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!

Zendala challenge + color

I am behind on the Zendala dare that Erin hosts each week.  I miss some weeks and I jump back in and something happens and I don't get back to post what I have done, if in fact, I have finished what I started. I have another that I finished drawing, but didn't get shaded.  I'll be going back to finish that today but it's been so long since I drew it, I don't remember which dare it was.  I'm working and that is the biggest thing.

So, color.  It is something that I have dabbled with but it isn't easy for me.  I tend to approach it like a coloring book.  Draw the lines and fill them in.  Shading with color doesn't really happen much for me.  I've done a little but I default to using a pencil more often than not.  I have some great pencils and markers reciently, Tombow markers, Inktense pencils and some Aquasitcks.  I didn't really have much of an idea how to use them, or at least use them to get the most out of them.  Thankfully there are some really great YouTube videos out there to see.  Maybe one day, I will be able to actually do some of the tricks that are in the videos.  :)

As I was doing Zendala dare #41, I decided that it needed to have color.  The template looked like a flower to me, so a flower it would be.  I traced out the template on 6"X6" watercolor paper and got to work.  The center is a pattern by Jane Monk but please don't ask me the name.  It isn't in the image that I have, but I think you can find it on tanglepatterns.com.  I'm just too lazy to go and check it out right now.  The rest flowed from there.  I also concentrated on leaving some empty spaces.

I am really pleased with how it turned out.  Applying color evenly is a struggle for me, so I worked on that a lot as well as using darker shades and/or layering the color to get some suggestion of shade.  I resisted the temptation to go in with a pencil and shade.  I always want to pop the layers out but this is so sweet as it is, I was afraid that pencil would muddy it up.

Another color experiment that I did came along when I got stuck.  The drawing was progressing well and then I got stuck.  Unsure as to what to put in my empty spaces, I looked to a friend for a little help, her suggestion? Color.  So with great hesitation, I went for it.  Armed with Tombow markers, some water and a small paint brush, I went in.   For this drawing, I did go back and add pencil for shade.  I worked very deliberatly and carefully with the shading though.  This was just an experiment to see what I could do with the color and shade.  I learned a bit about me and shading as well as leaving some open space.   

Big Tangles Zendala

Wow!  I just looked at when I last posted, it has been too long.  I have to do better.  I will try to get myself back in the groove of blogging.  I have been working away, but I haven't been sharing with you readers. I am sorry.

I am back to share with you my Zendala that I finally got finished this week.  It took me all week to get it done. Not because it was very detailed, but I haven't been sitting down to work like I should.  When I first saw the template from Erin in this week's challenge, I thought "Oh, a flower! This will be easy."  Then as typical for zentangle, where I thought I would go, was not where I ended.  My tangles are all large, they use the whole section.  I really like that about this zendala.  It isn't very floral either.  And, this one is spare.  I decided to leave some white space and I'm glad that I did.  It looks great.

I'm calling this one Biggen Zendala as the tangles are all so big.  I used Gryst by Frances Banks for the first time.  It's the one there in the middle.  I used a variation.  I have to say that I first thought Gryst was going to be simple, and it isn't complicated, but I did have to sit and work out which way my lines were going to go.  The first way or two I tried did not come out right at all.  I don't have the name of the second tangle noted so if you know, please leave it in the comments.  I could go look it up but as it is after midnight, I'll skip it for now.  I then did Paradox around the outer edge.  I love the depth that it brings to the spaces and how it really sets off the "petals".  I liked it so much that I opted to leave them white.  

This zendala is done on an 8" circle.  A friend of mine introduced me to a circle cutter from Martha Stewart's craft line that I really like.  It will cut a 4" circle up to 12".  It is really easy to use but you definitely want a cutting board underneath.  Just ask my card table with a nice circle shape carved in it.  OOPS!  Anyway, it's available everywhere.  I used one of my Michaels coupons to get mine.  This is the first zendala that I have done in a circle and it was fun.  I was tempted to further cut it into a octagon but I was able to stop myself.

Well, I have a long day ahead of me and it starts early in the morning so I better go.  I'll work on getting updates here more often.  I hope you are having a great day!

Halloween Zendala: It's webtastic!

It is fall here in Delaware.  The nights are cold and the days are cooler.  The leaves have started to change.  It's a good time.  This week at the Bright Owl, the zendala challenge is a Halloween/Fall theme.  I was all excited as I eventually want to have a zendala themed for each season.  However, as Zentangle often goes, this zendala didn't turn out the way I thought it would.  Rather than fall, I have Halloween zendala.  I really like it though.

