Gray for Number 57

I am trying to post more to the Zendala and the Diva's challenges.  I had been doing really well but then I fell off for a while.  I had been putting my efforts into getting things done for Art and Craft fairs so that took up a bit of time.  Then winter set in and my creativity was sapped away by the dark and cold days.  So, with the warmer weather, my energy as returned and man, does it feel good.

In my trips to Michaels over the last several months, I have seen the toned gray and toned tan drawing tablets.  I think that the look on the colored papers is very beautiful.  Plus the addition of the white as a highlight really sets things off.  I've been thinking about trying it but I kept from putting it in my basket.  I didn't need another distraction AND I have a drawer full of paper already.  Really, how much paper do I need to horde?  This weekend however, armed with coupons and a search for supplies for a commission, I saw that the gray notebooks had been marked down.  So, of course I grabbed one.

Wanting to get back to the dare and using my gray paper, I decided to combine the two and see what happened.  I printed out the large template, traced it out onto my paper and got started.  I do love the template that Geneviève Crabe created for this week.  I had not seen her templates and I think they are really cool.  This template made me think of a pinwheel.  I tried to work out a way to make my zendala look like a pinwheel but I fell short.  However, I think that the zendala came out really great and I'm quite proud of how it looks.  I think that I'll be doing more gray paper projects in the future.

I used a micron pen, pencil for shading and a white Derwent pencil for the highlights.  I used Z-Trik on the outer edge.  I had not planned on using it in every section, but after a mistake, I ended up doing it anyway.  It was the first time that I had used Z-Trik like this before.  It's a fun little tangle.  I then added Lanie in the larger triangles.  I like it as well.  I have yet to use it as a whole pattern though.  The center wanted to be Gneiss and it is of sorts but not quite.  I then went back and added Nzeppel.  It took me awhile to decide what to put in that spot.  I wanted something light but didn't want to leave it blank.  Nzeppel worked out great and I like it with the little white highlights.

After getting the drawing done, I went in and added the white highlights and then shaded.  I am so pleased with how it came out.  I havent' really worked with white as a highlight much before.  I am sure that there are some tricks that I haven't figured out yet, but I'm happy with the final result.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great day!