Round and Round We Go

" I don't believe in failure. It is not failure if you enjoyed the process."    Oprah Winfrey

I love zendalas!  I've always known that (but sometimes seem to forget)...there's something about the symmetry in creating a round piece of Zentangle art work that really appeals to me. This past week I worked on several zendalas after receiving the mandala stencils I ordered from fellow CZT Genevieve Crabe at Amaryllis Creations. These stencils make the process of designing your own zendalas so easy.

I've done the pre-strung zendala tiles from zentangle.com, but it's so much more gratifying for me to create my own designs. With these stencils you just pencil in the dots and use them as a guide to make symmetrical lines, curves and shapes ... and voila! You have your own unique zendala! Using one stencil (you get 3 in the set), you can design an infinite number of totally different zendalas. No measuring, no need for a compass or protractor. No folding paper and punching holes as in a method I had devised.

Here's the first one I designed, on watercolor paper. This is unshaded because I knew I was going to add color. 

Then I added the color and shading using  Tombow dual brush pens.

I designed my next zendala on a tile that I colored with watercolors before tangling. That whole area tangled in Paradox started out as several different sections, but as I tangled I decided it would look cool to continue the paradox throughout, and I'm glad I did.

The last one I completed was larger, drawn on a 6 inch circle (the first two were each 4 1/2 inch circles). No color added this time.

I love the way all of these zendalas turned out. And I loved the process - after all, isn't that what Zentangle is all about? 

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let Down Your Hair

"I do maintain that if your hair is wrong, your entire life is wrong."
Steven Patrick Morrissey

I love the idea of tangled hair. No, not the kind that hurts when you try to comb it, but the kind where you draw a face with lots of hair and then tangle the hair, as in Zentangle. My problem is that I really can't draw faces. I've tried unsuccessfully, believe me!  

So I found a set of stenciled faces from Jane Davenport. First I stamped the stencil onto my paper with archival black ink. Then I began to pencil in the hair. After many lines drawn, erased, and drawn again, I got to a point where I thought the hair looked pretty decent. Then I went about the business of tangling it.

I'm not sure if I made all the best choices I could have for the patterns I used, but in the end I think this girl is having a pretty good hair day. After scanning the first version, just in case I messed up, I added a touch of color in the eyes and lips.

I have to say, the stencils were the way to go for me! The set came with four faces, which means I have three more styles to try out. Maybe I should have been a hair stylist.

Paint With all the Colors of the Wind

"Colors are the smiles of nature."     Leigh Hunt

Back in April when I attended Tangle U in Maine, I bought some hand-colored tiles from fellow CZT Sue Jacobs. This first one, a blue Zendala tile, was completed using a stencil from Acadia Laser Creations, along with blue pen and colored pencil for shading.

I was very happy with the way it turned out, so I went on to do another one, this time in pink. It's okay, but I think my tangle choices could have been better. However, I was loving the whole colored pen and pencil thing.

Then I decided to try making some of my own tiles. I used several methods, including watercolor paint, Ranger distress ink pads, alcohol inks, and Tombow markers. So much fun, and the results were so interesting! Here's one I did where I tangled the green parts of the tile and left the pink parts as open space.

 

This next one in pink and purple, I decided to tangle using black pen, along with colored pencils and graphite pencil for shading. This reminds me a little bit of the trees that I've recently seen Margaret Bremner post. I like the combination of colors here.

Next is another tile that I made. I decided to try a red pen on this tile colored with orange and yellow. I love the way these colors look together.

I thought I'd share some of the other tiles I created, just waiting to be tangled.

This last picture is a group of leftover pieces of paper that I colored using various methods. They're smaller than tile size. I was just fooling around with the scraps rather than throwing them away (recycling).

Who knew working with color in this way could be so much fun!

An Elephant of a Different Color

"Possessing a healthy imagination is a necessary ingredient for creativity."  Steve Vai

A couple of weeks ago when I was at Tangle University, I bought a few Dreamweaver stencils. They're heavy-duty stencils made from metal and I suspect that they will survive any abuse I send their way. One of the techniques we learned from Sandy Bartholomew was how to make prints on black paper, using these stencils and scratch-foam. I hope to share more about that in a later post once I receive the foam that I ordered from Dick Blick. In the meantime, I played around with a couple of my new stencils, just tangling them in the traditional way. 

One of the stencils I got was a very cute elephant. I traced the stencil, tangled it, and shaded it, and here is what I got.

Part of him (or her?) was shaded using a graphite pencil, and part using Tombow dual brush markers. Can you tell the difference? I love my elephant, so I decided to try some variations. Next came a colored version, but first I scanned it after tangling and before coloring.

Then I went ahead and created a fantasy elephant, more like something you'd find at Disney, very unrealistic, but nevertheless cute.

I used Tombow markers to add the color. It looks a little better in person, but clearly I need some help and practice with using these markers proficiently, and that's why I registered for Marie Browning's Time to Tangle in Color online class. Haven't had time to begin the class yet, obviously.

For my final elephant in the series, I decided to use gray toned paper from Strathmore. After all, elephants really are gray, unlike the previous one. 

I love how this guy turned out, and always love the look of the shading along with white charcoal pencil highlighting on the toned papers. But I decided to try one more thing. I took my original elephant and played with it in Lightroom to come up with this.

Remember that horse of a different color that Dorothy met in the Emerald City? I guess this is an elephant of a different color!

I had a lot of fun playing with my elephant and can't wait to use him for printing when my new supplies arrive.

That's What Friends Are For

"For good times and bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
That's what friends are for"  
Dionne Warwick

It was time to do something a little different. So I pulled out a couple of Dyan Reaveley stencils that I've had for a while but had not found the time to play with yet. These "ladies" needed a colorful background. My first try was Dylusion sprays. Without going into all the details, let me just say that it didn't go as planned and I had a page that I couldn't use. Onto my next idea, a watercolor wash. I decided to use my Peerless watercolors, which turned out to be a mistake. In addition to the color being too intense for my purpose, some of it seeped under the edges and messed up the images. But I wasn't going to give up that easily. For my third try I used Ranger distress ink pads with a blending tool. The ink did not blend as well as I would have liked, but it looked good enough for me to continue. After all, how does that saying go? Three strikes and you're out. Here's what I ended up with after tangling the ladies.

As I worked on this piece a story unfolded in my mind about these two good friends. First of all, just by looking at their outfits it's obvious that they are fashion trendsetters! Who would not want the clothes they're wearing? The one with the umbrella (added with a rubber stamp) is worried about her beautiful hair getting wet, while the other one, sporting her snazzy rain boots, is more worried about her feet getting wet. I'm sure they are discussing something very important as they stand out in the rain...maybe their next shopping trip. 

This piece was so much fun to work on. I foresee some of their friends making their way onto my journal pages another day. Next time I can only hope that it won't take me three tries to get the background right. 

I decided to experiment with music for this blog post. I hope it's working properly. Let me know what you think.