Mandala Mashup

Mandala Mashup. Basically you take four tiles and arrange them as you see above. Then you trace concentric circles that cover all four tiles.
I started off with a couple empty medicine bottles,  then a drinking glass, and a small plate. You could use a compass but I have never been good with those, so I go simple with what is available.
Next I separated them into four tiles again. I tangled them one at a time. Tangle each one differently. You will end up with four different  little pieces of art. When you put them back together in this arrangement, you have a mandala mashup. I love it!
Perhaps you would love to give it a go. If you don't have tiles, just take a sheet of cardstock (or white scrapbook paper) and trace four squares the same size. I used tiles that are 3.5" square. Cut them out and follow the steps above. Instant mandala mashup!

Thursday String Idea #12

 Welcome to Thursday String Idea!

This week we have a stacked straight-line string

that can be filled with both straight and round tangles.

The string is all ready to print at the official 3.5" square tile size 

just by clicking here. 

For my tile, I wanted to incorporate both types of tangles. I started with the longer dividing lines and  filled those with TootsieMoon, rain, coaster,  and folie-form. Then I started filling in the other spaces with printemps, ahh, flux, shattuck, and portholes.  Quick to tangle, this little stack was complete.
Won't you try out the string this week? Here is a link to print. 

Tangling With Mickey

One of our recent stack and tangle prompts was to use found papers.  To find a paper that you could tangle on and turn into a piece of art. 
It just so happens I checked into a Disney World resort that day and had a packet of information available to me.  I found this sheet of paper,  a bit water-rimmed and stained from someone before me's drink. Shame on you, housekeeping, for leaving me someone else's coaster as part of my introduction to Disney World. Anyway, I liked this sheet of stained paper because of the photo that was on it - Mickey and some awesome cast members. The rest of the page had information about staff and safety tips. 
I divided my drawing area into segments,  then started filling them in with tangles. I did a little shading - which didn't work well on this slick paper -  and called it done.
Tangling with Mickey. Apropos title, I think. 

Stepping Up the Game

I have been working on some ideas for my tangling, some new patterns of my own design, trying some patterns that are new to me, trying to step up my game, so to speak.
In this stack of tangles, I started at the top with shattuck,  then ballenchain - that dark one with the circles,  then a variation of merryweather I've been working on, printemps, and another one I'm working on that has no name as yet.
And I have been evaluating my shading. I remember a friend telling me to shade more than I thought I should and it would be perfect. Did not do that here, I am just now remembering. Hahaha! Story of my life!
How are you coming with your shading? Is it time to step up your game?

Faith

One more example of stacked, tangled, and lettered. I used another scrap of scrapbook paper to tangle this on. I really like the pink flower pops showing through the tangle design. An excellent use for all those bits of scrapbook paper I never use anymore. Love it! And the words - speak for themselves.

Stacking Circles

 Lately it's been all about the stacks.

Stacks of tangles. 

In this case, it's a stack of tangled circles.

Now you know I love me some gorgeous colors,

but I did not make this background myself.

It came from this book. (I was going to tell you what page,  but this awesome book doesn't have page numbers. So that's not going to happen.)
I purchased three of Mindy Lacefield's books and they are all beautiful! They are copies of her personal art journals with lots of open spaces where a tangler could have some fun. And I love the results!
Why don't you grab a book you haven't enjoyed in awhile,  or a book from a second-hand shop, and tangle a little today? You'll be glad you did.

Tangling in the Round

There is a wonderful tangle artist named Michele Beauchamp. She is also a CZT and I have followed her work online for two years now. Shelly lives in Australia and does the most exquisite linework. (You should go google her right now and look at images.) Recently she tangled a piece in the round and it was so beautiful that I wanted to give it a go myself.

I drew this a couple nights ago while watching reruns of M*A*S*H. (I don't believe I've ever drawn something this big in one night before.) This is the unshaded view. I hate to shade, but I figured this piece deserved a little shading.

So I added some very basic shading in a few areas. What a difference it makes! Can't wait to frame this piece.
Why don't you give tangling in the round a try? You might just fall in love with it. A friend of mine called this piece - stacking on steroids. Yep, pretty much! Hahahaha!
Zentangle has these cool large tiles now. I tangled this circle piece on a 10.5" square official tile called the Opus. I used microns, a Sharpie fine point pen, graphite, and a tort. 

Test Driving My Wall Book

 My friend Jane gave our art journal group the challenge of stacking.

