Sunday, July 28, 2013

Two-pencil string challenge

My computer was in the hospital this past week, meaning that I couldn't use my scanner, meaning that - even though I did the challenge last week - I couldn't post anything to show you. Now I have my computer back, the scanner is hooked up and... I have pictures!
Tangles: Adente, Knightsbridge, Knightspeak, Magma,
Paradox, Pearlz, Striping, Tortuca
Tangles: Black Pearlz, Crescent Moon, Pearlz
Sometimes I find the usual two-pencil string a little too ribbony, so I put something like an eraser between the pencils. Now, there's a legitimate zentangle use for an eraser. ;)
Tangles: Adente, Black Pearlz, Chebucto, Knightsbridge
Tangles: Beadlines, Pearlz, Tipple, Weben, Yew-Dee,
Y-Not (a variation sometimes called Etcher)
I thought I should really try to do something different for this challenge (since I'm the one who came up with the two-pencil string idea in the first place) so I drew a string on a zendala tile. I really like the effect of layered petals!
Tangles: Beadlines, Black Pearlz, Knightsbridge, Lamar, Paisley Boa, Spinning

Thursday, July 25, 2013

CADENT, and then some


Settle in. This is one of those long posts!

Cadent
is of one of Zentangle's 'official' tangles. It's simple, elegant and easy when you know the steps. It was designed by Maria Thomas and you can see her steps here, as well as some possible variations. Being basically a simple pattern, it lends itself to massive possibilities! It can be done with straight lines rather than curvy, but I prefer it with curvy lines so that's what I'll focus on here. Most of my examples aren't shaded yet; you should do that. :)

I want to start by sharing some of my favorite variations. My left brain realized that they would best be displayed in chart form.

And then some #1
A single row of Cadent makes a lovely border. You'll see a few scattered throughout this tutorial.



And then some #2
The square parts of Cadent can be filled with many different things for various looks. You may want to add Auras or ribbons to separate the squares. Think of some square grid tangles you like and see if you can adapt them. Here are a dozen ideas to get you started. I've used Cubine, Dex, Tortuca and Yincut, as well as other ideas.

And then some #3
If you make the circles larger they can be filled with something. Here are three possibilities. Think of tangles you like that are composed of small circles and try them out.
And then some #4
Cadent can be done as triangles too. I find this especially useful if Cadent is along an angled edge.
Using triangles, Cadent can be done in the round. Start with a central circle. Draw about six circles around it and connect all the circles using Cadent lines. Then you have to think triangles, add more circles, and keep going. For another method to arrive at almost the same pattern, see my tangle Wildwood.



And then some #5
You can do Cadent as rectangles instead of squares.

And then some #6
Here are some fancified versions of Cadent for more inspiration.
This border uses simple dots instead of circles, and alternates the direction of the 'scrolls'
And then some #7
For more ideas, see Patti Meijer's page of Cadent variations here.

And then some #8
Finally, I was about to throw out the samples I'd drawn for this post. Two of the large circle ideas and one with border designs caught my eye. Then I thought, "I could make ATCs out of those!"
ATCs developed from Cadent variations.
The large circle ideas are at the top and the 'border designs' are at the bottom.

Well, that should keep us out of mischief for a few days. Have fun!

You can see my "and then some" tutorials on other tangles here: Paradox, Knightsbridge, and Munchin.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Celtic knot tangle sampler

Judy West posts a Celtic challenge every two weeks. I usually don't manage to participate, but #31 appealed because I'd have a sampler showing a good selection of tangles that are linear, for thin places and border ideas. FORTY tangles in fact! It will be a handy reference.

I copied the knot in pencil onto a 9" square of paper. I wanted it to have an even more Celtic look when I was finished so I chose some "Celtic" colors: red, blue, green, and brown and added a few small circles for 'jewels'. I caught myself in time and was able to organize the tangles:
'Official' Zentangle tangles are GREEN.
Tangles that I designed myself are RED.
Tangles that other people have designed are BLUE.

Tangles used:

'Official' Zentangle tangles : Avreal, Betweed, Chainging, Finery, Knase, Meer, Quib, Rain, Snail, Vega, Xyp, Zander (and Hibred, which is in blue).

Tangles that I designed : Chebucto, Copada, Ionic, Lamar, Many Moons, Prestwood, Seljuk, Zedbra as well as Ninja Stars and Screen, both of which are not linear tangles, but most square grid tangles can be used as a single row to make a linear pattern. Plus, of course, Black Pearlz; I can hardly do a piece without those!

Tangles that other people designed : Adente, Blake, Coaster, C-scape, Diamond Drops, Elven, Firecracker, Flez, Fohbraid, Japonica, Kandysnake, Paisley Boa, Puffle, Ragz, Snugz, Unyun, Wud, and Zewm and Hibred together in one section.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

A circuitous opus

Well, not really. I  just couldn't resist the word play. But I suppose that's a rather good description of each of our lives! :)

I'd been thinking we haven't done a duo-tangle for a while, and this week we get one: Cirquital and Opus. Opus I like and use regularly. Cirquital I've tried a few times, but it hasn't really grabbed me.

