Working in my Tangle Starts Book #tanglestarts #zebrapen #artangleology #mixedmedia #tanglestartstreasures

So much fun!

I've been having a lot of trouble getting

into tangling lately, and I just wanted to

draw lots of printemps.

Sometimes that is all I can make myself do.

And I didn't feel like making a background.

So I pulled out my Tangle Starts book which

has all that work already done for me.

Tangle Starts

was the first book I solo published.

All the pages are in full color and they are

backgrounds that I made using many different

mixed media products.

All I had to do was add the tangles themselves.

So I used my Zensations Technical Pens from

Zebra Pen where I am an artist ambassador

and I started by drawing the little printemps.

One thing led to another and I ended up with

a lovely little underworld scene.

The pages in Tangle Starts can be tangled 

right in the book. This would give a wonderful

tangled journey of your work.

Or

you can use the pages for art journaling.

Either in this book or remove the pages

and use them in your own art journal.

Or 

you can tear up the pages for collage work.

It really is a pretty amazing book with all

the artistic opportunities it provides.

You can look at it further here

and if you want a copy, it can be purchased

here. 

I released a brand new book today.

I'll blog about it tomorrow,

but if you don't want to wait you can get a

little preview here. 

A Little Brusho Under the Sea

I love my brushos! They give great, vivid color every time. This was a 5" x 7" scrap with some brushos left over from another project. Don't ever throw out your scraps! I just tangled up a little undersea adventure and fun! I loved the way this turned out!

Tangling the Opus

Recently the Zentangle® company released a 10 1/2" tangling tile called the Opus.

I've drawn on a couple with great results.

This time I thought I'd combine the Opus with my

first tangling/journaling love - Dylusions Ink Sprays.

 Typically I wouldn't leave the curled edges in the photo,

I would crop them out before I posted.

I thought it was worth showing you the little amount of curl I got 

for a whole lot of wet media.

 I began by using a mop brush and slopping a whole lot of water 

across the entire page.

Then I used lemon zest, fresh lime, and calypso teal

and sprayed on some beautiful color.

I spritzed a little more water just to be sure.

You see those circular places?

Those are super easy to make.

Wherever you have a good puddle of water,

point your heat gun straight down into the puddle

and watch it push the color out to the sides.

Let it dry that way and you have instant cool circles.

 I use those circle areas to make designs like this one.

I just follow the lines.

And while I'm thinking about it let me say this -

the slight curling you saw in that second photo from all the wet media -

once the opus dried it flattened itself back out.

Completely.

 I just kept tangling, following the lines of color.

 Building section by section.

 I saw someone else drawing their squid tangles in a similar manner. 

I liked it so much I tried it out. 

This is how mine turned out. 

I tried to make it look like they were swimming.

And here is my completed Opus tile. I love the way it turned out!
Just follow the flow of the color. Go on, you know you want to try it!

What a Difference a Shade Makes

I started this drawing quite some time ago, but didn't like the way it was going. I put it away and decided last night to bring it back out and work on it again. In the past, I would have left it unshaded, but recently I've been working on my shading.

Even though I like the drawing unshaded, it looks so much more complete by just adding a bit here and there. 

It's as simple as laying down a line with the flat edge of a pencil and smudging it with a tortillion in the areas you want shading. Since this is zentangle, and there is no right or wrong, forget light sources. Shade the edges you want to be darker. You will notice in a couple spots I used a white gelly roll to add some highlights. There weren't many places to do this since I used a white sheet of paper as my base, but I used some highlights where I could and it really makes a difference in the overall appearance. Shading really does make a difference. 

It's a Fanta-Sea World

Wow! It's really hard to blogpost from the iPad. This type looks huge. If it seems like I'm screaming at you - - - sorry. I don't mean to. 
I finally finished the underwater drawing we started in Melbourne, in Meredith Yuhas' class. Twinkling H2Os, some sea salt, microns, graphite, white charcoal, and a gelly roll pen. That's all it took to make this beautiful, underwater fantasy world. So much fun! 

