Water Play

Okay I gave it a try.

I'm going to do it again, because there's a few refinements needed, but I worked up something approximating pool water in the sunlight

this is the finished piece. I think I captured the motion and shapes, while keeping zentangle ™ in mind.

I took pictures of the process, and have a little break down here.

step one: broad squiggles top to bottom

step two: random squiggles over

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

step three: repeat across

                                                              

step four: random color squiggles following the black lines

After adding color, I had a couple of decisions to make. Color things in? Color the big spaces in, and leave the little openings between the squiggly lines? How to incorporate official zentangle?

 So I decided to n'zeppel it:

In a few places, I went "behind" some of the squiggles, just to add interest.

When I got a 40% off coupon for any item at Michael's, I bought the highest quality colored pencils I could find. These are woodless colour pencils by Progresso. The color goes on so smooth and rich. Usually I feel like I'm not doing them justice...like I need to know more, learn more, about how to maximize them. Meanwhile, I love these pencils. They are extremely fine and creamy smooth.

I colored in the large spaces, between the n'zeppel shapes and the squiggles. I left any spaces within the squiggles empty.

I used several colors, but the turquoise was most pleasing, so it is used the most. Here, all the spaces around the n'zeppeled parts are colored in, and I haven't done anything to the n'zeppeled spaces.
At this point, I was liking it a lot. It has motion and good shapes all through it here. Note: I made the color here rich and solid.

In pool water, there are sparks and quarks of light, moving constantly. I wanted to make the small spaces, inside the various squiggle lines, do that. I decided on two very light, bright colors

I used a bright lime green, and a sea green inside the squiggle lines. Three shades of blue, including turquoise, pacific blue, and true blue. 

True to N'zeppel, I shaded the shapes along the appropriate edges. Also notice, I aura'ed in a few places. In my next trial, I won't do that.

Then I colored in the large shapes with the turquoise and the sea green, lightly.

This is the finished piece. I'm going to do another one, partly because I want to make some refinements but mostly because it's SO MUCH FUN TO COLOR! ha!

Playing with string, part two

Here, I went with string #29, from the websites tangle patterns and enjoyed playing with it. I love how each tile looks so different from all the others, yet you can see the shape of the string in each one.


the string:

Four samples:

 I love Nzeppel anywhere, and the ribbons are actually pretty good, but the art went somewhere I wasn't expecting and I'm pretty "meh" about it.

not my favorite.

Country Drive

I like this one quite a bit. I call it country drive. You can see my own "concert" pattern taking up the whole lower right corner hahaha. Also, diva dance rock n roll, flord two ways, floatfest, msst, curly clouds (not an "official zentangle" pattern) and i forget the name of the pattern on the left edge. Related to Mr E.

Bead strings!

I ended up liking this one quite a bit. My favorite section is the bead strings in the upper left. I also used Diva dance, printemp, my own starsket, bales two ways, and there's a verdigoh in there, hidden by all the background details. I want to do this one again, but give verdigoh more of a center stage role.

This is my favorite one from string #29. I call it Balloon Ride, and hopefully it's easy to see why! Aquafleur, Tropicana, webz, gothic, seedings, and some ribbony stuff under the aquafleur. Bubbles here and there.

In this one, I found that arc pattern repeating itself over and over again. The main arc in the string, IMO, is on the right edge. It's my favorite element in the string. This time, it took over and I found myself choosing patterns that repeated that arc shape.

Diva Challenge 181: Water!

We have water this week, as our challenge from the Diva.

Something I've been wanting to figure out how to deconstruct is the lovely pattern swimming pool water makes in the sunshine.

I just love everything about it...the color, the randomness, the pattern, the motion, the freshness. There is something very blessed about being at a pool and seeing this play of water and sunlight. I'm working on how to create something reminiscent of this, and I want to do it justice.
Maybe I'll post something if I find a way to do it.

Meanwhile, the challenge has inspired me, and I did a few pieces. This is my favorite. I thought "pond" and went for it.

 Hollibaugh all around, and in the  middle I used crescent moon and printemps, because ponds always have ripples and concentric circles. The Hollibaugh has some umble between, here and there, and I put white dots in some of the spaces. I think Hollibaugh looks like a beaver dam, or like the flotsam you might find on the shores of a woodland pond. As I shaded this one, i found it looking more and more like a drop of water...though I'm not skilled at that, as I have seen some are. Still, wonder what adding white highlights in strategic places would do for it. I'll post again, if I decide to do something with that.





