Last week, Tangles and Stuff offered a journal prompt to make a tangle sampler, using your own tangles, new-to-you tangles, or ones you hadn't used in awhile. I had never done a tangle sampler before, so I really enjoyed this! I used a whole bunch of tangles - buttercup, krust, sippy, Msst, knase, beaded, hurly burly, zedbra, zuan shi, pickets, vache1, linQ, and cellu. All but one of these patterns were totally new to me. Of course I had to add some color and some sparkle with Pitt markers and At You Spica pens. So much fun!
This is what drawing looks like to me. My journal (in this case a smash journal,) a pencil, a stump, microns, and a bowl of Frosted Cheerios and dried cranberries! Yummo!
Tangles and Stuff seems to offer a different journal prompt each week. You can check it out here! And join us next week!
Last week, Tangles and Stuff gave us the challenge to use mooka in our journal and to use a quote, or to write something of meaning to us. (I had never drawn mooka successfully, so I was determined to make this work!) Sunday morning, Pastor Matt repeated this verse several times. It was the focus of his message. It is important for us to know we can look to God when trials hit, and in good times, too!
We had a few new trials hit yesterday - a health issue in our blood-related family, and a death in our speech and debate extended family. Lots of tears being shed over the southeastern United States, from teenagers and adults alike. I am thankful that Pastor Matt - who has own challenge going on - took the time to share this one verse. Look to Him who is invisible!
I gave this tile to my daughter, who is dealing with the loss of a friend today. Please help me pray her and our speech/debate family through this loss of Justin, who was so loved!
And, take a minute to visit Tangles and Stuff, what a wonderful blog!
Running a little late on posts this week - we've been on vacation at Cedar Key for a few days! I can't even tell you how many pictures I took of seagulls and pelicans! About a gazillion at least! And in the midst of all that, I drew up this zendala for Erin's zendala dare! I couldn't post from there because there is no internet at Cedar Key. Hard to believe but there isn't! My cell phone even quit working around 6 PM every night! Ugh! Anyway, I had lots of drawing time - so I was happy :).
This is the mandala Erin gave us to work with. I used betweed, dandelion, and two patterns that I haven't any idea at all what they are called. To see everyone's zendalas, or to post one of your own, head on over to the Bright Owl here.
It's time for our weekly challenge from Laura, also known as the Diva :). This is challenge #70. A colour challenge - of sepia. I used one of Zentangle's pre-strung zendalas, a couple sepia microns, and a brown micron. This super simple design just kind of drew itself. All the pieces fit very well together. It doesn't always work that way - hahaha! For patterns I used weave, strircles, betweed, tipple, and a variation of shattuck.
To admire all the other designs, head on over to the Diva's page here. Perhaps you'd like to give it a try and post one of your own :).
I've always been fascinated by the sea. I grew up in Newfoundland, Canada, right on the ocean. My dad would take me with him to the docks where he would fish, sometimes for hours. I remember the library on the navy base where we lived had a great book about the ocean. It was huge, and every page was printed in full beautiful bright color. A sentence on each page would identify the fish, plantlife, coral, whatever was depicted. I checked that book out every time it was available and would only return it when I had to. These days I would simply buy the book on amazon so I would always have it.
I started drawing this ocean life yesterday. I like all the patterns. The spiral shell idea came from a zentangle pattern from Michele Beauchamp called spiral. I saw the pattern and wanted to do something with it - it's a really pretty design! My picture just kind of took life from there.
I used the patterns: squid, popsicles, spiral, fescu, an unknown pattern - I can't find its name - the top flower with the pink in it, and added some tall reeds (perhaps a variation of mooka.) The color comes from Faber-Castell Pitt artist pens and Faber-Castell watercolor pencils which I used dry. It was incredibly satisfying to complete this project - good memories all the way :).
This is a really fun project! I did this a month or so ago and I needed something to post today - so here it is :). I found this project at Art With Mr. E.. You can find the instructions here. No matter how many times you do this project, it will look different every time!
I drew this in my smash journal, then used watercolor pencils and had fun coloring and shading. (I've learned a bit about shading since I did this.) Lots and lots of fun! You should visit Mr. E's page and give this project a go!
