Diva challenge 95: Mickey

This week the Diva welcomed guest artist Courtney to kick us off with a Disney-inspired challenge.  Courtney shared Disney's "Steamboat Willie" short that was released in November of 1928.  An icon was born!

It's been fun to see how everyone has interpreted this challenge--from filled in Mickeys to Mickie, Minnie, or steamboat-inspired patterns.

I had a bit of a rough time starting this one because I wasn't sure where to start.  I love that the Zentangle® method is so freeing and isn't restricted by traditional art techniques and rules.  Sometimes I feel inspired to use a shape or a stencil to create my initial "string" to fill/surround with tangle patterns.  For some reason, this week, I was stumped for a few days.  I loved watching Steamboat Willie and thinking about ideas, but I felt a bit stuck with my creativity.  I took the opportunity to work on some other pieces to get my creative juices flowing.

Then I started to get an idea!  I traced a coaster and round block to create Mickey's head shape.  I immediately went at those ears with Bunzo, and I even colored the pattern in finally.  I thought Bunzo looked Mickey ear shaped.  :-)  Crescent Moon seemed perfect for Mickey's brow line.  I kept seeing the red associated with the more modern Mickey so I filled in the background with some red Printemps.  I loved doing this part!  I didn't want to fill in the whole face, so I opted for eyes filled with Marasu.

When I finished and held my piece up, I realized that all of my tangles resembled Mickey's ears.  It's fun when an idea encourages the use of particular patterns or shapes.

With all that buildup, here's my Mickey Diva challenge:

A tangled evening

I just got back from teaching another basic Zentangle® class tonight in North Chelmsford with a few new attendees and a couple of repeat visitors.  We had a relaxing and creative night.

Here are the beautiful class creations:

We discussed a variety of tangle patterns and shading techniques.  It's always fascinating to see how, with the same instruction, each person interprets the patterns differently through size, variation, pen hold, and individual style.  Every piece is unique and wonderful!

Our second tile was more freeform and included several other patterns.  Here are the works in progress:

What a great job they did!  I had a lovely time tangling with everyone.

A ZIA gift

A dear friend welcomed a new daughter into the world a few months ago, and we're finally getting together for a visit.  I was inspired to make a name sign for her as Zentangle® Inspired Art (ZIA).

I had an interesting frame with seven small sections--the perfect number for her name!  I cut small pieces of watercolor paper to fit each section then tangled each.  Here are some unshaded before pictures:

I used my Cricut machine to die-cut letters in black then added the tangled pieces behind each letter.

Here is the end result:

I hope they'll like it.

Welcome to the world, Bethany!

My new tangle: Feesh

My daughter provides me with new inspiration on a daily basis.  She's such a happy, funny little toddler!

Like most 2-year olds, her favorite snack is Goldfish crackers.  She asks for them often, but unfortunately she doesn't always eat them.  She likes to dump them out all over the floor, crush them with her feet, and decorate our home in Goldfish art.

I'm a pretty laid back mom, but this practice can get trying at times.  Once while she was putting her fish into the bowl and out of the bowl, losing them all over the floor, I started to tangle the experience.  I started making various Goldfish looking shapes but wasn't pleased with them.  Sure, they were fairly easy to do, but they weren't worthy of all of the amazing tangle patterns that people have created.

I picked up my fishline attempts and decided to try again.  This time, I started with the straight line as the tail fin and added the teardrop fish body shape.  It started to remind me a bit of Flux, so I added lines, a dot like an eye, and sometimes bubbles.  Even though the Zentangle method is not for representational images, I still thought this pattern would fit.  I was not trying to recreate fish, rather, I was inspired by the shape to make something fishlike.

I think the end result looks like a variety of things--Japanese lanterns, leaves, lights, and more.  They can be created with a straight or curved line to start.

The name "Feesh" comes from Rico on Penguins of Madagascar, a show my husband and I both enjoy.  Rico always calls his fish "Feesh!" hence the name of my new tangle.

I hope you enjoy it.  Feel free to share some of your Feesh creations with me!

Diva challenge 94: Socc

This week, the Diva gave a challenge using the tangle Socc by Erin Olson, CZT.  This is my first time playing with this pattern, and I already love it!

I enjoyed the variety of sizes of the little rice puffs and had fun watching this tangle develop.  At first I wasn't sure I did it correctly, but it's one of those tangles that makes sense after more lines are drawn.  I know, I know, there is no right or wrong, but when I'm learning a new tangle, I like to understand how to do it before I tweak it or do a variant.

One of the things I love about regular practice with the Zentangle® method is that I'm constantly challenging myself and my ideas about things.  I'm often pleasantly surprised by my reactions and my thoughts.  When you think you really know yourself maybe it's a good time to try to challenge yourself with something new!

My colorful journey

To date, I've preferred to keep my tangled artwork in the traditional black and white.  I love color in my other crafts, but I haven't fully embraced it in my Zentangle® artwork.  I love the crisp look of black on white or white on black with the appropriate shading.  I think the tangle patterns aren't as clear when the piece is colored in.  I love all of the colored ZIA, Zentangle Inspired Artwork, that I've seen so I knew I had to try some.  When I finish a tile or other tangled piece, I often debate about coloring it in and then stop myself because I feel like the piece is complete.   

In an effort to challenge myself to color outside my own lines, I've given myself a few ways to add color.  Before I pick up my Micron pen, I decide if I'm going to use color.  Here was my first tile in this experiment:

I tangled my tile but did not do any shading.  I used Intense pencils, thanks to a lesson from Sandy Steen Bartholomew.  I wasn't sure how the pencils and water would work on the Zentangle tile, but I was pleased with my first result.  I love the vibrant colors these pencils give.

Next I worked on a Zendala.  I divided my circle tile with an apple corer to give me some basic shapes. I used all grid-related patterns in the apple slice areas, but Copada by Margaret Bremner called to me for the outer rim.  Here's the black and white version:

I already knew I was thinking of coloring this one in, so I popped the tin of pencils open and picked several coordinating colors in green, blue, and purple.  I had a blast coloring in all of the sections and watching the shades pop when I added water.  I love this Zendala more in color:

I have a bit of a flowchart approach in my mind with regard to coloring in my Zentangle artwork.

• Do I want to use color -- yes or no
• If yes, do I want to have a colored background, or do I want to color after tangling?
• Tangle
• Do I like the end result -- yes or no
• If yes, shade and finish
• If no, add color.
• Enjoy

A tangled Paradox

Sometimes I get going with a particular tangle pattern and just can't stop!  It's so freeing to fill an entire space or tile with just a single pattern, otherwise known as a monotangle.  I don't have to think about what comes next!

This tile took a little while to do, but I had a great time watching how Paradox developed over the tile.  This is one of my favorite patterns.  I think it's fun but challenging to try to find the original triangles.

Have some fun trying your own monotangle with Paradox or another tangle pattern.