Lucky Cat

 So excited!

This is my first template animal and I really like the way he turned out.

 On Facebook there is a wonderful artist named Ben Kwok. 

Ben administrates a group called Ornation Creation, where he regularly posts templates he has made for us to take and tangle. 

If you are a Facebook aficionado, you should check out Ornation Creation.

Ben gave us the above cat template, which I printed out on cardstock and started tangling.

Next time I will use watercolor paper, I wasn't convinced I could actually 

pull this off this time. Hahahaha!

 Ben also has a Facebook page called BioWorkZ.com where he features his own work.

He is really incredible! Worth taking a look.

I promise!

I just kept filling in tangles. 

The idea I went with was the oriental lucky cat -

typically done in either gold or white with touches of red.

I kept the tangles simple.

The gold was a metallic Pitt Artist Pen,

the reds were a combination of PrismaColor pencil and Uniball Signo pen.

Shading made all the difference.

It usually does. 

And there you go. My first Ben Kwok template tangled and framed in a dark red, wooden 8" x 10" frame. Yay!!!!! Now to decide what to work on next.  He has 94 templates posted on the group page, so there's plenty to pick from!

Trying to Find the Groove

Yesterday I showed you the start of this 11" x 14" piece I'm working on. This is destined to be cut down into fifteen separate ATCs for a swap I am participating in. In this one view you can see three brand new tangles - merryweather, stella, and crezn't. These pink links will take you to step-outs for two of those. Stella hasn't been released (I don't think). It is the pretty poinsettia looking flower in the center. 

This bold band across the middle is something I made up. I was trying to draw Caren Mlot's new tangle spokes and got lost in the first two steps. It isn't a hard tangle, I just wasn't paying attention. So I just kept drawing and that dark band from lower left to upper right is what I came up with. You can also see some printemps, Sandy Hunter's cruffle, cirquital, Sandy Bartholomew's msst, Jane MacKugler's henna drum, knase, and a few random other tangles. 

In this photo you see more of merryweather and crezn't. The fan shaped tangle near the top right is called S Wich Blade and it's by Carol Ottaway. She's an awesome artist, you should check out her blog here.  That dark wavy line and circle tangle is beanpodz from Neil Burley. A little footlites, more stella, a little munchin, and a variation of rain. 

I hope to finish this up today.  Still having some issues today with creativity, but trying to push through. Trying to find my groove once more. Thank you to everyone who sent me warm wishes and encouraging words, and thank you to those who offered to pray for me. You are loved and appreciated!

Fractal Trees Completed

I started work on this project a little over a week ago while I was at Kali's.

This was the first picture I posted. Those trees are a design by Marie Browning, they are called fractal trees. She talks about them in her book Time to Tangle With Colors.

A couple days ago I posted this picture. I took my layout and filled in the layers with various tangles. 

Next I started laying in some color with my Tombow markers. They are a fairly new product for me. Mark gave me a complete set for Christmas,  but I am just now getting around to learning how to use them.

A little more color. Leaning towards a sunset of colors behind those fractal trees.

There you go, there's a closer view.

This will give you a little better idea of what I was working with. This is on Canson, 98 lb, mixed media paper. And, yes, I used every single one of those tombow markers you see laying on the desktop.

Getting close to being finished. Just a little more detail work.

Can you see what I added? Marie calls it haloing. I added a halo around the trees, and around several of the sections down below. At this point I believe this to be complete. Easy enough to do, why don't you give it a try and send me a picture? I'll post it here on my blog :). And if you get a chance, try out Marie Browning's book Time to Tangle With Colors. I carry it in my Etsy store, or you can pick it up online. 
I am linking this post to Jenn's Artist's Play Room over at Just Add Water, Silly. The challenge this week was to do whatever type of art project we wanted to. What perfect timing :). Here you go, Jenn, fractal trees.

Fractal Trees

A couple weeks ago while I was out of town, I posted the beginning of this homework assignment. Pretty much all I had then was the row of reflective trees across the top and some dividing lines drawn down the length of the page. It didn't take me long to fill in the rest of the page with tangles. Now that I am back home, I  need to fill this with color. Once that's done, I will come back and post the finished project for you to see. I'm taking Marie Browning's online class Time To Tangle in Color. I'm learning a lot and loving it! Thanks, Marie!

New Kittens

We like cats at our house. We like cats a lot. Right now we have three cats that live indoors, and about fifteen cats that live outdoors. Five of those are babies. So cute! I drew this ATC while I was in Maryland with my daughter. To give you some perspective, this is on a piece of 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" watercolor paper.