Halloween Zentangle

I started this zendala on an 8X8" piece of watercolor paper.  I then took an AquaStic in orange and colored the background orange.  I kept the color uneven and unplanned.  I thought of the outer ovals as the eyes of a mask.  I even started to blacken them all in but I thought that all of them being black would be too much.  I added Verve and Allium to the center to mimic a spooky eye.  Afterglo and Web came eaily at the larger triangle spots.  After that however, I was stuck.  I had this large shape in the middle and could not think of what to fill the space with.  This morning Auraknot jumped up and said "Use ME!" so I did, bringing Web back to the center to tie it back to the edges.  The shading really added to the dimension in this one.

I hope you all have a wonderful fall and Halloween.  As of today, my sons want to be a Teenage Mutaint Ninja Turtle and a Korean Pop star.  Funny that the turtle costume will be the easiest to do...

Catching up on my Zendala Dare!

I've been busy and haven't taken the time to blog out my entries into the Zendala Dare by Erin.  I'll post this entry to Dare #18 even though it also has zendalas from Dare #19 attached.  Please forgive me.  Things won't settle down around here for a few more weeks, and I fear that if I try and wait until then, I'll never get these up.

Curiosity Zendala

OK, Dare 18.  I have to say that when I first looked at this pattern, I thought that I would do something floral and then this came out instead.  I love when my pen decides to do it's own thing.  I'm calling this Curiosity Zendala in honor of the landing on Mars.  The patterns here made me think of vortexes and worm holes and space travel.  My 11 year old son and I stayed up and watched the feed from NASA on the day the rover landed on Mars and I have to say that it was an incredible thing to witness.  If you haven't seen the video of what was done you should.  It is quite an amazing thing that the teams at NASA did.  I am so glad that I stayed up to see it happen, even if it cost me some sleep.

I think that I'll try my hand at this template again and see if I can't get something floral to come out on the second go around.

Cancer Awareness Zendala

Dare 17 was a personal one for me and for many others as it seems.  My Mother died of Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) in 2006.  My Father has battled prostate cancer as has my Uncle and Grandfather.  Luckily, all were treated successfully.  So, for this template, I played up the ribbons in the design.

I first drew the background pattern of Bales and the edge of Ramykin and then made a photocopy of the basic design onto watercolor paper.  Using watercolor pencils, I colored the ribbons to remember those I know with cancer.  The Blue is for prostate cancer, pink for breast, (My God Mother died of breast cancer, my aunt battled it and I have a friend fighting now.) orange for leukemia and lavender for all cancers.  The lavender is more pink that I would like but no matter. After painting the ribbons, I shaded the design.

Awareness Zendala

I then went back to the original. I decided to keep it simple and let the ribbons stand proud.  I added red hearts in the center of the Bales as a reminder of/for those we know who battle cancer.  Leaving the ribbons plain, I also thought that it would be a zendala that could be for awareness of any/all diseases our loved ones face.

I have one more zendala to share with you all before I end this post.  I made a donation to Erin's team and received the Thank You gift of even more zendala templates.  They are all really wonderful and I can't wait to get pen to paper and explore them more.  One of the templates however really spoke to me and I sat down and got started right away.  My final piece is really quite simple and I love it so much!  I am calling it Spring Zendala.  For the first time I wish that I had the coloring skills that so many of you have as the desire to add green here is almost overwhelming.  I'll keep it as is though.

Spring Zendala

I hope you all have a great week ahead and thank you for stopping by, taking a look, and leaving a comment if you'd like.

(I totally see now, that the spring zendala is turned the wrong way. I love however that it doesn't matter!)

Floral Zendala

When I started this week's zendala dare, flowers were not on my mind.  Yet, that is where I ended up.  A few dares back, I used Hi-C's in the center of my zendala and wanted to use it again.  To me, when Hi-C's is turned outward rather than inward, it looks like a lily.  Now that I have this big lily in the center, I wanted to keep up with flowers and nature.

I used a variation of Versa and opted to fill in the space because I was in the mood for some black.  The other side is Fife.  I wanted there to still be black behind the pattern, but I wanted some contrast to the Versa.  Around the boarder is my variation on Chainlea by Norma Burnell.  When I get a moment, I'll step it out for anyone who may like to see it.  I couldn't think of a pattern that I wanted to use in the open spaces so I took that as a sign that I should leave it as is.

This post is short as my boys keep coming in here to see if I'm finished with the computer yet.  Plus, I need to get working on this week's Diva challenge also brought to us by the wonderful Erin.

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!