Diva Challenge #239, Made by Joey #81 & That's New to Me #41

Diva Challenge #239

Munchin

The challenge this week is the pattern Munchin with the optional additional challenge of using a black tile. Yikes! The idea of black tiles jerked me out of my comfort zone way too early this morning when I opened up this weeks challenge at the cafe. I was thoroughly comforted though by the Diva's own confession that she's not a fan of the black tiles either. For the time being, I only had my sketchbook and a few pens and pencils with me so I put the black & white thing on ice for a bit and went ahead with the plan to sketchbook this weeks challenge using my 2 new Inktense pencils. 

Munchin was not on my fave list. I toyed around with it a couple of weeks ago when it came up on Square One: Purely Zentangle and was not really gelling with it. Thankfully, the Diva linked to Molly Hollibaugh's video of her doing Munchin on a black tile and that turned the whole thing around for me. Once I got home I tore up a black scrapbook page and went to work. The gel pens really vex me though. I finally got my rhythm with the lines but my circles got all skippy. Fortunately I was able to black out some of the uglier bits.

Diva #239

Munchin Inktense Inktober

The first attempt

Made by Joey #81

Striping

This was not my finest hour.

That's New to Me #41

Zonked for a new Z tangle

&

Twistee by Livia Chua for the artist focus

I love how Zonked looks when others with a steadier hand do it but I can not get it looking nice at all. I have a problem with rounding and can never get it seamless. I really need to practice this one more. Twistee was fun.

Inktober Day 11

I saw this pattern somewhere recently and I can't remember the name.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Your generous and thoughtful comments always inspire me.

Diva Challenge #226 & That's New to Me #28 and a How To

I am the Diva Challenge #226~Simplicity 

&

Square One: Purely Zentangle Facebook Group

"Finery", "Munchin" & "Beadlines"

This weeks challenge at I am the Diva was put forth by guest blogger Katie Cromett: Simplicity.
The challenge is to use no more than 3 patterns, don't fear the white space and know when to stop (I have trouble with this).
I've been in watercolor mode for a while so I welcomed the challenge to get back to basics. I got back to Square One, a Zentangle inspired Facebook group that challenges us to focus on one pattern each week, though other patterns are allowed within the tile, the perameters are to use white tiles only, 3 1/2" square, black ink and graphite shading. I used Margaret Bremner's flying bird string. So simple but so effective.

  That's New to Me #28:  

"W" pattern: Wilted Lettuce by Suzanne McNeil 

& 

Artist Focus: Erin Olson CZT

"Bault"

This is an ATC using some watercolor cards I had left over from an ATC swap. I loved the pattern "Bault", a new-to-me pattern found on Erin's blog The Bright Owl. I searched and searched for new-to-me "W" pattern and landed on this very simple "Wilted Lettuce" on Suzy Mosh's pinterest page, a great collection of patterns which includes many patterns you won't find on the Tangle Patterns site.

Last week, I created a series of ATC's for the Zentangle Artists Trading Card Swap Facebook group and got a few inquiries about how I did the watercolor wash when I posted some pics. I really enjoyed making them and as I got set up to do another one, 'cuz now I'm totally addicted to them, I thought I'd attempt some process pics. 

Please leave a comment if you found this helpful, or not, or if my instructions are lacking or confusing. There are some great You Tube videos on doing water color washes too.

 

I used 11 x 14" Bristol vellum

1. Tape the paper down to a hard surface (this is the back of a large masonite artists clip board).

2. Wet the paper really well with mists of water from a spray bottle or a large paintbrush.

3. Paint on your chosen colors (I get my inspiration from rust;-), keeping it all quite wet. Yes, this looks like a hot mess. If you don't like what's happening blot it off with a paper towel and start again.

 

5. Blot with wadded up plastic wrap to get some texture happening. 

 

See, it's looking much better.

6. Finally, splatter a last layer of color. I load up the color on one brush and tap it across the wood of another brush.  You can also use an old toothbrush for a finer mist by scraping your thumb across the bristles to spray the color.

 

7. Use a hot blow dryer. This will significantly diminish the rippling of the paper. When it's completely dry, carefully pull off the masking tape. 

8. Trim away the edges and cut to size. Voila!

 

 I trimmed the corners to round them slightly. Now I'm ready to tangle!

Thanks for stopping by. Your generous comments always make my day.

If you would like to swap an ATC with me, leave a comment below and then message me here with your mailing address.

TangleBomb Friday

 It's a String Thing #78

Adele Bruno's string

patterns: Heartline, Hearty, LG & Lovelines

 for the One Tangle: week 6 facebook group challenge using Jane Monks string

New to me "M" patterns: Marasu, Msst, Munchin & Meteors 
for the "That's New to Me" Challenge

There sure are a lot of hearts going on here in the World of Zentangle. Oddly enough I find that I've been letting go (just a little) of my anti-Valentine leanings. 

The first tile is for Adele Bruno's "It's a String Thing" Challenge. This was a hard one. We were asked to use 4 specific heart themed patterns within the mirrored heart string. After a few failed attempts I considered omitting one and though there are no hard and fast rules, I follow rules. I stuck to my guns. Something about this string seemed to ask for symmetry.

I am also NOT a hearts & flowers kind of girl and never bought into the Valentine's Day hype relationship or no. Once I reluctantly started on these heart inspired challenges, I found the red, black and white theme fit into my world view and artistic sensibilities, especially when I found that adding black hearts and bold graphics tweaked a little jolt of glee in my jaded old heart. I'm particularly fond of those bullseye hearts above. That's my take on Adele Bruno's pattern "LG".

Diverting from the hearts is my first submission to the new facebook group One Tangle, Jane Monk's weekly challenge where she gives us a string of her own design and perhaps a suggestion of pattern placement. 

I really do not need another weekly challenge to a procrastinate around but I'm more productive when my pieces have a purpose or at the very least some kind of focus. I combined two challenges in one by using new 'M" patterns within Jane's great string for this weeks "That's New to Me" challenge by Suzy Mosh Creations. This was the perfect opportunity to explore Marasu, a coil pattern that I've seen done exceptionally well on Lily's Tangles and I've been wanting to try. This took me a really, really, really long time to draw.
I guess this could hardly be a TangleBomb with only two tiles so I adding this:

I resurrected this from the dud pile last week and just started embellishing it. I wish I'd taken a picture of it before. I think I just didn't see this going where I wanted back when I started it several months ago.  I pulled it out to practice some shading somewhere around the time I got the idea to go red marker crazy with hearts and stuff,..it came to life again. With the exception of Pokeleaf I have no idea if these are even patterns.