Then I used my Japanese irojiten coloring pencils to add some color. Layer upon layer of colors gave me these rich hues. The design looks oriental to me. Could be those asian fans on the chest.  Earlier I showed you the dragon ATC I gave to my nephew (grandnephew? my nephew's son would be what to me?) I sent this oriental cat ATC to my niece, sister of said grandnephew, would it be great-nephew? I have no idea, I just hope my niece liked her cat.

More Christmas Tangles

Christmas. A week in the mountains. It rained every day except one. That day we rushed and drove around to see as much as we could see, then it was back to rain the next day. So, what do you do with six days of rain? You draw. A lot. So, here is another tile. More practice with diva dance, tearse, cadent, rain, tipple, and a couple other tangles that I can not recall the names of right now. I'll work on that and fix this post. Soon. Promise.

Presentation - Does it Matter?

Anyone who knows me can you tell that I always go with the pink! Always. So, when I got ready to photograph my tile for today's post, and I started pulling scraps out of my drawer to use for background - I wondered. Does it make a difference?

Last week I was in Rhode Island and to tell you truth I am way behind on challenges! I thought I was going to catch up with Linda Farmer's string challenges on Tangle Patterns, (I was 2 weeks behind there) and then as I sat down to start typing this I saw that Linda had posted another string challenge! Ah! Oh well, I'm working on it. Above, on a vibrant pink background, you see my response to string challenge 013. 

And then I placed my tile on a scrap of mottled black with a hint of maroon. I thought I would like it better on the vibrant pink background, but looking at them together here . . .

. . . I think they look like 2 different tiles, and I think the colors are brighter and fresher on the black background. What do you think?
And, in case you were wondering how I made the background, you may recall a couple weeks ago I had some fun playing with some paints and sprays. This is one of those tile - you can read all about it in this post :). There's that pink again :).
Thanks, Linda, for an awesome string challenge - just 2 more and I'll be caught up!

String 009

Tangle Patterns is hosting another string this week, the offering of Sue Zanker.

My first tile came together really quick! I decided to just tangle along the string with pokeleaf. Then I added the background of blox - one of my tangles. I'll try to add the steps once I get them drawn out.

Second offering - an assortment of tangles. Cadent, hollibaugh, yincut, swarm, scallops.


Both tiles watercolored with a child's paintset from Wal-Mart. Haha! It works great! I also used Pitt Artist Markers in the first. You can see the string tiles at Tangle Patterns flickr page.

Tape the String - ZIA Journal #25

The ZIA Journal challenge at Tangles and Stuff is called Tape the String this week. To do that, I took a sheet of watercolor paper and randomly placed blue painter's tape on it. Some pieces wide, and some torn into thinner strips. With the tape in place, I slapped on some watercolor paint. 

When the paint dried, I dropped drips of paint on to the page and blew them around with a straw. Once all this was dry I removed the blue strips of painter's tape. In those white spaces I added various tangle patterns. I might do this again tomorrow and tangle the painted areas. We'll see. This was a load of fun to do! And I love the bright colors - I am all about the color! If you'd like to join in this week's challenge and play with tape - check it out here at Tangles and Stuff :).

Diva Challenge #75 Tangleation Nation: Cadent

The Diva's Challenge this week is a tangleation nation one using cadent! I had never drawn cadent before, and found out it really isn't all that hard. Coming up with - understanding - the tangleations was harder. Honestly, I'm not sure I understand yet what a tangleation is. Hahaha! Anyway, above is the second thing I drew - trying to understand tangleation.

I posted this picture yesterday. It was my first attempt at cadent - no tangleationing involved :). This was a great challenge, Laura! Thanks!


To see all the contributions this week, visit I Am The Diva here! You can even join in the fun!

Cadent Quilted Cat

I watched a Suzanne McNeil video recently where she used a stencil to trace a rabbit, then tangled some patterns on it. I have a stencil of a cat, so I thought I'd give it a try. Traced this out last night - the outline - then filled it with patterns. I spread around some metallic kids' water color paints for a background. (I'm about out of these - I wish I knew where  bought them, but that was years ago.) I like the way it looks here, but thought it needed something else.

One of the challenges this week is to use the pattern cadent. I had never drawn it before. I thought it looked really hard. I also thought it would be perfect for a quilted background. So tonight - after a marathon of doctor trips today - I added the background in with a purple micron. Might I say cadent is exceedingly easy to draw. Of course, I didn't do anything fancy with it. I don't think this particular picture needs fancy. There's something wonderful about a simple country quilt and a nice warm, fuzzy kitty!