Stacking tangles,

stacking text,

stacking text and tangles,

stacking colors with any of the above.

Jane showed some examples of stacking,

and in a couple pictures she showed drawings she had made in her wall book.

I thought, I have a wall book that I rarely use.

So I pulled it out and tangled the stacks you see above

 in the page on the right.

It started out as a blank brick wall. 

(This is an actual two-page spread in the book.)

 I started at the bottom and worked my way up.

I love the way it turned out.

Looks like that art could be real graffiti.

(Fourth tangle up from the bottom,

is one I made up for this page.

I'm calling it Box It Up.

I'll post step-outs for it in tomorrow's post.)

In case you wondered, and even if you didn't, hahaha!

from the bottom up, the tangles are:

shattuck, copada, curlz (one I came up with at CZT training,) 

box it up, variation of crescent moon, flying geese, rain, 

curvy variation of shattuck, twing, laced, and footlites.

Here is the wall book, which I have been calling by the 

wrong name for the past couple weeks! 

I got mine at Amazon,

(I mean, really, is there any where else?)

Walls Notebook by Sherwood Forlee.

 I enjoyed that stacking stuff so much I decided to do a second page. 

I decided to go with graffiti circles and tangles that draw the eye to that post rising from top to bottom of the page.

And here is the completed page. 
Tangles from bottom to top: shattuck (yes, I love this one,) puf, shattuck  (see what I mean?), rain, box it up, and flying geese again.
And remember, anywhere you see pink words, that means it's a link.  Click on it and you will be taken to step-outs for that tangle. Cause pink = link. In every picture I draw, I include my chop. My signature. At least I try to. You see it just under this post. My initials with the leaf - for The Creator's Leaf. I don't always date the drawing - on the drawing itself - it's usually on the back. For this page, though, I included it on the front. Can you find it? And my chop? (It's kind of obvious.)
P.S. ~ time for you to try out this whole stacking thing. No rules, except you pile it up. Words, tangles, colors, elements. Whatever media you want to use. It's stacking time!

A Fun One to Draw

I don't remember now who was drawing in this shape, but I really liked their artwork and thought I'd give it a try. So much fun! I've drawn several of these in various sizes. From 2" square up to almost 10" square. The only thing that changes is the amount of detail you can include. And the amount of dangly things you can add. And it's a very forgiving kind of drawing.
Still in Colorado.  Today's high is supposed to be 27˚, the low is supposed to be 18˚. Did I mention I live in Florida? 

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. 

Rollin'

I am working on the ebook. Again. Drawing, designing, experimenting, making step-outs. This particular piece is an ATC that I made for the fall swap. (I just realized - again - that I was supposed to stick with three tangles. Oh well.) I was playing with crescent moon, which turned into that far right slice with the squiggle down the middle. I am thinking of variations I could use with that - and call it rollin'. That's what I'm working on now. 

The colors were the most fun part of this piece for me. I just took a wet, flat brush, swirled some watercolor on it, and swiped it back and forth across a slightly damp tile. I did this with about six different colors and let them blend together a bit. Once it was dry, I started my tangling. Someone in the United Kingdom is getting this ATC. Rollin' out in the mail tomorrow!

54º This Morning? Let's Make Some Fall ATCs

I have been having a really hard time getting into this making fall ATCs. Primarily because it's been in the lower 90's for the past week or so here in Maryland. This morning when I woke up it was actually cool in the apartment. According to my phone app it was 54º outside. Nice!

Those cooler temps (high in the low 70's) motivated me to make a couple ATCs. I'm going with the fall-ish color theme, and hoping whoever gets these ATCs are flexible :). Hahaha! Only four more to make, then on to the brown/black swap! Yes!

Teddy Bears and Fall

The fall ATC swap is upon us. I am really having trouble coming up with ideas. It was 90 degrees here today, who could possibly be thinking about fall? For this swap we can use any type media we want. So I pulled some old scrapbook paper and salvaged this little teddy bear and flower blocks from a sheet. The rest is tangled and colored with Koi Watercolors.

I've been working my punkin' pattern into several pieces lately. It speaks of fall, so I figure it's fair game.

I was still having issues with 'fall' ideas, so I thought I'd try something a little different. Made a bunch of random width (and unparallel) lines. . . .

. . . then filled them with tangles.

