Getting Sketchy!

 The past couple weeks have been kind of hard for me to get my Getting Sketchy posts made.

I've been working so hard on a project.

So hopeful.

So disappointed. Over and over again.

I was able to work on a couple things this week,

despite my otherwise unsuccessful work. 

This tangle membranart is a skillful stroke of genius by Tomas Padros. I love it!

Please excuse my sloppy shading. Ugh. 

 I continued to work on this mandala. 

One day it will be completed.

Perhaps. Double ugh.

 These little Kawaii drawings have been a life saver for me. Artwise. 

They are so much fun to draw! 

So much personality is possible.

I purchased a book on Amazon - 

Kawaii Doodle Class by Zainab Khan.

I am working through the book page by page.

Love these little drawings! I have a special little

journal just for this purpose. They make me smile.

Haha! And that is my Getting Sketchy for this week!

Should you decide that Getting Sketchy might be something 

you would be interested in,

come on over to Zentangle All Around.

Each Saturday we post what we worked on that week.

Warts, successes and all. 

That way we can learn

from other people's mistakes and 

not have to make all of them ourself. 

That was my mind set behind it all. 

And it seems to be working.

Getting Sketchy! And Something New

It's that time of week again - 

Getting Sketchy!

Cracks me up every time I say that name.

Getting Sketchy!

Many of you may not know that I am retired

from law enforcement. For 27 years,

I carried a badge and gun and investigated and 

arrested those that needed to be arrested. 

No apologies here.

In the police business "sketchy" meant something

wasn't right, someone was up to something,

someone merited more looking at.

Sketchy wasn't good.

In Zentangle All Around, when we talk about

Getting Sketchy -

I am talking about our art sketchbooks.

What we practiced that week that was new to us,

a pattern we are working on,

something that has eluded us and we are trying

to get right.

That name Getting Sketchy just came to mind

and that's what I named Saturday.

Getting Sketchy! Saturday.

Hahahahah!

Well. With that all said, this week I worked on

one sketchbook page and you see it up top.

My favorite was Sandra Strait's Googly-Eyed Zebra.

So love that tangle!

Why did I only get one page done?

Well. I am working on a new book.

One I am trying to do all alone.

As in 'by myself'.

(With help from 2 friends when I have a question.)

All the other books I have out,

I did with friends and one of them did all

the actual putting-it-into-a-book stuff.

All the technical stuff. 

Now I am learning that skill.

And one thing I learned this week is this:

you can downsize art and do fine.

Upsizing art sucks. 

Cause it all looks blurry in a book.

So.

I spent three days remaking art.

120 pieces of art - in the correct 8" x 10" size. 

Ugh.

But I'm there now and scanning again. 

This piece above will be in the new book

which I hope will be on Amazon and ready

for purchase by this time next weekend.

Stay tuned. Hahahaha!

If I am not without brain cells by then,

I hope you will be thrilled with what I have

to offer. 

Love you all so much for your encouraging

words and support on a daily basis.

You guys rock!

Getting Sketchy and INKtober #zensations #hahnemuhle

 It is so hard to believe we are half way through

INKtober!

And what is even more amazing is the

fact that I am still keeping up!

Yesterday's tangle prompt for INKtober

was lollywimple. This tangle was designed by

a dear friend of mine - Sandy Hunter. She is such an

amazing artist and designer.

I chose lollywimple as one of our daily prompts

just so I could play with it,

and share it with everyone in 

Zentangle All Around. 

I tangled lollywimple with a Sarasa Fineliner pen from

Zebra Pen.

I used a 3.5" square Hahnemuhle You Tangle.art tile.

I am trying to use these two supplies everyday

for INKtober. 

Shading was with graphite and tort.

So. Much. Fun!

 The prompt on the 14th was Flying Geese.

What a fun tangle!

I chose to draw mine in a circle format.

If you look at the picture above, you will see

there are actually four concentric circles.

In each layer I drew the basic lines for

flying geese. In the center and third circles,

the pattern points outward.

In the second and fourth circles,

the pattern points inward.

The little black dots are my reminders for

which sections to blacken in with my Sarasa pen.

Then I filled in those sections with black,

shaded various parts,

and called it done.

I really like how this turned out.