This week the Diva's challenge was groovy, a pattern offered by Eden at Cut'n It Up! Here's my first shot at it. Groovy was not easy for me to draw, it should get easier with practice. In addition to groovy for the water, I used my own flower design that I call sunz, pearlz for the border, and a variation of punch for the riverbank. I watercolored for the first time with my water pen using the Derwent Intense Pencils, and finished it out with some highlights in At You Spica markers.
Head on over to Laura's page here to check out everyone's offering of Groovy! Maybe you'd like to add your own design :).
I am working off a laptop in a hotel room in Tallahassee, Florida. My daughter - Kali - and I are here for the NCFCA Region 8 speech and debate qualifying tournament to nationals! Basically this is a Christian debate and speech competitive league for high school students. Kali graduated last year, so she is no longer competing. She is here to cheer on her friends. I am here as a judge - and to visit with my region 8 family who we love so much!
I am trying to have something to post for you every day, so I came prepared with saved photos in my email. The night before we left, I sat down to draw. I've gotten a little interested in this steampunk idea I see floating through so many websites and blogs. Thought I'd give my hand a try at it!
I hope my interpretation of steampunk is right :). These were a lot of fun to make! I started by watercoloring my tile. These tiles from www.zentangle.com are perfect for watercoloring. Just threw a splash of brown or tan across the tile, then set it with a heat gun. I scouted through patterns for anything that looked like a gear, wheel, or metal, then started drawing. I used Spinner, Assemblies, Metal Plate, and I made up some filler. I didn't worry so much about my lines being perfect - hey, it's steampunk! Once I got what I thought looked steam-punky enough, I added some shading, and . . .
. . . this is what I ended up with. So much fun! So, my offering today is a little zentangle-inspired art called Steampunk. Why don't you give it a go and get your steampunk on?
So, I'm practicing, drawing, and learning as much as I can about this interesting art of zentangle. When I started researching, one of the first things I did was scour amazon.com looking for books on the art.
One of the first books I grabbed was Zenspirations - Letters and Patterning by Joanne Fink. This book has a lot of great ideas and step-by-steps for frames and lettering. And, on page eleven, Joanne talks about dangles and vertical patterns. In this style you use geometric shapes as building blocks for your patterns. You can use a lot of different ideas in dangles. Just give it a shot and draw whatever comes to mind! The top photo is my first dangle. My only one so far. I drew this in my smash journal. I think next I am going to draw one on a zentangle tile and see how that works out. For those of you who aren't familiar with these tiles - they are 3 1/2" squared. I am going to have to be pretty creative! Stay tuned! In the meantime, why not try a dangle of your own? email it to me and I'll post it here on The Creator's Leaf!
Over at the Bright Owl, Erin is hosting a Zendala Dare each week. She provides us with the template, which we then tangle and post to her blog.
This is the template Erin gave us to work with this week. I started with the center and worked my way to the outer ring. Patterns I used were: crescent moon, weave, paradox, Msst, lokomotive, pearlz, and coral. This week's template really challenged me. It kept reminding me of McDonald's! and their french fries which I haven't had in months! Hungry!!! So, I decided the cups looked more like cups of hot chocolate! Which I can have - on occasion!
Check out Erin's blog here and see what everyone else has posted! Maybe you'd consider joining us in the Zendala Dare!
Meet my little piggies and my little birdies!
Before I show you close-ups and explain, let me say that I can not take credit for these ideas.
My favorite art-journalist is Lori at Elvie Studio. She provided the step-by-step in her post that you can find here. Check out her blog - there is plenty there to get excited about!
Let's look at my little piggies first. I worked on watercolor paper and I basically just made 5 blobs of color on my page - I opted for yellow, and 2 different shades of pink. Just make blobs - they don't have to resemble anything. One of my better purchases lately has been a heat gun, which I used to quickly dry the watercolor blobs. Then you use a pen and outline your blobs - making them into piggies. I added ears, snout, feet, and curly tails. Slop on some muddy brown color and blue sky and you're all set.