I also like this one a lot. Crest is the star, with msst in the background. I love how the shading brings out the depth.








This is a good challenge. I'm gonna have fun with it all week!

Hitched: My Newest Tangle Pattern

Recently I ran across a "simple" breakdown of a Celtic knot online, and immediately tried it...and not surprisingly, I did the first few steps wrong.

But! when I looked at the "wrong" steps, I saw a diamond ring! I made a line of them, and found it looking like a row of diamond rings.

so, I named it "Hitched" (as in "engaged" hee hee hee) and here is the step out

1) draw a line of dots

2) put diamonds between the dots

3) connect the diamonds with arcs, tip to tip, top and bottom

4) aura inside the diamonds, and inside the arcs. 

voila!

here is some play with hitched. I like it a lot, coloring all of it in solid black. Should be a fun pattern to play with.

                                                                                 

 A good edge, methinks. And it follows a curve nicely.

Here you can see the celtic work I was trying for:  

second up from the bottom. I like hitched better because it's easier! ha!

Playing with String

Isn't it funny how a little bit of boundaries can release creativity?


 A couple of weeks ago, I was having a hard time starting anything. Seems my muse was silent. ha! I was doodling a lot, but not creating tiles, and that bothered me.

Well, I got on the tangle patterns string page, where dozens and dozens of strings are shown. In one sitting (at work, between calls) I went through the first six strings, thoroughly enjoying the freedom of having a boundary in place granted me.

string one, filled with cadent and cvetic. 

String #2 looked like an elephant right about then, so...

betweed, summer sitter, flux, and paradox (see him looking at you?)

string #3. I call it Country Fare

here's 1 and 2 together

Other than being blurry, I like this one a lot.










Then I decided to play with one string, many times. I chose String #30 :

string #30: in the woods

I did this one on purpose, for a "walk in the woods" theme. Verdigoh and pines make a woodsy look. I tried to make Purk look like a pinecone. Hollibaugh makes a wonderful beaver dam, with crescent and printemps in the charming pond, nzeppel adds texture and character, while fescu and fiore are meadow-like.

string #30: starry night. 

string #30: starring the String!

a rainy walk in the woods

a Bijou sized string #30. bales, chemystery, bales, floatfest, and my own "concert."






 

and now for something different

 This one, full of striping, was my last piece using string #30.
 As I worked with this string, I found that the little loop de loop was always taking center stage, so in this one, filled with striping, though the loop was the last one filled....I did fill it in.

I went from uninspired and blah, to creative, energetic, motivated, and delighted, just by using strings.

Diva Challenge 180 UMT: MacDee

Well, I was out of town on Monday, so I didn't see the Diva Challenge 180 until I got to work on Tuesday. I get some time between calls at work, where I do a lot of tangling, so I got started on one, then remembered to check the challenge....Just so happened, I needed a good background, so i grabbed MacDee and went with it:

Phicops was the star of this one, but I also love the Barney in the lower right corner. And yes. the MacDee works in the three places I put it.             






Then I got thinking "Fabric?" and added some lace (Floatfest) in the corners. Shading this one just glorified it!

Last but not least, making that big circle with MacDee all in it, inspired me for scattering plaid flowers around:

plaid BELONGS in flowers!

Meanwhile, I have been having a LOT of fun this summer, thanks to a delightful new friendship with Wylie. (Actually, we are "an item" hahaha! so much fun!)

Second date: Steve Miller Band and Journey concert! wow! I shook my booty all night long...dancing is one of my favorite things in the world, and I danced like a fool that night!

at the Doobies/Boston concert

We also went to see the Doobies and Boston. You can see how flushed I am...Again, I danced like a maniac! Had SO MUCH FUN.




We have also gone dancing, out to a movie, walking in the park, out to eat a couple of times, eating in a couple of times...and overall, enjoying each other and the summer.

 And...we just got back from Sunday, Monday, and part of Tuesday, in Idaho together, playing in the water...

a giant, twisty, VERY FAST water slide!

 

 

 

...and visiting with a lifelong friend of mine

That's my Nancy! She comes to Idaho once a year and if I can, i get up and visit. Just so happened, her Idaho visit coincided with my mini-vacation to Idaho. Yay!

Her kids run this little property the family owns, Bristol Park, in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho.

Collin, standing with Wylie. Collin is in charge at Bristol.

So, summer fun, zentangle fun. Life is good.