When I posted it in 

Zentangle All Around,

I had several people contact me and ask

how this was flying geese.

Their mind's eye just couldn't see it,

which is why I'm blogging the picture above it.

 Getting Sketchy has kind of taken a back seat for me

the past few weeks.

I am fast and furiously working on some new

book material. Hoping to put two new books

out on the market within the next couple weeks.

My son is helping me with one of the books,

and neither of us has done this completely by

ourselves before. So this might be interesting.

I have all these great ideas and I am trying to

figure out how to get them on a page in an

attractive format. 

But . . .

I can offer you two pages of scribbled out,

scratched out notes and attempts

at some of the things you might see in book #2.

Soon.

God willing.

In the interim, if you don't have a regular place to

get tangling inspiration

or

you are looking for a place to jump on the

INKtober band wagon,

head on over to Facebook and search for

Zentangle All Around.

Knock on the door and I will let you in.

Hope to see you there! 

P.S. You can also subscribe to follow this blog

by clicking on the provided links in the sidebar.

Getting Sketchy

 I haven't posted my Getting Sketchy

work for awhile now. I've been working on 

a new book that I hope to have available

for purchase soon. All my spare time has been

going to that endeavor.

(I really, really love that cat-a-line tangle!)

 I just needed a break today and I thought

what better than Getting Sketchy!

For those that aren't familiar with this idea -

each week in my Facebook group

Zentangle All Around

we share our sketchbook work on Saturdays.

This would include anything we worked on 

tangle related in a sketchbook, a journal, 

a notebook, on sticky notes - anything - 

good and bad, completed or not, 

full of mistakes or perfect.

We share it all because we want to learn

from others' successes, as well as

their not-successes. 

(Check out Sandra Strait's cute little

roly-poly kitty!)

Scratched out work is good.

Little notes to yourself that this might not be your forte is good.

Red stars indicating this particular pattern is a keeper.

It's all good.

And we can all learn together as a result.

So. Interested?

Head on over to 

Zentangle All Around

and get involved.

You know you want to!

Just a Little Getting Sketchy

 Time for Getting Sketchy again in 

Zentangle All Around!

It's a Facebook challenge to show what we

worked on this week. 

Above is a piece I started some time ago,

for the Frankles' new bedroom.

I actually added some color to the letters this week.

And ordered a frame for it.

 Yeah, this is totally blurry.

But there is a reason for that.

It's a bit of something I'm working on for later.

A secret project - so to speak.

This was something I tried that did not work.

(And I totally threw all these markers in the trash.)

Looks like a major mess.

It totally does.

But -

I am going to do something with it anyway.

Sandra Strait has a new project where you turn

something crummy into something awesome.

This is a candidate for that program

if I ever saw one!

Hahahaha!

So - 

stay tuned for that!

And that's my Getting Sketchy for this week.

Not much done because I'm babysitting the

Frankles and she talks non-stop.

I am not even kidding.

Getting Sketchy

 The past couple weeks have been crazy here.

Bobbie and the Frankles are staying with us.

Bobbie started her new job this past week.

Mark and I are keeping the Frankles while Bobbie

works and trying to keep her entertained.

Hahahahaha!

That leaves very little time for tangling.

I did manage one page for Getting Sketchy

and started a bit of another page for tangling.

In that top photo - I really like Camreap a lot!

 So much potential with that tangle.

Kudos to Mici Soo, Kit Low, and Yean Choo

on the development of this lovely pattern!

The bottom photo - I will continue to work on this piece 

and hopefully finish it eventually.

I have already gotten sidetracked with another

project to be completed in steps. 

But -

that's the workings of a future post!

Have a great rest of your week.

Getting Sketchy - June Continues

 One of the things I like best about my Facebook group

Zentangle All Around

is the way we share our practice work each week.

I call this . . . 

Getting Sketchy!

It's a time for us to show what we worked on

in our sketchbooks or journals that week. 

 Not looking for perfection,

not even completion.

Getting sketchy does a couple things:

* it shows that no one is perfect,

* it forces us out of our comfort zone - big time,

* it requires us to 'practice' and learn,

* it allows us to encourage each other,

* it allows us to learn from other people's work,

* as a result we each learn, we each stretch ourselves, 

we each learn valuable skills.

