It’s a new month. Inktober is behind me, so today I start a new series of explorations of motifs, patterns and tangles.
To begin, I decided to start a new A5 sketchbook. The pages are coloured and patterned with Distress Inks and stencils. I do like a coloured background to work on. White is so stark, clinical, austere, even cold, and often intimidating. A coloured page feels so warm and inviting. Drawings instantly feel they have some life in them.
That’s not to say I always draw on coloured paper, as I often do draw on white, especially if I’m planning to add colour digitally.
The very first motif/pattern I chose is one I’ve used a fair number of times in the past. I don’t know where the original inspiration for it came from. Maybe scientific botanical illustration or microscopic images, or maybe something else. I like the shapes and the possibilities that they present.
I’m not aiming to fill and complete one page a day; that would be too much given my contractual obligations for Adorable Dogs. That also takes some of the pressure to complete artwork every day that I feel with challenges like Inktober. Instead, I can do as much or as little as I like in a day. Video or not. All depending on time and inclination.
Today, I drew and vlogged.
The Last Hallowe’en Drawing of 2021
I spent much of a sleepless Saturday night, as well as most of Sunday afternoon, drawing this hallowe’en artwork. The original is a black and white pen drawing, but I added colour to the lines digitally. I’d run out of time to actually colour the drawing in.
There are bits inspired by A Nightmare Before Christmas. I had to turn some Trelina tangle patterns into oogie-boogie men!
There are places that I wish I’d added shading with lines to add the illusion of shadow. However, I can always return to this drawing when I need something relatively simple to do.
After I’d posted this in the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group, there were requests for it to be available to colour. So, I did just that and posted it as a template for coloring for members of the group.
Eke, by Zentangle Inc, is the last tangle pattern in the Inktober Tangles 2021 challenge.
It was a bit of a challenge as it seems so simple and not much you can do with it. But I managed to get creative!
So, that’s Inktober 2021 done for another year. I feel rather weird about it. I feel I’ve got that sense of satisfaction when something is completed successfully. But there’s also a sadness and an emptiness that comes with the ending too.
I’m in a liminal place at the moment – a point in time where I’m between an ending and a beginning. Quite fitting given that it is Hallowe’en, which is a very liminal time. A time where the veil betwixt the living and the afterlife is thinnest. A time where in older, pagan times, the time of harvest was over and winter was beginning to take hold.
And that quite happily fits how I feel today really. I do have a project to focus on from tomorrow – the Adorable Dogs colouring book. However, I’d like a focus for a daily practice that helps me keep my hand and eye coordination tip-top and encourages creativity too.
So, I already have some new A5 sketchbooks in my stash, and I’d like to continue this practice of filling a page a day. Or maybe one page over two or three days so I don’t take my focus away from the Adorable Dogs. I also think videoing this practice and sharing may be useful for some people.
It won’t just be tangle patterns, but other patterns and motifs that I use a lot in my artwork, whether coloring books or the more abstract art or mandalas I create.
It’s also making me re-evaluate whether to take part in CZT training, but that will only take place if there are online sessions.
Later today, I’ll be posting a video where I look back over all the Inktober Tangles 2021 sketchbook pages I’ve completed. I’ll post the link in a separate post.
Saturday morning is the time I look back on my art this week.
I’d like to say thank you to all who’ve subscribed to my little arty corner of YouTube, as well as those of you lovely people who have liked my videos and left such lovely comments. You are all very, very much appreciated.
Tomorrow, I will take a look back at the whole of Inktober Tangles 2021 in another video. And think about how to go forward now too.
Tree Leaf is a lovely tangle pattern by Debbie New CZT . It is, to me, an unusual way of drawing a branch of leaves, but it works out. I have to say that I fell into my way of drawing branches where I use the gaps to attach the leaves. Either way seems to work just fine and dandy for sure.
The branch I kept fairly consistent in my drawing today. However the leaves…it was fun to use my favourite shapes of leaves, and a few others. A couple of berries and acorns have sneaked their way in as well.
This tangle pattern makes it really easy to layer leaves; very useful for me in my work creating coloring books!
To add colour to the leaves (and berries), I’ve used a whole host of media – Pitt graphite matt pencil, Graphitint pencils, Graphitint paints, Inktense blocks used like watercolours, and Sakura metallic, starlight and moonlight gelly roll pens. I also used white Gelly Roll and Posca pens to add the higlights.
I’ve not done much in the way of shading. There comes a point when I really need to take a break from the work. I’ve reached that point with this page. I may return to add shadow and more highlight, I may not. Regardless, this page is a great reference for me going forward. In fact, I have an idea to incorporate it into one of my other drawings I’m working on at the moment.
Tomorrow, I’ll film my thoughts and reflections as I look back on my week in art. But for today, I have filmed a video of the drawing and colouring of the small branch in the top left.
Effie, by Annett Rumpler CZT, is a lovely floral tangle pattern and one I’ve enjoyed creating variations of, and also different ways of adding colour. For the more brightly coloured flowers I’ve used Sakura Gelly Roll Moonlight, Starlight and Metallic pens along with a damp water brush to create gradients. Just another way of using supplies in a stash! Add the colour before adding detailed lines, however.
It’s been a really interesting month with the Inktober Tangles 2021 Challenge. It’s prompted me to explore patterns, create variations. This is something I don’t do much; I tend to draw intuitively.
However, I now understand the benefits of this practice, and I intend to continue to do this kind of stuff going forward. I had started doing this in an A4 sketchbook, but I’ve found the size of the page a bit daunting and everything looks a bit disorganised. The A5 sketchbook I’ve used has been the perfect size. If I need more space for more variations/ideas I can turn to a new page.
That means I’ve had to order some A5 sketchbooks!
I did film the drawing of the first few Effies, and here’s the video :
Template Thursday
It’s Template Thursday! So the uncoloured template will be available in the facebook group in a little while.
Yesterday, I set up a poll in the group so members could vote on options or make suggestions for this week’s template. As you can see, a mandala with a hallowe’en theme, including cats and spider webs, is the result. Of course, there’s some drunken skulls – no party hats this week!
As I created this digitally, I didn’t film the process. I do have, however, a short vlog where I show the uncoloured template and a couple of other pieces of art and waffle on a bit!
I came across this tangle a goodly while ago. I tried to draw it, but without much success, like Fengle.
However, watching a video by Zen Linea, as well as having cracked Fengle meant I think I’ve successfully drawing Trelina, with some variations as well.
I realised, soon enough, that I wanted to keep the basic structure of Trelina, but focus on ‘channels’ that could be used to house other patterns. Indeed, the very first Trelina I drew was the one in the top left and I wanted a wider ‘channel’ to put a pattern in.
The bottom right version has a big nod towards Fengle. After all, if I’d not worked out how to draw Fengle, I doubt I would have managed to draw Trelina.
Dex is a grid-based tangle pattern by Zentangle Inc. It’s interesting to add variations to. Indeed, I’m sure I recognise some of the variations as other tangle patterns. I expect there’s going to be a lot of overlap.
Art is the Adventure 