Then I moved on to the little birdies. Same thing, make random blobs of color on your page. I used a bit more color for these. Dry them, then use your pen to add beaks, eyes, legs, tail feathers, and wings if you want them. Add some ground - I added bird seed - some sky and then you're done. I tried to tie my "farm" together with the colors and I love the verse that popped to mind, especially as far as the piggies in mud - "People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." I Samuel 16:7
I hope you have enjoyed my little piggies and birdies. And I reiterate - I can not take credit for the idea. Please check out Elvie Studio at www.elviestudio.blogspot.com. You will be glad that you did!
This was a fun zendala to make! I worked on one of Zentangle's pre-strung round tiles. I'm working hard at learning patterns, trying to remember their names, and perfecting the steps. I'm still having trouble with circles - who knew! I've been drawing circles since I was little, but their roundness eludes me. So, I decided I need to work on patterns with lots of circles :).
I started with the paisleys in the center, then moved to the outer ring with the onamato. The name onamato sounds oriental to me, which led me to add the ribbons around the middle. I thought they looked oriental. Last, I added the variation of weave to connect the outer ring to the central paisleys/pais. I shaded some, still working on that, too. All in all, I'm very pleased with how this turned out. What do you think?
In honor of Earth Day, or Amanda Day as so-dubbed by Chewie, the challenge this week is to use the prompt of the earth. Here is my zentangle-inspired take on it. The dragonfly I found on a pinterest board. It was a watercolor on fabric. I used a trick I learned on The Bright Owl to transfer the dragonfly outline onto my tile, and then tangled him. The outer border is a pattern called skein. I don't recall where I learned to make this kind of wall. I used it once before, but I don't recall if it's a legit pattern? or something I just did. To add some color - I used At You Spica pens. You can visit the Diva's page here and see everyone's challenge pieces for the week! And maybe you would considering joining us in the Diva's challenge. It isn't too late!
Again, I drew this in my smash journal. Still trying to figure out what kind of actual book/journal I want to use. For now, this works fine. The page texture is smooth and the pen glides across it really well. I like the way this turned out. This is a verse I learned as a child. It's always been one of my favorites!
Erin, over at The Bright Owl, is hosting a zendala dare for the second week. She provides the template for the basic shape of the mandala, and we provide the tangling. I used weave, pearlz, skein, and msst for my patterns and came up with this.
I've been wanting to add some color to my tangles, and decided now was the time to go for it. Even though I thought my micron was a permanent pen, I noticed that it will smear if the aqua markers touch it, so I need to be careful of that in the future.
Thanks, Erin, for offering the zendala dare again this week! Can't wait to see the template you have for us next!
I'm really enjoying this art walk! Trying to post something each day. Hoping I'm not boring you to death!
This was my second attempt at zentangle. I am pleased with how it turned out. I just need to start learning the names for all the different patterns!
On a side note, I registered today for the Certified Zentangle Teacher Training Seminar that will be held in Rhode Island in August. I can't wait! It's going to be incredible! Whoot! Whoot! Absolutely can not wait!
Zentangle. Zentangle is an art form that anyone can try. You use patterns in a series of steps, with repetition. I learned about zentangle on Pinterest, of all places. I was searching art journal boards and kept running across patterns. I just wanted so badly to be able to draw like these ladies and men whose boards I browse over every day. I started at zentangle.com and began reading and studying what I saw. This was my first large project. It's on a page in a smash journal, about 7" x 10". It was a lot of fun! No, it isn't perfect, but in zentangle it doesn't have to be. And that's only one thing I like about the art!
My daughter asked me what those little fellows in the middle were supposed to be. She thought they were aliens. So, now they are aliens! (Originally they were supposed to be cats :), but I can't draw at all, which is another reason to like zentangle - I don't have to.)
The Bright Owl is hosting a zendala dare and zendala tile giveaway. Erin provided us with a template for the zentangle, and we provide the designs. This is my first zendala. Circles and curvy lines are something I am working on and trying to improve upon. I will probably add more to this tangle over the next couple days. I wanted to go ahead and post it now so I wouldn't miss the deadline. A new dare should post tomorrow. To check out all the zendalas, or to post one of your own, visit The Bright Owl here.