Next I added some fall-ish washi tape down one end, and pop-dotted three fall leaves into a corner. The ATC edges were dipped into a gold stamp pad. Voila! A fall ATC, and I still don't know what to do with the rest. Haha! Hopefully something fantastic will come to mind. Soon. I hope.  Stay tuned. Better yet - send me ideas. :)

Circle of Life

The Circle of Life
From the day we arrive on the planet and, blinking, step into the sun, there's more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than can ever be done. 
There's far too much to take in here, more to find than can ever be found, but the sun rolling high through the sapphire sky, keeps great and small on the endless round,
It's the circle of life and it moves us all, through despair and hope, through faith and love, till we find our place on the path unwinding, in the circle, the circle of life.
From The Lion King, these words kept running through my mind as I drew and colored this postcard. I really like the lines: through despair and hope, through faith and love. I've been there, we all have at one time or another. It's a test of our strength, a test of our faith, our beliefs, our values, what we place our value in, who we place our value in. It really all comes down to that, doesn't it. Who - and what - we value above all else. That is what takes us from despair to hope, and on through faith and love.  Just a little something to get you thinking as you go on about your week. May it be a great one!

Trying Something New

Before I start, let me say that, no, I am not working on gradient color, thus making my photo white at the top and blue at the bottom. Haha! That would be my iphone. Sorry. It's the best I've got on the road.
I have long admired CZT Shelly Beauch's beautiful artwork which you can see here :). Her work is detailed, fine, gorgeous, and different from anything else you'll see. I love it! Shelly is from Tasmania, and she works on large scale a lot. I thought I would love to learn how to do that. So, I went to Michael's and bought a 16" x 20" Canson Bristol board to give it a go. This is what I drew during night number one. I hope to provide a step-out soon for that tulip pattern at the top. It just sort of evolved as I was drawing it out on Kali's dining room table. I am going to name it for her. 
That linking of elements I learned from Judy West, Australia, who runs the Celtic Challenge. A lot of her elements are linked. I love Judy's work, which combines doodling with patterning. She has such creative ideas. 
I will continue to work on this piece and let you see it along the way. Hopefully. Have a great week! I am currently driving back to Florida. Will be back at home soon.

Post Card Time Again

Just a quick post before the laptop battery dies. As in dead. Kaput. Fini. (Those last two may be spelled wrong.) Still working on post cards for the CZT swap. That middle tangle is my pattern - Ceedarr. This one's a lot of fun to draw! I also used quipple - which I will never ever use again. Like . . . ever. Thank you, Taylor Swift!

Hotel Tangling

 Kali and I have been out of town for a couple days. Hotels are always fun for me. I have free time to draw with no interruptions. That makes me happy. On this trip I was able to complete 2 days in the One Zentangle a Day book. This was day four. We worked on shattuck, nipa, and jonqual. I had always drawn shattuck with curved lines before, so I really like the way the shattuck with the straight lines turned out. Above I used shattuck by itself in the upper left section. Then I blended shattuck with nipa in that lower left and upper right areas. Down the right side I mixed shattuck with a bit of static. Fun!

I'm still working on Day Five, this is what I have so far. Our patterns were isochor and printemps. I had never tried isochor before, it subtly reminds me of striping. Sparkles were introduced. My tile above shows the new patterns and the sparkles, and I threw in some stipple shading.

This is the real reason we were out of town. Disney's Beauty and the Beast was very good. Kali and I were a bit disappointed with the scenery/props. After being blown away by Mary Poppins a couple weeks ago, I was disappointed to see that they really didn't do much with the set other than curtains here and there. Oh well, I guess we are spoiled. We did enjoy the show itself, though. Then we went out for donuts from Krispy Kreme and then back to the hotel. That's a whole other story all in itself. We were two girls on a floor filled with construction workers. Made for an interesting night.

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.

Dilip's Ganesha Challenge

A fellow CZT, Dilip Patel from Bengaluru, has issued himself a challenge to create 100 tangled Ganesha before December 31, 2012. The rest of the CZTs are trying to help Dilip out. This is my offering. 

I really didn't know a thing about Ganesha, so I started with a google search. I really liked this particular photo, so I used it as my string.

I did the drawing first, then started filling in tangles. Then I took photos to post here on my blog. I realized - as usual - that I forgot to shade and I wondered - as usual - if it really made a difference.

I've got to say shading makes all the difference in the world! Here you go, Dilip, here is my Ganesha for your challenge.