Drawing Day 2012

Last year I found out about Drawing Day and participated.  Luckily, I followed them on Twitter because that is how I was reminded about it again  this year.  I got my drawing done just in time to say I did it on Drawing Day but I failed to get it submitted in time to make it into the book.  No matter, I made it into last years book.

9X12 on watercolor paper drawn with Micron pen.

For this, I started with three circles and then added a string around them to divide the space.  After I added Knase to the upper right corner, I decided that I wanted to have black in the corners to give the edges some definition.  Hollibaugh was a natural choice to carry that down.  Knightsbridge and Crescent Moon, gave the same feeling but not quite as dark.

I am really pleased with how this one came out.  It was a very enjoyable way to spend a Saturday.

Color in New Sizes

I am still exploring using watercolor with Zentangle.  I learn more each time and am finding this a lot of fun.  I have tried the standard 3.5" X 3.5" tile, Artist Trading cards, 5X7" and working on a 9X12 page.  Each size can present its own challenges and each brings a new experiment to learn.  The only constant that I find so far is that everything is different each time.

I think that I MIGHT have figured out how much paint is too much though.  On a few ATC that I painted over the weekend, I just dropped the watercolor on the wet card and let the paint flow where it may.  While producing a lovely effect, it left a lot of the watercolor on top of the paper.  Too much paint on the paper will disrupt the ink flow from the Micron pen.  The end of the pen, picks up the paint causing the ink to stop.  Good news is that you can write or wipe it off and the pen works fine again.  I think to finish a spot or two I will have to use a Sharpie Pen to finish.

Sometimes there are places on the ATC cards where the ink from the pen bleeds a bit.  I am not sure if this is how the ink flows on the watercolor paint, or if that the paper was wet changes how it accepts the ink.  The bleeding isn't bad though.  The line is a touch thicker and is darker in those spots.  My main concern with this however, was that the bleeding would pull the ink from my Micron faster than normal.  Then I remembered that I had a few older pens that didn't work as well any longer, they left skips and/or a lighter line, and wondered how they would work on these watercolor places.  I am happy to report that they work great!  It is almost like having a new pen. Plus I don't worry about those pens losing ink too fast.  I had already written them off but was keeping them around because I couldn't bear to part with them.  The old pens now have a home in my ATC kit that I am keeping in my purse.

Color Wash

This is the first ATC that I tried with watercolor.  Again, I just followed the paint as the string. The pattern on the left is a variation of Atorm.  I wanted to let that beautiful blue show through.  When I was photographing it, the light caught the pencil shading that I did and gives the photo a shine that isn't in the original.

I like these small sizes.  This one is done on a Bristol card.  I just bought some watercolor paper sizes that I have painted and will try ink on next.  I am interested to see if the ink will flow differently on the water color paper.

Aliens

Aliens was an experiment with less color on a page.  After I got all the lines drawn, it looked like some alien life forms.

Before I started playing with the ATC size, I started doing a 5X7" size.  I liked how it was going and was moving right along on it but then I got to a section and was stuck.  I couldn't decide if I wanted to add a tangle or not and if I did add one, I couldn'd decided on what pattern to put there. So, I set it aside and waited for an answer.


Last night I was trolling Pinterest for some inspiration and found Braids.   I love the flow of this pattern so much.  The site is in German though, so if you would like to read the great lesson that Simone Bischoff has posted I would recommend it. So, braids... This morning I flipped back to the 5X7" piece to see what new things, if any, it had to say.  I had braids in mind so I thought that I would try it in my trouble spot and see what happened.  I am sooo pleased to say, it worked great!

Color Study

The "steps" there are my try at Planateen that went terribly wrong.  I did it fine on my practice of the pattern, but once I put my pen to the paper, I lost my mind.  Luckily, I think that it came out ok despite my best effort to mess it up.  In this piece, I still used the color as a string, but wasn't as fussy about it.  I also drew on the white paper.  Some bits are more successful than others but on the whole, I like it.

