This week’s Diva Challenge #314 is another Use My Tangle (UMT) challenge. For this one we are asked to create a tile using Scallamp by Sarah Uram, CZT. A step out is available here on Sarah’s blog Zen and Zin.
Scallamp reminds me of shallots for some reason. Anyway, I had a little trouble with this new tangle. The main problem was in keeping the wavy parts reasonably symmetrical. I also think the ends are too wide on the central tangle. The lines should be closer together, and I didn’t do the c-curves correctly. But overall I think my first attempt at Scallamp looks pretty good. I will have to practice, practice, practice! Thanks to the Diva for another good challenge. Continue reading →
Back in March I realized there were classes that I still wanted to explore on Skillshare. Between taking a bunch of those classes and then things getting very busy in real life, I found that I didn’t have enough time to post here on the blog. So I’m back now and want to share a couple of projects and talk about what I learned.
Branding these days is more important than ever on the web, social media, etc. In this class taught by Teela Cunningham we learned how to brainstorm a brand. Next we went through the steps for combining a watercolor texture with typography and a vector design element to make a custom logo to go with our brand. Also discussed was how to make a watercolor texture and cut it out for use in a logo or in other graphics projects. Continue reading →
Sorry to say that I’ve been absent here on my blog for the past couple of months. Following the completion of the Mandala Magic workshop (see previous posts), and also a busy holiday season, I found myself signing up for a Premium membership on Skillshare.com (referral link at the end of this post). Suffice it to say that I went a little wild taking a bunch of different design related courses! I’m very glad that I did, and I’ve learned a great deal.
For each class that you take on Skillshare you are invited to complete a project to demonstrate the new skills that you’ve learned as a result of taking the class. I’d like to share some of my projects here. There are more in process and I will add them to this post later on. Continue reading →
The final lesson of the 5 Days of Mandala Magic workshop concerned sacred geometry. We were introduced to the Flower of Life design, which simply put, consists of a series of same size circles being placed at regular, overlapping intervals. Very cool and quite pretty! Thanks to Julie for some fascinating information on this element of design!
Flower of Life Mandala #5DaysMM
The exercise was to create a mandala featuring the the flower of life design. For my mandala I used a black Sakura Pigma Micron 01 pen to do the inking. Coloring was accomplished using Tombow Retro dual brush pens. At the centers of the flower elements I used a silver Pilot G2 metallic gel pen for nice highlights.
While I’m late in posting here on the blog, I uploaded this same mandala to my Instagram account back in November.
In the next day of the 5 Days of Mandala Magic workshop we learned about the symbolism of the Hand and the meaning of Five. Very interesting! The hamsa (hand) form is a protection symbol which has significance across many cultures. The hamsa symbol features five digits (thus the symbolism of the 5). To create a hamsa you can either trace your hand (the simplest way), or do a more stylized form (as I chose for my mandala).
The exercise was to create a mandala featuring the hamsa symbol. For my design I wanted to go with a henna style. Use of a Renaissance zendala tile seemed appropriate. I also thought use of a sienna Sakura Pigma Micron 01 pen was perfect. Shading was done using a white pencil. Continue reading →
As I discussed in my previous post, I recently participated in the Five Days of Mandala Magic workshop with Julie Gibbons. The next exercise was to make a concentric circles mandala. As pointed out in the workshop, the construction of a concentric circles grid is a bit easier than that used for the lotus flower pattern. Drawing concentric circles of varying depths allows for a lot of variation and originality. My mandala was done in black and white, using a basic zendala tile with the patterns drawn with a black Sakura Pigma Micron 01 pen.
Starting in the center I made a spiral. Going outwards from the middle to the next two rings I drew orbs and filled u-shaped loops respectively. Next I included a ring of parallel lines which looked like a series of bars going around the circle. For the penultimate ring I went with the tangle pattern Hua by Mei Hua Teng CZT. In the outermost ring I drew a pattern of wavy C-shapes.
I’m not sure if this mandala can also be considered a Zendala, but it certainly has elements thereof. I like how it turned out!
This past week I participated in Five Days of Mandala Magic, a free online workshop offered by Julie Gibbons. Ever since I first found out about this workshop two years ago I had wanted to sign up.
I highly recommend taking the workshop the next time it is offered! If you are interested in learning about mandala/zendala then I suggest that you go right now to Julie’s site and sign up for her newsletter. That way you will receive a timely notification regarding when her next free workshop will be offered. She also teaches a year long, paid Mandala Magic course. Julie Gibbons has a great teaching style and you will learn a lot about the symbolism and emotionality of the mandala art form, as well as how to construct different types of mandalas. Zentangle aficionados will love it too. Continue reading →
Diva challenge #290 duotangle with ‘Nzeppel and Flux.
After another break in posting, I am back with another tangle. This week’s Diva challenge is to create a duotangle with ‘Nzeppel and Flux. Both of these are official Zentangle patterns. Step outs for ‘Nzeppel are available here. The step outs for Flux (both Rick and Maria versions) can be found here.
My idea was to have a large orb filled with ‘Nzeppel, and then to ring it all around with Flux. I kinda like the resulting sunflower-like thing it has going on. Thanks to the Diva for another fun challenge!
Thank you for visiting, and I love reading your comments!
My tile for Diva Challenge #284 featuring Tripoli as a monotangle.
The Diva’s challenge for this week is to create a tile featuring the official Zentangle pattern Tripoli. Tripoli is a very versatile pattern and makes a good filler. It can also stand on it’s own. The step outs can be found here.
Apparently my default tends to be to go for simplicity, so that’s what I did. So without further ado here is my Tripoli monotangle.
Diva Challenge #283: UMT: Centre Square by Aleesha Sattva CZT
What a busy summer! After not posting for several weeks I am back fresh with another challenge tangle. This week’s Diva challenge is of the Use My Tangle (UMT) variety – this time we are invited to create a tile using Centre Square by Aleesha Sattva CZT. A step out can be found here.
Centre Square is another grid type of pattern. I thought it would be fun to place the grid inside of a rounded off, concave square and added some Flux in the corners. I enjoyed drawing this pattern, however I have to confess that I got “writer’s cramp” after a while! Thanks to the Diva for another enjoyable challenge.
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