Use My Tangle challenge

I was inspired this week, well OK, mostly last night, to get some drawing done. I had been thinking about this week's Diva Challenge to use her new tangle, potentially named "Somnee" but I hadn't actually done much with it yet. Just a few trials, letting it stew in my head for a few days. This is what came out of the pot.

I will say that I was not immediately in love with this tangle. It has much in common with its sibling tangle Bridgen which I have a hot and cold relationship with... I have trouble with the structure, or lack thereof along with the number of straight lines and amount of open space. I am happiest with the look of these examples because they are pretty 'full'. I did come up with a cute variation that I could not work out completely to my satisfaction in which the circles are faces (like in Lara's step outs) and are connected with 'arms' that have little hands at the ends so it looks like they are reaching out for each other. It gets a little odd looking when the little faces all have multiple arms and are surrounded by tiny little fat cartoon fingers... but the sentiment is nice.   

I have been looking through some older things in my binder and came across a pattern that I don't think I ever posted, or at least I can't find it. It is called Hillndale. I thought I would put it up here and try to use it some in my tangling this week. I am trying, during the break between classes to do some tangling each day and use the strings on Tangle Patterns beginning with 001. The two challenge tiles above are the first in the series, string 001 and 002. There will be many more to come, hopefully - I need the practice and the peace and to get in the habit of doing some everyday before my crazy summer begins.

Have a great week!

Semester is over...

Do you know how you can tell the semester is over?

I actually had time to do and post a challenge before the deadline!

This time is was Adele Bruno's It's a String Thing  for last week.

BOY, am I out of practice!  Sheesh, put the pen and pencil down for a few months while you are madly typing papers on the computer and teaching teenagers physics and you definitely lose your mojo! Here is the one of two I am willing to share...

I have had occasion to look over some of my work from past years recently and I realize that I badly need some practice.  I intend to get it over the next few weeks before summer classes begin. I have decided to start at the beginning of the string list on Tangle Patterns and try to do one new string every day. My previous effort of 'art everyday' did not last very long, but I was still in school at the time. I hope I can keep drawing regularly when classes begin again. It is so relaxing for me and I will need that outlet once I start my first year of teaching in the fall. Beginning in about the middle of July my stress level will sky rocket and my spare time will become non-existent. However, one good piece of advice I heard from a first year teacher is to find one thing that eases your stress and allows you to unwind and do it often. Drawing would fit the bill nicely. I will keep you posted as to my success. 

I also got a great peice of news between my last post and now... some of my work will be published in a new tangle book coming out in December 2014. I don't know how much more I can say right now, but I am kind of excited. Maybe I can get a few copies and do a give away on the blog! We will have to wait and see. 

Have a great week!

Every Day Art

So, this week wasn't nearly as regular as the first partial week, but hey - we didn't have any weather realted emergencies or previously scheduled school holidays this week and I actually had to be at school ALL 5 days this week - whew! After so many partial weeks this one felt like it was a month long! I am sure I will get back into the groove of it soon (like I have a choice, right?).

This one is my favorite.

Here are all the tiles for this week, including a few I have included in some other posts about the Diva Challenge and the "Its a String Thing" challenge for this week. The first two were not included elsewhere. What do you  think? Am I getting back in my groove?

I like the Punzel in this one but the oval thing was a big fail in my opinion.

I like the dense feel of this one

This was the "String Thing" entry and the last two were the Diva Challenge entries using wavy grids.

Wavy grids are the best grids!

This week's Diva Challenge was to use patterns that begin with a grid, but to make the grid wavy. That is one of my favorite things! Not only does the wavy grid give you fluent lines it can also lend a huge amount of depth to a piece should you choose to make it little on one side and large on another (think of the look of a tile floor with a 'vanishing point' in the distance) or bend it around a curved object. My entries are below...

This one's grids are pretty tame - just a little wavy. It works better with the one on the bottom - which I still can not recall the name - than it does with the Sindo at the top - which I don't think I did quite correctly.