More Underwater Twinchies, APR #95

Under the Sea (continued from yesterday) ~ The Little Mermaid ~
Down here all the fish is happy as off through the waves they roll. The fish on the land ain't happy, they sad 'cause they in their bowl. But fish in the bowl is lucky, they in for a worser fate. One day when the boss get hungry guess who's gon' be on the plate.
Under the sea, under the sea, nobody beat us, fry us or eat us in fricassee. We what the land folks loves to cook. Under the sea we off the hook. We got no troubles, life is the bubbles, under the sea. Since life is sweet here, we got it beat here, naturally. Even the sturgeon an' the ray they get the urge 'n' start to play. We got the spirit, you got to hear it, under the sea!
(Kind of long, but here's the rest.)
The newt play the flute, the carp play the harp, the plaice play the bass, and they soundin' sharp. The bass play the brass, the chub play the tub, the fluke is the duke of soul. (Yeah) The ray he can play the lings on the strings. The trout rockin' out, the blackfish she sings. The smelt and the sprat they know where it's at, an' oh that blowfish blow.
Under the sea, under the sea, when the sardine begin the beguine, it's music to me. What do they got? A lot of sand, we got a hot crustacean band. Each little clam here know how to jam here under the sea. Each little snail here know how to wail here. That's why it's hotter under the water. Ya we in luck here, down in the muck here under the sea.
Going to add this post to the weekly Artist's Play Room challenge. Jenn encourages us to 'art' and share it in the play room. Why don't you head on over here and check it out.
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Twinchies are tiny pieces of art that are two inches square. A whole bunch of artists on facebook are currently involved in a twinchie swap. I can not wait to start receiving beautiful pieces of art from all over the world - literally! These are just a few of the twinchies I will be sending out. More tomorrow.
These twinchies were made on watercolor Bristol smooth from Strathmore, color comes from Dylusions Ink Sprays, and sparklies are courtesy of Wink of Stella Glitter Markers and At You Spica Pens. Click on photo to see a larger view.

Twinchies Under the Sea

Under the Sea ~ The Little Mermaid ~
The seaweed is always greener in somebody else's lake. You dream about going up there, but that is a big mistake. Just look at the world around you, right here on the ocean floor. Such wonderful things surround you. What more is you lookin' for?
Under the sea, Under the sea, Darling, it's better down where it's wetter, take it from me. Up on the shore they work all day. Out in the sun they slave away, while we devotin' full time to floatin' under the sea.
Twinchies are tiny pieces of art that are two inches square. A whole bunch of artists on facebook are currently involved in a twinchie swap. I can not wait to start receiving beautiful pieces of art from all over the world - literally! These are just a few of the twinchies I will be sending out. More tomorrow.
These twinchies were made on watercolor Bristol smooth from Strathmore, color comes from Dylusions Ink Sprays, and sparklies are courtesy of Wink of Stella Glitter Markers and At You Spica Pens. Click on photo to see a larger view.

Feel the Flow

I drew this tile awhile back. I've long had a fascination with the undersea world. When I was growing up in Newfoundland, my dad would fish off the only dock on the Navy base in Argentia just about every weekend. He fished for cod and flounder, and would often catch a puffer fish. It seems like they called them blowfish back then. I remember him taking me to the base library when I was about ten years old and we checked out this wonderful, big, full-color book of ocean photography. For almost a year, I kept that book checked out, renewed and renewed again. I loved it! My dad never got to see any of my drawings, but I know that he would have loved them! And he would have shown them to every single person at his church.

Under the Sea

I love drawing underwater pictures! Underwater tangles! Underwater gardens you might call some of them. This one is only partially done. I have been trying different art styles and techniques in my Stillman & Birn Zeta Series Sketchbook. I will be curious to see how this 9" x 12" drawing turns out with color. I think I'll work with copics and twinkling H2Os. I'm curious to try those two together, on this paper. When I get back home where my pens are, I'll get to work on it and let you know.