Monday, July 10, 2017

Made by Joey Challenge #173: My Guest Blogger Challenge

Margaret Bremner's "Rope  String"
Dingbatz'd

This week I'm honored to create a guest blog post for Joey's weekly challenges. She's much deserving of a break after 170+ inspiring posts. Seriously...to do this week after week requires a lot of dedication, discipline and IDEAS! I pondered...and pondered several half-baked ideas to come up with one I thought would be an inspiring challenge to Joey's followers (and to me too).
I am almost always challenged by strings, but I do love getting back to basics by laying some thing down on paper so I have a place to start. I like the structure the string provides and I like the challenge of making that string disappear. The great thing about this particular string is that it works well whether you embrace it or make it go away. 

from my archives

my sketchbook set-up

still a work-in progress...I think;-)


I always have a string page going on in the sketchbook to collect inspiration from my travels around the blogs, Facebook and Pinterest. It's my version of a sampler and this string is a great host for every type of pattern out there, grid, organic, ribbon, vine, fill....whatever and it shades beautifully.

The second part of the challenge was the real challenge for me. Disconnect. Pen, tile, self. That's it.

I spend sooooo much time noodling around the internet looking for inspiration, I forget that I can be my own inspiration. I clicked with this after watching several of Laura's (I am the Diva) live streams. She (as do all of us whether we think we do or not) has an arsenal of patterns she uses most frequently. Laura seemed to ponder "what should I do next?" briefly and decide on something as simple as say...Tipple. I came to the conclusion that if one masters, perhaps 20 patterns tops, that's all you need in 90% of the drawing you do so you can call upon them by instinct. 
Mastering a pattern is a challenge too. It includes taking the time to explore as many variations you can of a pattern in a monotangle by varying size and line weight to create contrast. I ALWAYS cringe when I'm called upon to do one, but they usually end up being super fun in the end.

Printemps

I did this tile awhile back and didn't notate the prompt but I think it was for a Square One Purely Zentangle weekly challenge. It illustrates a concept that was drilled into me in art school "Contrast Equals Interest". I'm also a big fan of "the elegance of limitation"-Rick Roberts. I used to describe it as not crippling yourself with choices but Rick's words are so much more Zen;-)


Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have fun with this challenge. I would love to hear your thoughts;-)








15 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for taking the reins and providing us with a fantastic challenge this week! Your work is so inspiring to me I am so glad you agreed!
    Now, off to get a few things done so that I can tangle this evening!
    xo
    ~ joey ~

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    1. Thank you Joey. I appreciate everything you do !

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  2. Using this ropestring on a Bijoux tile and making a real Dingbatz is beautiful.
    Thanks Michele for this lovely challenge and showing us so many gorgeous examples!!! I'm fond of your colored work but your Black/white is also stunning.
    Kind regards from Belgium

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  3. Maybe, it isn't a Bijoux, but that doesn't matter. I thought of this format because Dingbatz are always small drawings.

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    1. Many thanks Ria! It is a regular tile😉 I'm so glad you took on my challenge this week and I appreciate your kind words!

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  4. It's great how you put the Rope String on a bed of Flux and Tipple! Two of the patterns I use a lot as well. I'm not sure if I master 20 patterns, but I'm sur you'll do. Your pretty work always shows me your experience and zennnn ;-)

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    1. Thank you Ilse! I'm not gonna make myself too crazy with this "mastery" task but I thought it would be a good challenge to myself to go try some new things with my old faves. Thanks for participating in guest challenge this week. Your tile is Fab!

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  5. Neat set of ropes! Lovely idea for a challenge Michele :)

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  6. Your Printemps tile is SOOO GOOD! I really love the Striping detail and the teeny tiny Printemps on the top left of the tile. :) The rope string is a great prompt. I'm starting to do full pages in my sketchbook too, so it would work well.

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  7. Your rope-strings are so creative! I´ve never thought of using Narval in this case! Amazing!

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    1. Thanks Anita! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I love yours in the round 😍

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  8. I am really excited for this challenge! That is the most interesting string, and your work here is inspirational. I just started a new 8-5, M-F job so my tangling time has been truncated, but this one I am GOING to enter. Just too yummy

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  9. Ah, as usual, your artwork is so inspirational and beautiful and it seems to just flow naturally from your hand, while I twist and turn both tile and pen tons of time before I make a stroke. Thanks for a great challenge, Michele.

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