 I like to try the new tangles I found online that week.

I don't always like them and I won't always use them,

but I do have a record now and I can find them

again if the desire hits.

 Someone commented recently that my

Getting Sketchy posts looked perfect.

I'm here to tell you that isn't always the case.

Hahahaha! 

Case in point.

I thought the steps to drawing Baymax were super simple.

Until I actually tried them. 

The shape of that head took me for-stinking-ever!

 Baby Groot was a little easier. 

And I like him better anyway. 

I did manage to get the two of them together without them looking awful. Hahaha!
Getting Sketchy! It's where it's at! Are you ready to stretch and learn? Come join us on Facebook in the group Zentangle All Around!

Getting Sketchy a Day Late

 My internet is being a bit challenged this weekend.

That makes my getting sketchy post a day late.

But,

better late than not at all.

I guess.

 In Zentangle All Around,

on Saturdays we post pictures of what we worked

on that week.

Works in progress, practicing new tangles,

organizing tangles, developing skills.

We share it all so we can learn from each other. 

 I worked on a lot of little things this week.

I think this lower tangle - floral waves -

was my favorite.

I love the way it looks.

 I did something this week that I hadn't done before. I glued. These jewel steps were a little more than my eyes  could handle late at night. I thought by glueing in the steps, I could at least be assured of knowing what I am supposed to do. Even if it doesn't always look like I do. 
Getting Sketchy. Cause it's the thing to do.  Hahahahahaha!

Getting Sketchy Saturday

 I always laugh when I type "Getting Sketchy."

As an ex-police officer, getting sketchy has a whole

different meaning than the way I use it here.

Hahahahaha!

 I admin a group on Facebook called

Zentangle All Around.

We focus on three different prompts each week.

On Saturdays we post photos of what we worked

on in our sketchbooks that week.

Hence the name . . . Getting Sketchy!

(And actually my law enforcement background

played heavily into coming up with that name.)

 We post photos of what we worked on that week.

Completed or not. 

Perfect or not.

We learn from each others' trials and errors.

We learn together. 

 I actually accomplished a fair amount this

week because Mark was out of town.

This ropuz pattern is a keeper.

Not so much the sinchun one,

although I will keep working on it.

 This starfish-too is a definite yes also!

The steps for it are in the first photo in this post.

I like the way it triangulates.

And you can triangulate it in any of those

6 directions that you want.

That iriemon looks pretty awesome, especially 

when you do several. 

That bottom square has a total of 4 iriemons.

 I am really excited about that Anooka pattern.

The designer - Smita Toke - is a member of

Zentangle All Around.

We have so much talent in the group!

 I really like this lower left round tangle.

I am not certain the name is athitzi,

but I think it is.

All the writing was in another language and it

was a little hard to decipher what was what.

My favorite for the week was  Starfish Flower by Nicole Dreyer.  Not shaded yet because I want to add some more tangles to it, then shade everything at the end.
Want to learn some new tangles, some new techniques, make some new tangle friends? Come visit us at  Zentangle All Around. Knock on the door and I'll let you in!

Getting Sketchy Week 7

 Here are my sketchbook pages for this week.

I tried out a few new to me tangles that

I had been admiring online.

I really love that barrel roll!

 And I worked on some new things for myself.

 Still loving Sandy Hunter's lollywimple!

And I really like this organic braid!

Played a bit with some curvy patterns.

They bare much similarity to two I've already made.

 This week I tangled on a background I made

a week or so in my sketchbook

using a brayer and rolling on color.

Also, I tried a new acrylic ink spray

from Marabu! 

That would be the burgundy color.

Love it!

Sprayed on well and mixed great with

the turquoise Dylusions Ink Spray.

Are you using your sketchbook each week?

It's a great way to document what you learn,

and to track your tangling progress.

Why don't you give it a try?

INKtober, 2016

 INKtober.

The month every year when we try to put

pen to paper.

Each day of October.

And yet again I have failed.

I started out great.

Day One my prompt was 'fast.'

Hence the rocket ship.

I even made it through day two

with some practice tangling

lollywimple and joki -

which still eludes me.

Then life happened. I got behind. And more behind. And more behind till I said forget it.  I will try again next year.  SaveSave