Dangles and Vertical Patterns

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!

Making Backgrounds

I ran across a video on pinterest showing the use of Derwent Intense Pencils and Blocks to create background pages for your art journal. I  really like the bright, "intense" colors you could get with these pencils and blocks - so I ordered some and they arrived a couple days ago.

They are super easy to use. For the first set of pages I used a total of 4 colors - a magenta, a teal, a neon green, and a purple. I used the pencils first and colored some different colored splotches on the 2-page spread. Then I took a wet brush and just pulled the colors around, mixing them in places, leaving them alone in others. I held the book up and let some of the colors run across the page, then I used a heat gun to dry the colors. In a couple damp places, I used a scrunched up paper towel to blot - which made a grid-like design. You can see it best in the first photo, right hand page, in the purple section. 


On the second set of pages, I used 3 colors - aqua, orange, and yellow. I used a wet brush to push and pull color back and forth. Then on all the pages, I spritzed a little of Tsukineko's Sheer Shimmer Spritz in copper and frost. You can't really see that on these pictures - it gives the pages a light sparkly look.


I still need to try the Derwent Intense Blocks. My daughter played with those some this afternoon. Here's a link to the video. Enjoy!