Template Thursday!

This week’s coloring page / coloring template for the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group is a typically entangled, abstract, zentangle inspired and rather weird pen drawing.

It’s going to be interesting to see how people add colour to this design. My example here is the third attempt to find colours that I liked, and even then I really am not fussed on the stuff to the left. I do seem to have an ongoing issue with colours this week.

Drawn with a Tombow Fudenosuke pen, coloured digitally in Clip Studio Paint Pro.

Template Thursday…on a Wednesday!

It’s that day of the week once again. Wednesday. The day I draw the coloring page / coloring template for the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group. And I video the drawing process too.

Today it’s only part of the template. Truly a sneak peek at a work in progress (WIP). I’ve used, so far, two Zentangle Patterns (oysteroid and flux) and a triangle leaf/seaweed kind of motif. I have no idea how this is going to finish, other than well, hopefully.

I’m drawing with a Tombow Fudenosuke brush pen on ClaireFontaine dot grid ‘Sketch’ paper. The pen dries quickly on this paper, there’s little to no feathering of the ink, and the dots I can remove digitally when I’ve finished the drawing. And then add colour…eek!

I started adding colour to another drawing early this morning. Mistake. A BIG mistake. You can see that drawing over on Instagram.

I have no idea why I keep inflicting the torture of colouring drawings in with traditional media upon myself. I don’t know how many times I say to myself I need to stop doing this, and then I go and do it again any way. “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome”, is a quote mis-attributed to Einstein, but it seems relevant to myself and my colour struggles!

Today, I’m going to put it down to waking early for the weekly Abel & Cole delivery and being just plain tired. I had to return to sleep after that disastrous coloring session.

This template, when finished, will have some colour added to it digitally. I seem to do so much better when I work with colour in an art package, currently Clip Studio Paint Pro. I think it’s partly because I can make an awful colour choice and then correct/edit it easily. And I tend to stick to limited colour palettes a lot more easily than I do when I have a whole load of pencils, pens, or paints in front of me to choose from. Then it becomes a nightmare for me!

One day, I trust I’ll remember not to add colour when tired and to use limited colour palettes only. One day soon I hope!

Sketchtember Day 28 | Zentangle Tile

This morning, I needed to have some calm and relaxed creating time.

I started by drawing a pencil grid of squares and triangles to work in. Next, a visit to TanglePatterns.com led me to the motifs, or fragments in Zentangle-speak, that I wanted to use.

The central motifs are a slight variation on Nayu by Eniko Kaneko CZT. This morning, I just couldn’t get the overlapping of the ‘ribbons’ right.

The triangle motifs around the edge are Caro by Lucy Farran CZT. This wasn’t the first choice. I had wanted to do a kind of triangle Celtic Knot, but again, I just couldn’t get it to work for me. Caro has worked out well, with the little flowers reminding me of spring violets.

Materials used:
• 4″ x 4″ grey Fabriano Tone Paper
• Tombow Fudenosuke pen, black
• Inktense pencils in Lagoon, Violet and Sun Yellow along with a damp brush
• White, grey and black pastel pencils with a paper stump / tortillon
• White Sakura Soufflé pen
• Purple and yellow Sakura Stardust pens

I especially needed some time with no pressure on me. Yesterday’s headache turned into a headache with a really upset stomach and I’m feeling fragile and still not right. So, it’s definitely going to be a quiet, easy day for me.

A Zentangle tile for day 27 of Sketchtember 2021

This morning, I needed to create something that wasn’t too taxing, that was meditative, that could be completed relatively quickly in a process that was familiar to me. So, I chose to create a Zentangle tile. Perfect for when I’ve woken with a stinking headache.

I cut a 4″ x 4″ square of Fabriano Sand Toned Paper and added a few pencil lines to act as the ‘string’ for the design. Next, I had a look on TanglePatterns.com for a pattern to place in the diagonal area. The latest one posted is called TIWA, designed by Ria Mattheussen, one I’ve not drawn before. So, I used that, and let the design grow from there.

To create the tile I used the following: 0.3 Unipin pen, various Stabilo Carbothello pastel pencils and a paper stump, a white Sakura Soufflé pen, and a BR3 Chameleon fineliner for the spiral pattern (Printemps in Zentangle-speak!).

The whole tile took about an hour to create, and I have a speeded up video of this process on YouTube.

I need a quiet, restful, and possibly nap-filled rest of the day. As the headache is beginning to fade, it’s leaving me feeling exhausted in it’s turbulent wake. I do think I may do a little more drawing first.

Sketchtember 2021 | Day 26

Zentangle style abstract art is my sketchtember artwork today.

The small ones have colour added by Arteza Ever Blend markers. The larger drawing is having colour/shadow applied with Carbothello pastel pencils.

Sketchbook Saturday | 25 Sept 2021

As autumn has arrived, at least astronomically, As we’ve passed the astronomical point of season’s change, from summer to autumn here in the northern hemisphere, I continue to long for the fiery costume of nature. Warm memories to sustain us as the cold, architectural skeletons of nature are all that remain. A reminder burned in our minds that nature will once again blossom and bloom once the days begin to lengthen once again.

To complete the line art, I used a Tombow Fudenosuke pen. Colour was added with Stabilo Carbothello pencils and a paper tortillon.

Today’s vlog is a sketchbook flip-through showing my week in art.

Link to today’s vlog on YouTube.

Sketchtember 2021 | Days 21 to 24

Two sketchbook pages done over the past four days. Abstract patterns and shapes, that’s the theme! Just small drawings, lots of them. Perhaps they’ll inspire work in the future.

Pen drawings done on paper coloured and patterned with Distress Inks. Colour adding using Inktense pencils or Cartothello pastel pencils.

Template Thursday!

Thursday comes around quite quickly, and with it comes a new coloring page, or coloring template if you prefer, for the members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group to bring to life with colour.

This week is a fabulous fungi fantasia. I really enjoyed drawing this one, and adding colour really brings it to life. I’ve chosen rather bright, almost psychedelic colours, as is often the case! So, I’m intrigued to see how others will use colour magic to bring the drawing to life.

The design was drawn with a Tombow Fudenosuke pen on marker paper. This version is coloured digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

Here’s the link to a timelapse video showing the drawing of this template.

Template Thursday…on a Wednesday?

Here’s the link to a timelapse video of the drawing of this template on YouTube.

It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for the sneak peek of Thursday’s coloring template for the members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group.

I’m still on a mushroom kick, so this template is full of marvellous mushrooms. Indeed, it could be said to be a fantastic, fabulous fungi fest!

I had a lot of fun drawing this template. It took well over two hours to do so, and so I’ve added a timelapse of the process to my YouTube channel.

I’ve added some colour using Arteza Ever Blend markers.

Sketchtember 2021 | Day 21

I’m still on the mushroom kick it seems. Today’s sketches/drawings for Sketchtember feature some mushrooms. One is a typically, perhaps, entangled style of art. The other is much more of a pen and ink drawing, making use of stippling and cross-hatching to add shadow and a sense of volume.

I used a Uniball Eye micro pen to draw on a piece of Distress Ink coloured mixed media paper from Claire Fontaine for the entangled drawing on the left.

For the drawing on the right, I used a Tombow Fudenosuke pen on a piece of Ohuhu marker paper. This paper is surprisingly nice to draw on.

I’ve yet to decide if I’m going to add colour to these drawings. I have scanned them in so that I have a record of them as they are.