Embossing Project Complete

I promised photos of the finished product, so here they are!  I really love how it turned out.  Adding just a little bit of color completely changes the look, but to me it still seems to preserve the overall Zentangle idea of simplicity.  Adding black on the flat area around the design really makes the embossed portion stand out.  I think this will be the first in a series!

Diva's Challenge #18: Eggs!

Fitting for Easter week, The Diva's challenge was eggs.  I didn't get a chance to work on the challenge until Thursday this week.  I wanted to tangle an elaborate egg design, but I also didn't want the task to add more stress to my already busy week.  Simplicity won out, and I like the result.  I must be playing too much Angry Birds on my phone in my spare time, though, because my husband took one look at my tile and said it looked like something straight out of the game.  I hope to work on a more complex egg if I get some uninterrupted free time, but as we are in the middle of preparing for a big move it may not be possible!

The Fifteen Minute Challenge

This week's challenge from The Diva was to complete a Zentangle tile in 15 minutes.  The premise behind using the small 3.5" square tiles for Zentangles is to be able to complete them quickly without feeling like you have to fill up too much space.  I have never timed myself before to see how long it takes me to complete one, but after this week's challenge I do know this:  it is not 15 minutes!  After taking my first Zentangle class, I promptly went out and bought a drawing pad that was a bit larger.  After working with more space for a few weeks, I went back to the tiles and found them much easier to complete.  Now I think of larger designs as multiple tiles put together rather than making them on one large piece of paper.

That said, here is my first 15-minute tile.  Watching the clock was so stressful for me!  It is definitely not complete.  I usually leave my shading for last, and this tile has none and looks unfinished.

I'm not sure if I cheated on the next one by thinking it through a bit more before I started, but I found a few lessons learned as I went along.
-Simplify tangles and leave out any "unimportant" elements that still give the same impact (as with the Onomato lacking the second bubbly border).
-Use fewer tangles, and repeat them...or "zoom in" and enlarge a tangle or two to quickly fill space.
-Leave white space--it's okay!

 Just for kicks, here is a new project I am working on, embossing tangles on metal sheeting.  This one needs some color added to define it a bit more.  It includes Blooming Butter and Featherfall.  After I finish and mat it, I will post another photo.

Diva's Challenge #16

This week's challenge from The Diva was to use the new Zentangle pattern Mooka.  You can find the instructions for drawing the pattern here.  It is a very fun, flowy tangle to draw and a great space filler.  The best part about it is that it is really a one-step tangle.  No grids, no straight lines.  I found it taking on a mind of its own!

I found some inspiration for using Mooka in the pattern on my new, springy bag (bought to remind me that it is, in fact, spring even if it is 40 degrees outside and the trees are still without leaves!).

Curves Only and Great Mail

This week's challenge from The Diva was to use only curved lines.  My favorite!  I had so much fun with this one...much better than last week.  I have done two tiles so far and may do some more this weekend on my train ride to NYC to run the MORE Magazine Women's Half Marathon in Central Park (yay!).  It will be a great way to calm my nerves, as this is only the second time I have run a half-marathon.

I also got some important mail this week...my acceptance letter for the May Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) seminar.  The envelope was addressed so beautifully that I really hated to open it.  For those of you who don't know, Maria, the co-creator of Zentangle, is a world-renowned calligrapher.  I think it's pretty obvious who wrote this:

I am so excited to attend the training, as I'm sure that is just a tiny taste of what's to come!

The Diva's Challenge #14

I am a bit behind as I have just recently discovered this, but each Monday a new Zentangle challenge is posted here.  You can also find it with the button to the right.  I know I need to work out of my regular "box," so I tried this week's challenge.  It was to use only straight lines.  I like designs made up of straight lines, so I thought it would be a piece of cake.  Wrong.  I started 4 different tiles and only finished two of them.  I discovered that while I like tangles with straight lines, I do not like starting with strings that are straight.  (For more information on what I mean by tangles and strings, go here.)  Here are my finished tiles.  I will post the unfinished ones as well, as soon as I work on them a bit more.  

Beyond Paper

I have never been an artist.  Crafty, yes.  But able to draw more than stick figure people and mystery animals (is that a dog or an elephant?) for my kids, not so much.  That's why I love Zentangle...it is simple to do yet has a beautiful and complex result.  So far I haven't ventured much beyond the traditional paper and black pen method, but last night I went to the monthly Artini Hour at the Mystic Arts Center and the topic was metal embossing.  The metal piece we were given was a 4-inch square, so I immediately knew I had to try tangling it.  When I finished, I actually felt like something of an artist for the first time.  A trip to the craft store is in order for the weekend to further my experiment with new media.

Patterns used: Ixorus, Zander