Organic and botanical tangles are a lot of fun to draw. One day I stumbled upon Kiss (by Olga Barko) in a YouTube video by Melinda Barlow, CZT. While I looked for step-outs, I was unable to find them illustrated on a sheet anywhere. However, the linked video demonstrates the steps for drawing Kiss.
As you can see below, I drew Kiss tangles every-which-way to cover the square. Then I added strands of Fescu to fill in the gaps and to tie the piece together. Lastly I added shading. In this case I used a larger square sheet by Strathmore (if I recall correctly), not a standard Fabriano tile.
Due to a very busy schedule over the past several months I hadn’t been tangling as much as I would like . Fortunately I became aware that Inktober 2019 is in full swing so I wanted to take part!
This Inktober tile features Diva Dance Rock ‘n Roll. The official step outs for all three versions of Diva Dance can be found here. In this instance I followed the simplified steps posted by Stephanie Jennifer on her blog, Everything Is Art. While I can draw it the original way I like flow created by the simplified method.
It’s difficult to believe that it’s been so long since I last posted. Suffice it to say that life has been hectic for me recently. Back in September I rejoined the labor force (after being a stay-at-home mom for a good while). I got a part-time job as an Administrative Assistant at a childcare center, and I am really enjoying it. In addition, I am also going to be an assistant art teacher with a local art studio. So happy!
So, back to posting about my latest artistic endeavors. A good place to start is with tangling. This week the Diva’s challenge is to create a Valentangle. I’m a little late, but I have four valentangles (all monotangles) to share.
The first one features Heartswell by Helen Williams of A Little Lime. The step-outs are here. This tile was created as a gift for a coworker.
The second one is Cross-Ur-Heart, deconstructed by Jenna Black. You can find the step-outs here. This radial pattern can also be thought of as a zendala. I like the feeling of depth which results from the shading and the radiating lines. This tile was also made as a gift.
The third tile is a Heartsmeet monotangle. This heart-y grid pattern is by Lynn Hensley, and the step-outs are available here. Let’s just say that I was on a heart-themed tangling roll which continued on with the fourth tile.
And lastly I did another “hearts-in-a-grid tangle” featuring Heartfully, also by Helen Williams.
As a counterpoint to last week’s straight lines challenge, the Diva’s challenge (#369) this week is to draw orbs, orbs, and more orbs. Laura points out that drawing circles can be great for reducing stress. Let the soothing commence.
Another week brings another Diva challenge. This time the challenge is to create a tile using ‘Nzeppel, one of my favorite patterns. Stepouts for ‘Nzeppel and Crazy ‘Nzeppel can be found here.
For months I planned on preparing some of my zentangle tiles with watercolor washes, and I finally got around to it! For this challenge I chose to tangle on a tile with a blue, green, and yellow wash. The wash was done with watercolor crayons and a Pentel Aquash brush. It’s really easy to do and I like the effects.
Carrying over last week’s Back to Basics theme, I decided to stick with official Zentangle patterns again. My tile features Crazy ‘Nzeppel, Crescent Moon, and Tripoli.
Nzeppel
As long as I have you here, I’d like to call attention to two new tangles/tangleations which I have worked out. They are called Zazzle and Palmetta. The stepouts can be found on my Patterns page. Also, I made a blog post announcing Zazzle here, and there is an older post about Palmetta here (later revised to include stepouts). They haven’t gotten many views so I thought I’d mention them again here. I would greatly love some feedback, especially since these are my first attempts at introducing new patterns.
The Diva has returned! This week the challenge (#366) is to go Back to Basics by revisiting several official tangles: Hollibaugh, Meeko, Printemps, and Crescent Moon. It is nice to have the opportunity to return to these very familiar tangle patterns with a fresh eye.
Here is my tile:
Printemps, Hollibaugh, Crescent Moon, Meeko
I had fun with this tile, and like the effect of filling in the quadrants of the rough diamond shape with the patterns.
Following a similar theme (at least as far as Hollibaugh is concerned) is this week’s “It’s A String Thing” challenge. In this case, the challenge tangles include Hollibaugh, 7Keys, Sling-Slang, and Diamonte. The goal is to practice layers and fills, utilizing IAST string #259 by Adele Bruno.
