Earth Day Zentangles

Sunday was Earth Day and I must confess that I was unable to celebrate it in an Earth friendly way.  We spent the day driving home from a wedding in Virginia.  It pleased me though to see that the challenge this week was to create a tile that celebrates our home planet.

I wasn't sure what I was going to create when I read the challenge, but I knew that I was going to use blue and green ink to draw.  Really, a challenge inspired by Earth just called for color to me.

Patterns used: Shattuck, Tripoli, Keeko

When I sat down to start my first tile, I decided that I wanted to draw the Earth in space.  I contemplated  tracing out a map or image of the Earth but then decided that I would just go for a suggestion of Earth rather than a literal translation.  Because I started while sitting in the waiting room at the orthodontist my circle is a bit wonky but no matter.  I added a few shapes to represent land and I was off.  I made my blue section first and then went and added my green.  I think that I should have stopped and not added the black, however. I think that I liked the tile better before.  I added the "stars" with the Sakura glitter pen to break up the darkness.  Plus, if we were looking at Earth from space we'd see stars too.

Patterns used: Tagh, Hibred, Baton, Pokeroot, Paradox, Organza

After finishing my first tile, I wanted to do another one.  Since I found some 4" canvases at Michaels, I've been a bit obsessed with them.  This second Earth is done on a 4" canvas "tile".  I say tile as it is solid all the way through.  It is some hard material (cardboard maybe) covered in canvas.  The tile is thin and pretty easy to work with.  I will be doing a post on the canvas and pens that I use next so check back if you'd like to see more.

I decided that I wanted this one to be more of a suggestion of Earth.  I started with a circle and then added Organza to divide the circle.  For this tile I used Bic Mark-It pens with the ultra fine tip.  The green that I have is very light and I ended up going over my lines several times to get them as dark as they are.  I am still working out the shading on the canvas though.  In some places, I think that the grey pen is successful but in others not so much.  I find that the Bic pen kind of "puddles" at the tip so that a spot of extra ink can be left when you pick your pen up.  You can see this best in the green sections.  I find though, that it I end my gray lines on a black one, that the dot blends into the black and is no longer an issue.

I like this tile and think that I will use the divided circle again.  I really like how it looks.

Thanks to Laura for another great challenge.  I hope that your foot is doing much better.

My Zentangle Kit has Arrived!

I finally got around to ordering my official zentangle kit.  I had put it off for no real good reason but then I sold one of my pieces and thought I'd celebrate with a kit. I ordered it on Monday or Tuesday and it arrived by Friday. Sweet!  Just in time for the long weekend.

Last night I sat down to really explore the kit and try out what it is like to draw on an "official" tile.  I have been using watercolor paper that I cut into 3.5" squares.  I looked through the booklet that came with it first.  There I found some direction on how to make a few tangles that I have not yet tried out.  The most helpful thing for me though was the section on making strings.  I have always been a little careful in making my strings.  Thinking that they should be simple, I was afraid to make the string too busy.  The examples in the booklet however, showed me that I could be freer with my string.

Armed with this new courage, I drew out my string.  I tried to copy one of the examples in the book but my drawing got a little off track.  No matter, I just went with it.

Next, I got out the die and rolled to see what my first tangle would be.  I must admit that I had never thought of leaving pattern choice to chance.  I always study and think about what pattern I want to go where.  Sometimes, I want to try out a new pattern and that make choosing patterns easy but I find that I can sit there for a while pouring over my books and websites looking for a tangle that I think might look good next to those I've already drawn.  Rolling the die helped to make quick work of what to draw next.  I think that I will need to make a few legends with different tangles for future use.

Then, I was off.  I sat and drew with Dr. Who on in the background to keep me company.  Sometimes I listen to music but I'm a new Dr. Who fan and there was a marathon on the T.V. and well, you know how it is.

My little set up.

I did have to pause and watch the video on how to draw Purk.  The steps aren't laid out in the booklet and I wanted to make sure that I knew what I was supposed to be doing.  I think I may have found a new favorite.  I have seen it in other's work but was unsure on how to draw it.  Purk is quite a lovely tangle and I think it looks really great.

It didn't take long, well it didn't feel that long, until I was done and it was time to shade.  I am slow when it comes to making my tangles.  I must be careful with my lines, it's a thing I have.  Zentangle is more about letting go and being free but really, I have to be happy with the way my lines look or all I can see are the imperfections.  I am, like my tangles, a work in progress.  :)

So, here is my final result.  I like it.  There are a few bits that aren't great but there are a few that really work.  As usual, there will be some things that I take away from this tangle and use in a new piece later on.  I got to use some tangles that I haven't used before, and some that I have used a lot.  The "busy" string gave me more movement through the space.  Movement that hasn't usually been in my tiles before.  Not a lot, but some. Take the pokeroot for example, that flows up through the space to me.  I haven't really thought about movement in my tiles before but you can bet that I will in my next one.