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Monday, September 29, 2014

Blind Sting - Test Case

Fall has arrived here in Delaware not only on the calendar but in the weather as well.  This past weekend was really nice with highs in the low 80's but I think that was the last hurrah of summer.  The leaves have begun to change and there is no going back now.  If I were smart, I'd pull out warmer clothing now but I think I'll stay in denial a little longer.

The new week has brought a new challenge over at I am the Diva.  This week is to use a blind string, that is, to draw the sting without looking.  This string challenge always has me drawing in a kind of swirly lump in the middle of the tile.  My first try was really not useable.  Not only where there a lot of spaces, which isn't a problem really, but they were so small that drawing in them would be impossible.  So, I went at it a second time.  I should have been more willing to go wild and not worry about staying on the paper but I wasn't.  That's ok though.  I need to work on leaving some white space too.  I try to fill it all in every time so this string was good for me.

You see the pen I am using there?  I bought it in Italy this summer on our family vacation.  I have used it a little but I got it out to use today.  I have decided to participate in inktober and wanted to practice with the pen I am planning to use.  Inktober is a drawing challenge where you make up to 31 drawings in 31 days.  You can work a shorter number, check the link for details, but I want to give 31 a go.  Over the summer, I was cutting up some scrap paper to use as smaller tiles and/or test paper and ended up with some 3" squares.  I thought that I would draw on the smaller tiles and then group them together into a larger piece.  So far though, they have only been an idea waiting to happen.  So when the idea of inktober came to me, I thought, "Why wait? Let's do it now!"  And as October is just a few days away, I thought that I would use today's challenge as a test run to see how it would go.

The dip pen makes a nice thin line and covered over the pencil string well.  I am still getting used to having to refill my ink but it isn't as disruptive as one might think.  Sometimes I wait until I run out of ink so I have to go back over a little to keep the line even.  The design stayed pretty simple.  I wanted to work on curving lines as those can sometimes trip me up with the dip pen.

I was afraid that the slightly smaller tile size would be too small for me to work on, but it wasn't.  I haven't tried the even smaller Bijou tiles/size yet.  Maybe that is next.

But back to this tile,  I held close to the string but let the design run to the edge to let it feel a little less constrained.  I could have done more but I didn't want to over work the design and wanted to work quickly.

For the shading I used a new Prismacolor marker.  Color: warm grey 30%.  This is the first time I have had a Prismacolor marker and the first time that I have used a marker to shade a drawing.  I have used them on canvas though.  I like the pen and look forward to using it in the future.  It is nice to make a shade line and not have to go back and blend it out with a stump.  It is a different feel though and I look forward to exploring more.

I hope that you will join me in inktober.  It will be nice to have a daily challenge and the smaller size will keep me from spending all day drawing.  Not to mention increasing the likelihood that I will finish my goal.  You can follow my challenge either on my Facebook page or on instagram (@tinkertangles).

Have a great week!

16 comments:

  1. Pretty tile. It was interesting to hear about the new gray pen too and how it went for you. Thanks for the link to inktober too. Sounds interesting, now just have to see if I can do it!

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  2. very nice tile. I love your ink pen. I have a grey prismaolor marker and I think I'm going to try it. Thanks for the idea!

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  3. I like how you let your tangles just fall off the tile and the grey marker does make for nice shading. Very well done!

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  4. Is the refillable pen like the old fountain pens? Yes. I'm THAT old. Actually, I'm from the US, but we lived in England when I was 15-16 and we still had to use fountain pens in school there. I also like the unsmudgey look you achieved with the grey pen. (I think I might have just invented a word "unsmudgey".) I think your tile came out nicely. I'd be curious to see the string you thought was unusable.

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    1. This is a dip pen. No ink in the pen at all. I like unsmudgey. I shall put it in rotation!

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  5. thank you for sharing your new toys and lovely tile.

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  6. I love your tile. I love that teardrop-like shape in the triangle. nice edging too. and I love how it flows over the edge op the tile.
    thanks for the link to inktober. I have to get back to drawing and this might be the push that I need

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  7. Nice tile work, and thanks for telling us about #intober. I, for one, had never heard of it before. My computer has been acting up. I'm going to check to see if I can facebook page. Thanks!

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  8. What a cute little tile :) It has a certain air of lightheartedness to it.. :) I like it :)

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  9. Oh, what a cool idea to use a dip pen. You will have so much fun, getting to know it, I'm sure! Your tile is lovely, like a walk on the beach. Thanks for the headsup on Inktober...I may just join in on that one.

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  10. I love your tile a lot, it's clean and open. The pen makes me remember old times when we had to use pens like this in school.

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  11. I suspect dipping your pen could really add to the Zen experience, especially if you can manage to complete your line in one 'dip'....lovely tiles - they are incredibly clean-looking! Axxx

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  12. Very lovely tile! So clear and airy!

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  13. Great tile! And I'm doing a tile a day in Inktober, so fun that you are taking the challenge as well.

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  14. I love the look that the dip pen gives your tile. It just seems so clear and crisp. The string you used for it worked perfectly too for your composition. Beautiful tile! I may have to dig my dip pen out again and give it a go...I haven't used it in years!

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  15. Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments! You are the best!

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