Thanks to all of you for the great feedback that you have been giving me on this journey into color.  It helps so much.

Birthday Gifts

Red Velvet cake.  So yummy!

Fall is a busy time of year for me and birthdays.  Not only do many of my family members turn a year older but also do many of my friends.  This year, I have made zentangles for several people.  I can't post them all yet on the off chance that they may see them.  This weekend though, I was able to gift a few and now I can share them with you.



5X5 on watercolor paper with 0.1 and 0.005 micron pens and pencil.

This is a zendala that I made for my friend Cheryl.  I found this mandala pattern on 102 Free Mandalas to download.  This is a nice place to find many different mandalas.  This one was a little different than what I used but I really liked the shape.  You can download the patterns as .jpeg or PDF files.

I really enjoyed making this and am surprised at how quickly it went.  I framed it in a 10X10 float frame, with a black piece of scrapbooking paper to fill the empty space.  I had hoped to put it in a 10X10 with a 5X5 square cutout to frame it but I made the zendala too big and none of the premade frames would work.  I waited too late to have it framed professionally.  I was quite pleased with how it came out though.  The paper had a black on black pattern on it and with the zendala in the middle it looked quite nice.  The pattern on the paper was just enough to give it interest but not too busy to distract the eye.




5X7 on watercolor paper with 0.1 micron and gold gel pen

This one is for my friend Kent.  While I didn't plan it, this one works double time as Kent is a New Orleans Saints fan and their colors are black and gold.  This photo is of the tangle in the frame so there is a little glare in the glass but not much.

I tried to alternate the dark and light patterns in this one.  I tried a new pattern Golven and I really like it a lot. It isn't difficult to do and looks great.  I look forward to using it again and again.

I am glad to report that both Cheryl and Kent enjoyed their tangles as much as I did making them.  I hope that you enjoy looking at them too.

Tangled on the Inside

This was a fun challenge.  The Diva and Jo had us use one tangle pattern as the string and then fill the string with different patterns.  I had done something similar with Bales in a previous challenge, so I wanted to try something different this time.  I ended up using OOF as my string tangle and then went crazy inside.

Hopefully it isn't too busy to see OOF in there.  I like the stripe on the sides of the tile itself as well as framing each tangle.

Breast Cancer Awareness

October is National Breast Cancer awareness month.  Did you know?  I didn't until this week's challenge from The Diva.  I have had 3 women in my life to battle breast cancer.  One was my Godmother Cam.  She fought bravely but sadly was taken by the disease in the late 1980's.  Another is my Aunt who has successfully battled breast cancer with a minimum of side effects.  The last is someone I met on the Internet and who I think is truly the definition of hope, strength and courage.  Julie is battling cancer currently and I have every hope for the best possible outcome.  She is a beautiful person and I am proud to call her a friend.

It is these three women who I thought of as I drew my zentangles for this week's challenge.  I will get to send Julie and my Aunt their zentangles, and will keep the one I drew for my Godmother as a reminder of her and her strength and love.

I started each of these tiles with on outline of a ribbon. After deciding on what tangle I wanted to put on the ribbon, I divided the remainder of the space behind and finished the tangle.  I used the micron pen, a white and pink gel pen and pink colored pencils.



Tangle for Cam




Tangle for Aunt Susie



Tangle for Julie

Pinwheels for Peace

Today is the International Day of Peace!  Get out there and spread the peace because we sure could use it.

In honor of this day and the Pinwheels for Peace project, The Diva has challenged us all to create our own pinwheel.  I was afraid that I was going to miss the deadline but I got in just under the wire!  This was a fun and new way to create some zentangle.  I chose to actually create a pinwheel and I found myself thinking more about what patterns to put together and how they would translate to a 3D page.

I ended up cutting a square of watercolor paper to tangle on.  I am happy to report that my pinwheel even spins!  I took it outside on this cloudy day to try and get a photo and the pinwheel kept spinning in the breeze.  I just wish I had an outside pinwheel to tangle now.



Finished and all put together!




The inside.




Outside flaps