I also have a few tiles from  a few post back that show really crazy grids effectively... the first and third tiles from the Aquafleur challenge in January. Strangely, one of those is Sindo done correctly and it looks much better... imagine that. Maybe I was thinking of that tile when I chose Sindo for this one - and then could not remember how to do it!

All three tangles in this one begin with a grid. The one in the tear drop shows my favorite effect with grids - it lends a three dimensional aspect to it quite easily.  

I have an update about my efforts to do Art Every Day, so check that out to see my progress. 

I also decided to participate in a "Its a String Thing" over at Tickled to Tangle and posted about that as well. Trying to do so many more than usual in a week was really putting the pressure on for coming up with new strings! This should help that. In the spirit of 'monotangle' only with strings I may try to use one string all week sometime and see how different the tiles are. Interesting idea, no?

Have a great week!

Stringing along...

Well, since I have been trying to do more lately on a regular basis and not think about it TOO much I have been a little pressed for string inspiration. So, I thought I would try out the weekly "Its a String Thing" challenge at "Tickled to Tangle". So check out the original string over there and see how I've done this week.

Maybe one week in the future I will use the same string all week long and see how different they all are! That might be cool, especially if the string was one where the lines would coincide from right to lef tor top to bottom if you did rows and columns of them... hmm. interesting.

I also have Diva challenge entries posted here and news on the progress of the Art Every Day quest, here.

Art *Almost* Every Day

So, this is the first week of the "Art Every Day" experiment. A few years ago I accepted a similar challenge to do a little art every day for a month and it was a great experience. I have gotten woefully sloppy and out of practice by only drawing a little here and there when I have a moment or in class. I wanted to see if I could manage to get back to the 'roots' of the Zentagle practice and do a little piece every day, small, quick, not too much thought...  of course the weekly challenge to leave a blank space was included in a few!

The one above has a pattern I have kind of done before, but not seen anywhere else in the bottom right corner. The one below originally had a blank spot where the netting is and it just looked wrong so it got filled in, however, it does have the sparsely populated Printemps area that gives a sense of light emptiness. 

So far I have managed doing one everyday. One day I only managed half, but the next day I finished and did another a well. I have a ways to go in really doing it 'quickly' and without too much thought. I have been trying to pick tangles that I haven't done in a while and don't pick often so I am looking through my book frequently so I don't fall back on the 'old familiar' ones. Here are the rest so far this week...

Have a great week!

Happy Valentines!

Thanks to the latest round of snow and ice in the south and the fact that I am semi-addicted to watching the Olympics, even when I don't care much about the sport being covered (why is that? limited availability makes it seem more desirable? or is it more habit because I grew up watching Olympics with my mom every time they rolled around?) I managed to doodle out a few valentine themed pieces for the Diva Challenge this week.

I like this one for it's delicate look, but wish I had had enough time to fill in with water color instead of just the kids' colored pencils. Delicate washes would have looked excellent and this is actually water color paper. If I had had watercolor pencils I would have used those, but alas you do with what you've got and make the best of it. The boarder is actually a modified Copada filled in with hearts - I like the effect and it makes it super easy to make adjacent hearts match - because their sides are actually the same line.

I like the leaves on this one except for their regularity... a trap I fall into frequently when I am trying to be irregular. It is a great skill when you want all the elements to be consistent but is a real drag when you want variety of size and shape and keep falling back into the consistency trap. This looks much better when you get a little crazy and go big and small and curvy and wavy and all over them map. 

So I have decided to make an effort to do a little more regular practice. I am a little disappointed at the level of my drawing and composition skills of late and I think it is just because I don't get in the regular practice. My general lack of time will mean I need to get back to the roots of Zentangle... make it small, do it quick, don't plan too much, don't think too long. Maybe I will try to post my efforts weekly, just to keep me honest. 

Hope your day today, and everyday, is filled with love!