Garlic and Joey

I've been playing with this shape a lot lately. (I'm so cold I'm having trouble typing. Back space, correct, go forward, repeat.) Playing with different ways to fill this shape - that totally looks like a bulb of garlic to me, for some reason. That background is a 5" x 7" pull from a gelli plate.

Joey's Challenge this week was called  The Polka Dot Tangle. Randomly drawn circles,  each filled with a different tangle. It's really good practice for quick tangles.

For this 5" x 7" piece, I used my new  Prima Color Bloom Spray Mists. I've used them before and my pens worked great over the color, but for some reason this time my pens did not work so great.  I used a sharpie fine point and had trouble filling in the dark areas. I tried shading, but the color wouldn't hold the graphite. So. Here it is. Unshaded but that's ok. To participate in Joey's Challenge, just go here and check it out. 

Snowflake Zendalas, ZD #35

This week's zendala dare was a lot of fun! I haven't been able to participate in awhile, so I was excited to be able to this time. Erin challenged us to make a snowflake zendala, something she learned about at her CZT training. Erin had also read about this fun technique in Suzanne McNeill's book Zen Mandalas.

You begin by cutting a snowflake. Erin shows how to size the snowflake to fit your zendala at the pink link just above this photo.

Once your snowflake is ready, place it on top of your zendala round and trace it in pencil. You are supposed to do this "lightly." I have never quite been able to figure that whole "lightly" thing out. Mine is always "darkly," or "heavily." Makes for some interesting erasing later.

Then you start figuring out how to split up your zendala. Decide how you want to lay out the lines by looking at your traced "lightly" lines and envision what might work. You can start marking some of the lines you want to use with your micron, or in my case my copic multiliner. Because I have to make things difficult. And different.

After a little while, you must take a five minute play-with-the-adorable-little-puppy break. You know, rub the ears, protect your fingers from getting bitten, throw the green snake toy, protect your fingers from getting bitten, play some more fetch with said green snake toy thingy, protect the fingers from getting bitten,  wipe up a little puddle of "accident" off the floor, protect the . . .  you get the idea.

This is where I decided I was done with laying down lines. I liked the way my template looked at this point. Erin mentioned that this method of completing a template had limitless possibilities. I would have to agree with Erin on that point. Right about here, my daughter mentioned that my zendala no longer looked like a snowflake.

Next I started tangling the various areas of the zendala.

I notice that I say "next" a lot. Oh well, at some point the adorable-little-puppy is going to get sad that I am no longer providing chew toys by way of my fingers, and will decide to chew on my jeans instead. (And sometimes inadvertantly my leg. Take a break to put puppy back in her play area, away from my feet and legs.)

Add shading and call it done. Can you line up any of my completed zendala with the lines of my snowflake?

I really love the shading step. I used to hate this part, but now it's one my favorite things to do. Lots of people are posting their snowflake zendalas over at The Bright Owl, Erin's page. You can check those out here. You could also complete one of your own and post it there for the rest of us to admire :).

No Strings Attached - Diva Challenge #97

Laura's challenge to us this week was to tangle with no string. Just grab a tile and go for it! I typically draw this way anyway, so I just had fun with it!

I started by coloring my tile with some of Tim Holtz' distress stains. I'm not sure why I can't get the colors to look right in this post. The paints gave me some pretty vibrant orange and pink. Can't really see that here. Then I started in one corner and started laying down tangles.

I began with that asian fan pattern and it really reminded me of a roller coaster track. I noticed as I kept drawing patterns that my tile began to remind me of an amusement park. Perhaps you can see the roof of a lovely carousel.

I kept building on that carousel and filled in some other pieces.

This indy-rella just really reminded me of a merry-go-round on a playground. Spinning and spinning.

I really like this pattern that I used for fencing. It's called cheesecloth. It's easy to draw, it's forgiving, and it looks great. I made some breaks in my fence - maybe we could sneak in that way to go ride those rides! Do you think anyone would notice?

And here is my completed amusement park! Lots of fun to be had here. A great way to spend a day! 

This is what I have on top of my work station tonight. That little Tinkerbell tin has seen better days, but  it is where I keep the pens I use the most - easily portable, easy to access.

Last night was a late one! Didn't go to bed until almost 5 AM, not good. Just before I called it a night - or morning - I pulled out four tile and slapped some Adirondack acrylic paint dabber colors on them and left them to dry overnight. I hope to be drawing on these soon!

Please visit Laura Harms' page here and check out all the 'no strings attached' drawings for the week. You could even post one of your own!

Oh my gosh, the trees are bending!

Day 2, Hurricane Sandy - here is the view from my third floor hotel room. Blowing wind, stinging rain mixed with snow, this storm is 900 miles wide. It is still 195 miles from making landfall. Set to be the worst storm in the history of the United States. It is predicted as many as 50 million people will be without power. Temperatures are dropping, and the trees are starting to bend.

You know how I am with pictures. This is a shot of the storm in the  mirror above my work desk in the hotel room. Monitoring the storm on the TV, trying to post photos here on my blog, and staying in touch on facebook. And there is painting to be done.

Drew this tile last night. That is your standard bedspread background highlighting the linework. I'm seeing all kinds of crazy things in this drawing that I didn't intentionally put there. The sun in the center, radiating out into oblivion as the rain and waves crash onto the shore, and could that possibly be a bridge? One that could get Kali and me to Florida? Please?
Oh! This was made using the String 024 that came from Tangle Patterns (dot) com, courtesy of Jadie Wright. This is what the string looked like before I filled it with tangles.

Beads of Courage

I am running a little behind with this particular challenge, but it's important enough that I want to post it anyway! Laura was celebrating Artoo's second birthday - yay!!!! Happy Birthday, Artoo!!! Laura introduced us to a wonderful program called Beads of Courage. This is a charity that helps children with chronic illnesses tell their story of courage and strength along their medical journey. Each bead represents something the child has been through medically - a test, a poke, a needle, a procedure, an appointment, use of oxygen, you get the idea. Their beads show their courage through the incredible journey they have been on. So, Artoo, happy birthday, buddy, here are my beads for you!

To learn more about Beads of Courage and to see all the beautiful offerings of beads to Artoo, please go here.

Practicing

I am trying to work on some homework assignments for an online class I'm taking - getting further and further behind. (And it's only week two.) BUT - I want to post something every day - if I can. I started this last night. It's in my CZT field journal. I am trying to have a go at every official pattern. Some of the new patterns I tried here are meer, orlique, and cyme. Aura-leah and springkle are not official zentangle patterns, but I like them a lot!

Surf's Up, Dudes!

It's Zendala Dare time again. Zendala Dare #4, actually. 

On Friday, Erin posted this zendala for us to tangle. Well, when I looked at it, the first idea that popped to mind was surfboards!

So, you might ask if I'm a surfer. Hahaha! I watched Surf's Up - the movie, does that count? Actually, I'm a little old for that sport, but I do love the ocean! I started by drawing the version above. I like it, but I thought it needed some color. Surfboards are typically colorful! So I used my Derwent Inktense Pencils and a waterbrush to add some color! Can't you just feel the sand between your toes?

Patterns are Btl Joos, cootie, pepper, Msst, sunz (my own pattern), and some free-hand waves. A zentangle-inspired offering. If you want to check out some incredible zendalas, head on over to the Bright Owl here, perhaps you would like to draw one of your own.