My tile appears below.
Hollibaugh, 7Keys, Sling-Slang, Diamonte
The surrounding three bands of Sling-Slang, 7Keys, and Diamonte made a nice frame around the Hollibaugh. It was fun to learn the three less familiar patterns.
The focus tangle this week for the Facebook Square One group is Hexonu by Cherryl Moote, CZT. The stepouts are available here.
This was my first attempt at drawing Hexonu, and I found it to be fun experience. It’s an excellent pattern to fill up space, and there are lots of possibilities with different fills for the triangles within the hexagons.
My “default” is to keep things simple, so that’s what I chose to do with this tile. Basically, I filled in random triangles on one diagonal, and then drew in stripes along the cross-diagonal. I like the sense of movement that was created! On a side note, this pattern reminds me a lot of the overlay for the Puppet Warp tool in Photoshop Creative Cloud.
For a while now I had been playing with a pattern that I think is an original. Finally it’s ready for the unveiling… and thus I give you Zazzle. I think that Zazzle allows for a lot of versatility. It works well as a starter for a zendala, or however you might like to use it in your tiles.
Here are the step-outs:
Stepouts for my tangle, Zazzle
Please note that I added a new Patterns page to the blog, where you will also find these step-outs. In addition, there are step-outs for my other pattern, Palmetta. I hope to add new ones in the future.
Below is an example of Zazzle on a zendala tile. In this case I drew concentric circles to provide a string, so it is more structured than the more free-form examples seen in the step-outs.
Zazzle Zendala
Although I like it in black and white, I thought it would look pretty with some added color. Using blue, purple, and aqua watercolor crayons I colored in specific patterns, and repeated them in an alternating fashion from the center outwards. For contrast I left some areas white.
Feedback about Zazzle is welcome and encouraged! If you try out Zazzle I would love to see what you come up with. Please leave a link in the comments below or send me an email via the Contact page.
This week’s Diva challenge is to draw a Paradox monotangle. Above are two Paradox tiles which I drew some time ago. It’s so late in the week that I’m just posting them here for fun. The first presents the “twist” pattern, and the second features the “fan” pattern. I love how the looks are so different! Paradox is an official tangle and the step outs are available here.
Here’s an admission: when I first learned how to draw Paradox I found it very difficult. The problem was that I kept losing my place in terms of where the last stroke ended and the next stroke would begin. With a fair degree of determination and a lot of practice I got much better at it. Turning the tile helps a lot. Now Paradox is one of my favorite tangles.
Tip: This post by Margaret Bremner, CZT was very helpful to me in mastering this tangle.
It’s a little late in the week to be posting, but here is my tile for Diva Challenge #350 Heart Strings: Rimana (UMT) by Nadine Roller, CZT. You can find the stepouts here.
So, I had a little bit of difficulty with this challenge. I think my main problem had to do with placement and spacing. Rimana is a very pretty and versatile tangle, and I hope that with more practice I’ll get technically better at it.
Anyway, I decided to combine Rimana with Hearty, by Margarete Gilge. Stepouts for Hearty are available here. Hearty and Rimana are both quite similar to Rixty, and also I think they are comparable to Pokeleaf and Pokeroot. Given the appropriateness of Valentine’s Day related themes, Hearty seemed a great match to use with Rimana for this challenge. Of course part of the string is a heart shape and I outlined it with Hearty. Then I surrounded (framed) the heart with Rimana.
After drawing the basic tile I felt it needed more contrast and detail. Thus I sought a way, or ways, to make the tile more intricate and interesting. After thinking about it I realized that the answers were: color (Derwent ink pencils), auras, and shading!
The Diva’s video reminded me of the usefulness and beauty of auras, so I outlined the heart shape with auras, and also “aura’d” the areas of Rimana. Another valuable tip in the video was to scribble on a scrap piece of paper with a soft pencil, and then to pick up the graphite for use in shading the tile. Blend with a tortillion. Great idea!
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