Things Are Stacking Up Nicely

"Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts."   Rita Mae Brown

Over in the Facebook group 'Zentangle: Stacked and Tangled', there was a new "suggestion" this week. Tangling on papers that are not just white or one color... scrapbook paper, paper with text, lined paper, etc. I went through my stash of paper (it's very large), and came up with a couple of ideas. 

Here is a picture of a piece of mini origami type paper, 3 inches square, very thin and delicate. Sorry about the pencil line you see. I started to draw my lines for the stacking, remembered I hadn't taken a picture, and forgot to erase the line before the photo.

I tangled using my Micron 01 pen. Patterns from top to bottom are N'zeppel, Tipple, and Betweed. I decided not to tangle over the layer of flowers on the top, but instead outlined some of them with my pen to make them pop out a bit. When I look at this I feel like the flowers on top are on a tree and they're falling off and getting scattered on the ground. (I have a good imagination I guess!)

This next paper comes from a pad I have of 6 inch square cardstock type papers with all kinds of different designs on them. It isn't one of my favorite designs or color schemes, but it looks like a frame just waiting for the center to be tangled.

I stacked my layers using both brown and black Microns, and did a little shading with brown and white pastel pencils. To finish it off I added some white pops of color with my Uniball Signo UM 153 gel pen. Patterns from top to bottom are Dandi, Fassett, Onamato, Wud, Twile/Stoic, and Dandi.

I have to say that this transformed itself from a so-so design into one of my favorite tangled pieces. I love the combination of brown and black pens on the background color, and of course the white highlights. That's the amazing thing about Zentangle... you never know what you're going to end up with. Sometimes the ones you start off not liking are the ones that become your favorites!

***Update to this post: I have just been informed (7/30/15), that the FB group that I mentioned above is no longer open to new members at this time. Sorry!

 

Chalk it Up to Experience

"Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules,making mistakes, and having fun."   Mary Lou Cook

In my last post I mentioned that I had bought a set of 24 chalk pencils after having learned about them at Tangle U. For the past week I've been experimenting with them. To begin, I decided to do a few Bijou tiles (2 inches square) using the chalk pencils instead of graphite for shading. Here are my samples, showing Merryweather, Flux, Bunzo, and my own tangle Robo from my e-book Step Out in Style.  I tested several colors as you can see here.

Next I wanted to use the pencils in a Zendala since they are one of my favorite things to create, and a Zendala was what I had in mind from the minute I decided to purchase these. I used a template from a mandala coloring book I have, and tweaked it a little bit. Using three shades of green, including a teal, I added the color, as well as a little bit of graphite shading on the N'zeppel.

I love the way the color came out and I love the way the Flux looks as a border. 

After completing that, I decided to do a 'stack,' incorporating the pencils. In case you don't know what a stack is, check out my recent post here. This is how it turned out, using Strathmore gray toned paper.

At first I wasn't sure if I liked it, but it has since grown on me. I do know that I love my chalk pencils. What do I like about them? They blend easily. If the color goes outside the lines, they erase easily (shhh...I didn't really say that). They are easier to control than watercolor pencils, markers, etc. When used over your Micron lines they don't muddy the lines the way some pencils do. What don't I like about them? Nothing that I've discovered yet! 

But I'll tell you one thing I did discover. Not all tortillions/smudgers are created equal. I used different smudgers for the different colors. Most of them were from Zentangle.com and worked great. But I had a couple that were obviously different - you could tell by looking at them - and they did not work well at all. The paper was not the same. I don't know where I got them, but now I know to be careful what I pick up when shopping for smudgers!

Stacking the Deck

"Creativity is intelligence having fun."   Albert Einstein

A few weeks ago the prompt for the journal group I belong to was to create a stacked Zentangle. A stack is "rows of tangles that go in the same direction and touch or are close enough to appear as one solid cohesive piece rather than an assemblage whose pieces could float away. These rows in the stack may be vertical, diagonal, horizontal, circular, or semi-circular." Below is the piece that I tangled for that prompt. It isn't shaded because I knew I was going to take it one step further by adding color.

Patterns Used: Baton. Emingle, Knightsbridge, Hollibaugh, Printemps, Sand Swirl, Dex, Purk, Betweed

Here it is after adding color and shading with Tombow markers. I think some sections came out better than others.

Shortly after this, two CZTs, Alice Hendon and Jane Eileen, started a Facebook group called Zentangle: Stacked and Tangled. A place to share only art work that follows the above definition (as stated in the guidelines for the FB group.) Since I had really enjoyed doing the stacks in my journal, I decided to join the group.

Here is a stack I completed on a Zentangle tile (3 1/2 inches square). I used a stencil from Acadia Laser Creations and filled the open sections between stacks with Tipple (the little circles.)

Patterns Used: Knightsbridge, Z-trik, lines, Gerwutz, Static, Shattuck, Copada

Then I used another stencil from Acadia Laser that is similar, but meant for a Zendala tile. This time I chose a Renaissance tile and used brown and black microns with graphite pencil, brown pencil, and white pencil for the shading and highlighting. The knightsbridge (checkerboard) filled the spaces in between.

Patterns Used: Footlites, Beelight, N'zeppel, Diva Dance

 
It never fails to amaze me how the tan tiles come to life with the different color pens and pencils. Stacking is fun and simple to do. Check out the Facebook group linked above and see what it's all about.