New Tangles and New Studio

"The coolest things in life are things that you have not done before. That's the key to life: new things always."      Afrojack

 I haven't been tangling a lot the past couple of weeks. I've been busy setting up my new studio space. With the help of my husband, I converted our sunroom into a dedicated art space. I love it! I'll add some photos at the end of this post.

In my last post, I mentioned how I was going to write about creating tiles where I used a "new to me" pattern in each one. But I got sidetracked with Jaysix. Now I'm back to show you some of those tiles I did with new patterns. In this first tile I used Borbz (the one on the diagonal), and added some Phicops and Bunzo. I enjoyed doing Borbz and am happy with the way this turned out.

Next I pulled out a pre-strung Renaissance Zendala tile. I haven't used one of those in forever. It was my first time with Peaks Border, which I used around the outside, and then added Munchin in the whole center area, and some Henna Drum flowers. Of course I shaded and added white highlights which are so important (at least to me) when working on tan tiles or paper. I love the contrast between the tan, brown, black, and white.

The tile below was completed a couple of weeks after the first tile above, and when I looked back afterwards I realized I had used Bunzo in both tiles. Guess that shows how much I like that pattern! But the tangle that was new to me in this one is Biscus, in the center. And I threw in some Zingers for fun.

Time for another one of my Dylusions painted tiles. Here's the before.

And the after, where I used mmmforestry (for the first time) along the sides, and added some Rixty. I decided to leave this one light and airy to let the beautiful colors shine through.

Well, that's it for my tiles. Now for my studio. I now have space not only to tangle (on my new drafting table that tilts up so I don't strain my neck), but I also have space to do the messy stuff like painting and inking, without worrying about ruining our new kitchen table. And without having to worry about setting up and putting away all those supplies every time I feel like doing something messy.

And did I mention that there are walls of windows on 3 sides of the room for some amazing light for working? And the wonderful view I sit and look at (whenever I look up from my paper)?
 

The studio has only been complete for a couple of days, but it's such a great space! Have I said how much I love it?

 

Tangled Graphics

"Isn't life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?"  
 Andy Warhol

A couple of months ago I was able to download, for free, many stock images from GraphicStock. I will admit that it sucked up many hours of my time looking through thousands of their images for designs I liked that would lend themselves to adding tangles. I think it was worth it. Here's one of them, as it was downloaded.

And here's what I chose to do with it. I was unsure if I should add more tangling on the right side of the circle, but when I took a vote of family members the clear answer was to leave it as is. I do love the way it looks, but sometimes I'm just not sure when to stop.

Here's another one of the images, with lots more color. The before...

And the after...

The wavy design reminded me of the line drawings I've been working on recently, so I started by mimicking the feel of those lines. Then I added Rixty, put auras around some of it, and continued the line work around to enclose the Rixty. Interesting, but not sure if I love it. I could try printing this design again and do something completely different with it. Not a bad idea... we'll see. 

It's really fun to take an image and add your own Zentangle touches to it. You should give it a try if you haven't already.  

Thinking Inside the Grid

"Success is due to our stretching to the challenges of life. Failure comes when we shrink from them."    John C. Maxwell

This week's Diva challenge is from guest blogger Sandy Hunter, CZT. Her challenge is to use a grid-based pattern and take it out of the grid, or take a free-form pattern and put it into a grid. When I think about tangleations (variations) that I can make from a certain pattern, I often think about taking it out of the grid and have done this in the past with several patterns. However, I don't think I've ever taken a free-form pattern and put it into a grid. As soon as I saw Sandy's challenge I knew I was going to have fun with this one.

In my first tile I began with Rixty... definitely NOT a grid pattern. But it is here.

I extended a few of the "tails" of Rixty out and around to meet another "tail". Then I filled those areas with Crescent Moon. Next I took Emingle out of the grid and added it to some of the outer areas, drawing random Emingle shapes.

For my next tile I started with Sand Swirl, by Karry Heun. I love this pattern as the free-form pattern it was meant to be, and I LOVE the way it looks in a grid. I expect that I will be using it that way again. Then I drew Nipa, another free-form pattern, in a grid, alternating directions of the curves. Knightsbridge was the finishing touch I added to the tile.

This was a fun challenge, and definitely gets you thinking in new ways, allowing for lots of creativity. Thanks Sandy!

Here, There, and Everywhere

"Let your thoughts meander towards a sea of ideas."   Leo D. Minnigh

Another week, another Diva challenge. This time the challenge was to use Rixty, the newest official tangle. When the tangle first came out, I played around with it a bit, but never actually put it into a tile. So this was my opportunity. Rixty is a fun tangle that can meander around in all directions. I love meandering tangles, but my trouble with them is that I don't know when to stop! I just keep going and going. On this tile I did just that, and then couldn't decide what else to put with it. So I started adding auras, and more auras, and more auras. And this is what I ended up with. Just Rixty and auras, and of course some shading.

Then I decided to add some color to it.

I used stardust gelly roll pens, but of course you can't see the shimmer because you never do unless you see the piece in person. And then I added some soft color in the background with Irojiten colored pencils. The verdict is still out on whether or not I really like it with color. One minute I think yes, and the next I think no. Oh well! I'd love to hear which way you like it better, black and white or color?