abstract art

Rectangular Zentangle Fragment Explorations

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Click on this link to view the accompanying video on YouTube.

This was a nice way to start my day! Exploring fragments and creating fragments is always a fascinating process. I never quite know what will come from my mind onto the paper. Some fragments work out, others don’t. Either way, it is still of value, even if just exercising hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills and the creativity ‘muscle’!

I can see some of these fragments working best as individual motifs. Others would work well in a reticulum – the zentangle name for a grid.

I still have quite a few rectangles to fill, so I will post them as a resource when that’s done.

Talking of resources… I now have quite a few sketchbooks and loose pages filled with explorations of fragments. I need to start organising them all so I can refer to them for inspiration. Or do I? I mean, it’s not a huge issue to just sit and do some of these fragments until I find one I’d like to use in a drawing. I worry about forgetting things, not using them or referring to them. Perhaps the value in all of this is to get a memory hoard of shapes and ways of putting patterns together, which can be drawn upon when needed.

Yes, a memory hoard, whether conscious or stored in the subconscious, is so important and trusting that all these things will be there, somewhere, ready to be used in different, unusual and even unique ways.

Entangled Drawing, 30 Aug ’22

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I started this drawing in the wee small hours of the night when some night sweats woke me up. I’ve continued to work on it throughout the day as other things allowed me to.

I’m actually quite happy with this now it’s done. Along the way, I had some wobbly moments where I almost gave up. But I’m really glad I didn’t.

A friend thought it was rather ‘heraldic’ and expected to see a big letter in it! My next one will have a monogram as part of the design. It has a rather medieval feel and is typically Entangled with some Zentangle inspiration.

The drawing is approx 3.75″ x 7.5″ (10cm x 19cm) in size and was worked with a variety of fine liners, Arteza EverBlend markers and a white Gellyroll pen on All-Media paper by Seawhite of Brighton.

Zentangle Scena variations on vellum – Part 2

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To watch the accompanying video on YouTube, just click on this link.

Today, I experimented with various things during this video. The first was putting a coloured background behind the drawing on vellum paper/parchment paper. Then, I coloured the back of a drawing with alcohol markers to show the difference. Alcohol markers work fine and well, but brush markers like Tombows, with water-based colours, work better. Coloured pencils will also work, as will most mediums.

The next experiment involved drawing on some vellum with a metallic gel pen and then a black fineliner and embossing from the back. These work really well. You could draw with any kind of gel pen, fineliner or just a pencil, graphite or white or another colour.

I also showed how you can add highlights to the drawing even when the colour has been added to the reverse. The embossed vellum will always look white on the front if you emboss it on the rear.

The final thing I did was to complete the drawing of scena variations, which you can see above. This will need a good while to flatten out under some heavy items before I can finish adding filler patterns and either colour or coloured background.

I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring vellum/parchment to create Zentangle-inspired art using not pens but ball styluses. It’s the same yet different to drawing on paper with a pen. But, I think it is worth continuing to explore and use from time to time.

#DrawWithMe – Exploring some square Zentangle pattern fragments

Angela Porter1 Comment
Click on this link to view the accompanying video tutorial on YouTube

Earlier today, I just wanted to explore a simple Zentangle Pattern fragment, or two. I started with two square fragments, each with a circle in the centre. One had a diagonal cross, the other vertical/horizontal. And I went from there to create some more ornate versions of them.

I never know where this kind of exercise is going to go, but it is always interesting and some pleasant kinds of fragments result.

These are just a few fragments I came up with during the course of the video; I’ve barely scratched the surface of all the possible variations.

This exercise is good for flexing your creative ‘muscles’, warming up hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, and playing around with colour, shade and highlight. Also, it’s perfect for relaxing, taking a break from all that is happening in this world. Even if for just a short while.

#TemplateThursyay! – 25 August 2022

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This is the partly coloured colouring page for the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans Facebook group members. It’s a flowy, abstract, entangled, and zentangle-inspired design. Colour, shadow and highlight bring the design to life and add a lot of volume (dimension if you prefer) too.

I chose a more-or-less monochrome colour scheme, with just a splash of violet here and there. I think if I’d carried on adding colour, I would’ve used a more analogous colour scheme.

#DrawWithMe – Flowy Patterns

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Click on this link to view the accompanying YouTube video tutorial

I’m pleased that I’m recovering from my people-filled weekend, though still not quite focused and feeling a bit ‘lost’ in myself. And I’m still rather tired. But, these things will not last, and I’ll soon be ticketty boo again.

This morning, I filmed a tutorial based on a request from one of my YouTube subscribers. He asked if I could show him how to draw some ‘flowy’ patterns he’d seen, particularly one by ladyzadzakiya on Instagram.

Well, how could I refuse such a polite request? I’ve just shown how I draw my own kind of such patterns, as I can only really draw in my own way, as can any of us. I’ve included a few Zentangle patterns in the design. And I even got around to adding some shade! Adding shadows and highlights is what really brings the drawing to life. Part of me wished I’d used blues and/or sea greens for this. But no matter, I can always draw another one sometime.

Template Thursyay!

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Click on this link to view today’s YouTube video tutorial where I draw the bottom two panels.

I held a poll in the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans Facebook group, and a template of four small drawings was at the top. So here’s the finished and partly coloured template.

I thought I’d go with some more abstract, pattern-based templates. The last one I drew, at the top right, just ended up having some seed pods.

Abstract designs like these are great fun to add colour to as there are no pre-conceptions about what the colours should be. Also, they’re great for trying out new techniques, media and colour combinations. And, of course, they’re relatively quick to finish, which is great if you’re short on time.

#DrawWithMe – Part of this week’s colouring page

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Wednesday is the week’s halfway point, and the day I start to draw this week’s colouring page for Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans Facebook group members.

I was awake early, the air was cool-ish, and starting to draw this week’s page and film it seemed a very sensible idea before the day warmed up.

Here in the UK, we have amber weather warnings for very high temperatures for the next few days. Not quite as high as a couple of weeks back, but too high for me to be comfortable. So, I aim to get as much done as possible before I have to either nap or retire to cooler parts of the house with sketchbook and pens! And probably fall asleep even then.

Anyways, my thoughts for this week’s colouring page were to create four smaller panels, each of which would make a lovely greetings card or postcard once coloured. I like pages that can be used in other ways, though I don’t create them often enough.

Template Thursyay! Colouring page 28 July 2022

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Thursday is the day I gift a colouring page (or template) to the members of Angela Porter’s Coloring Books Fans Facebook group.

This week it’s a mandala. Why? Well, I just really wanted to draw a mandala!

I enjoy the calming, meditative process of mandala drawing. And as I didn’t want to disturb that calm space I found myself in by making a right mess of adding some colour, I decided to go with an analogous colour scheme. Soft blue, teal and green are also very calming colours.

As it’s a colouring template, I’ve not added lots of textural patterns. However, that is something I can always play around with at another time. For now, the high contrast that brings a feeling of volume and dimension to the design is good enough.

Entangled Botanica, Part 3 – Inking all done!

Angela Porter2 Comments

Click here to view today’s draw with me video on YouTube for part 3 of this design.

This morning, I finished all the pen drawing for this design. And filmed it for YouTube!

I’m fairly happy with this design because I felt myself breathing out and relaxing into it. I found myself smiling as I drew. And I felt creatively comforted as I returned to something that is so part of my arty heart – entangled, intricate, abstract, stylised botanical drawings.

Next step? Colour, shadow and/or highlight. But I’m not sure what media to use, or colours! So, I’ll need a bit of time away from this particular drawing to figure that one out!