I did three tiles. You don't get to see the second one; I ripped it up! However, it was while doing that second tile that I realized I have an easier time drawing the curvy, pointy, middle things if I start at the curvy, pointy, middle rather than at the edge. I'm not thrilled with either of these, but I do admire Laura for posting her first effort each time, so here they are.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Flor de la Vida

I've been doing things with the classic Flower of Life pattern recently. You can see some pieces here. I don't want to call all the pieces "Flower of Life" so I'm using different languages! I tried another round tile with the one main circle in pink and the rest in green.
I liked it enough, but there seemed to be too much distinct separation between the green and the pink. What to do? I remembered four hummingbird pictures I'd saved and covered with layers of acrylic matte medium, thinking I might use them on ATCs. Maybe one of them could be added here.
Nice, but it really didn't show up very well. More work needed. I added color with a light pink brush pen, outlined the beak with a black 005 Micron pen, and put a few pink lines here and there on the bird. Then I made the main 'flower' more pink, which turned out to be too much pink and dominated the bird. But it was the lightest pink pen I have. Hmm.
Out with the trusty white pen to lighten it again. That's better. I added more pink to the wing on the right and a few pale pink bits around the edges of the tile. I think that's it. I like how the bird may not be the first thing you notice, but it's a nice little surprise.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Stencil fun

It's an opportune challenge this week. We are to find something to use as a stencil, use that as a string, and tangle away. My family loves board games. Me too, but I also love the boards that are left over from poking out all the game pieces. Friends and relatives keep theirs and pass them on to me! I've been wanting for some time to try using these as zentangle strings. Here are a few:
Three leftover boards from board game pieces.

First I did a lot of circles. I traced the stencil two or three times so they would overlap.
Tangles: Black Pearlz, Crescent Moon, Kuke,
Paushalöv, Tipple, Tripoli

Next, a single grid of triangles.
Tangles: Black Pearlz, Chebucto, Coaster, Elven, Finery, Firecracker,
Fohbraid, Jonqal, Knase, Lamar, Opus, Romanancy, Tipple, Unyun

A mix of circles and squares, again overlapping.
Tangles: Black Pearlz, Cruffle, Flux, Sindoo, Tortuca?, Wud

After that, some octagons, drawn twice so they overlap. 
(I was enthused by the DivaCZT's Islamic geometric patterns!)
They wanted some color too.
Tangles: Aura, Drupe, Fleurette, Knightsbridge

I just remembered some other stencils I have. Uh-oh.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Seeking Balance

Seeking Balance, (c) 2013 Margaret Bremner
Tangles: Beadlines, Black Pearlz, Florz, Ogen, Paizel, Tipple

To me, making art is seeking a fine balance between my go-with-the-flow, inspiration, do what feels right, process-is-important half and the half of me that knows something about composition and form and tonal values and wants the end product to look nice.

I recently answered a question in Ariane Goodwin's art business newsletter. Just as in real estate where the three most important things are location, location, and location, Ariane proposed that the biggest mistake artists make is not knowing the answers to these three questions: Why are you painting this image? Why are you painting this image? and Why are you painting this image? That was an interesting thing to think about. Here's my response:
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I (almost) never begin a work with the thought that "I want to portray this thing, or communicate that idea". Sometimes I don't know what it is I'm going to communicate until the piece is almost finished and I have a title for it. That said, I always have a very general idea of what I think I'm going to do - houses, trees, mandala, etc. - but anything beyond that develops as I'm working. In very general, I am also hoping to communicate things like a love of beauty, a sense of the sacred, concepts like wholeness, balance, joy, and transformation.



I suspect that this is how children work. They don’t decide to draw such-and-such. They just draw. When they’re finished (or nearly) it looks like something and then they tell us, “Look! It’s Superman with tulips!” or “This is you and daddy with an alligator and a box of treasure.” I think that we THINK they decide ahead of time what they’re going to draw, and we’re terribly impressed with their creativity, never thinking that it JUST HAPPENED because they were open to things just happening.



I think we choose our subject matter because something about it resonates with something inside us. If we can identify what that is (a color? a mood? a combination of shapes?) then we are better able to try to share that buoyant moment with our viewers.
Titles are important to me. I think they help people to connect with the art on a non-visual level. For those not immersed in the visual the way an artist is, this is not only helpful but possibly necessary to the appreciation of the art.


Of course, choosing subject matter doesn't apply to classic zentangle, but we still choose tangles. That child-like process of just seeing what happens is a key element of zentangle. There are no mistakes that can't become something more interesting. On the other hand, choosing subject matter often does apply to zentangle-inspired art.

What do you think? How do you work? Do you have favorite subjects, and if so, why do you like them? Do you rely a lot on inspiration or do you like to do a lot of planning?