My take on Zentangles

When I first heard of Zentangles on the arttechniques email list, I wasn't very interested. After hearing about it for awhile, though, I decided to give it a try.....with a twist. Zentangles are normally done in black ink on white paper. So first I tried it in colored pencil on white paper. It turned out quite well. I liked the visual impact of the rich colors. Next, I decided to try colored pencil on black paper. I was very happy with how it turned out. One reason I like this (beyond the coolness factors of abstract design and fun creative process) is that it is a good way to hone my drawing skills. Since I just started a med that makes my hands stop shaking, I hope I will make major progress in this area over time (both with the Zentangles and with my fantasy drawings.) I also taught some of my sixth graders to make Zentangles, and they too are having fun coming up with their own patterns and variations.

Ugh

I am slowly making my way through the Acrylic Revolution exercises with the Acrylic Artists class (see previous posts if interested). Today I decided to do the tube painting exercise....which is where you paint directly with the paint tubes. I discovered that I hate this particular method because it gives very little control of the paint. The results were patchy and irregular, which is not always a bad thing, but I found it very irritating. Needless to say I will not likely use this technique again.

Stained Glass Fairy

I have not really put much of my colored pencil work on my blog, though I have done quite a bit of it lately, so I am going to start today with my newest piece. I had been doing Zentangles (having seen them on ArtTechniques), but had been doing them in colored pencil (they look very interesting on black paper, I'll have to post one of those too). Anyway, when my husband saw them, he suggested I do something that looked like stained glass. I sat down and started sketching, and this is what I came up with. I see that it has a number of design flaws, but I learned a lot from it, and I like it. I'd love to get some constructive feedback.

Having Fun

Yesterday, I went out with my family to Naperville. We went to Borders for awhile. Of course, being an inveterate bargain hunter, I had to check out their clearance. I scored two "carry boxes" (which look like lunch boxes). This was a good development; at a different Borders a few weeks ago, I had picked up one of these (also on clearance) to make into a shrine/box for our elderly dog, Emma. At the time, I only got one; later, I kicked myself because I realized how much fun they would be to alter. So of course I jumped at the chance to get a couple more. On the way out, I was scanning another rack and saw kraft paper (brown) journals also at 50% off. On a whim, I grabbed one to use as a purse journal. I liked the non-whiteness of the paper and the compact size. Then we drove North on 59 and I saw a scrapbook store I had never seen before. Of course I had to go in and look. They had all kinds of awesome stuff, and I raided the clearance section (since the budget, as usual, is not limitless). One thing I paid full price for, though, was a pair of glitter gel pens. I know, so twelve year old of me, but I am a sucker for glitter. Especially in my favorite blue and green. Then we went out to dinner (at Boston Blackie's). I started writing in my new journal and promptly got grease on the cover. This kinda bothered me, but I knew it was opportunity knocking. I figured I'd alter the journal (which I probably would eventually have done anyway), cover up the grease, and call it good. Things have been very busy lately (thus the long time between posts), but I've managed to put in a few minutes here and there on my new journal and had a great time doing it. I think I achieved the casual look I was going for.