern. They are made differently but the pattern is the same. Can anyone lay claim to it? To me, the purpose of having some common names in a particular craft is that it aids communication.  Someone can use it and people know what is being talked about. So I do feel there is a purpose in naming them.  However, I do not feel that there will ever be consistency, even in the tangling world as long as there is no single data base, or official data base if you prefer to list them. I do not think this will happen, So I guess we just have to get used to there being duplication and just try not to get so "bent" about it.

Thanks for visiting. If you got all the way through this, I applaud your perseverance. As always, comments are welcome, 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 #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 !!