Zentangle Patterns Aquafleur, Pepper and Dra-wings

View the accompanying YouTube video by clicking on this link.

Today seems to have disappeared. I have been lost in arty pursuits since around 10:30. It’s now 14:49. The video that goes with the drawings has finally uploaded. The three drawings I started in the video are now all completed and shown here.

It’s actually been a lovely way to spend a Saturday. It’s beautifully sunny out, but there’s a coolness in the air that is absolutely delightful and so reminiscent of many early Septembers in the past. All I want to do is curl up in bed and listen to the sounds of the world outside; a car every now and then, the varied sounds of a rugby match, the twitter of birds and the clattering of jackdaws.

All of this has been a lovely soundtrack to do my art to! And I suppose I should talk about that.

Yesterday, I took a look at the tangle pattern Aquafleur. As I was drawing it, the way I made pen strokes reminded me of two other tangle patterns – Pepper and Dra-wings (or Drawings). So, I decided to look at them in today’s video.

One of my YouTube subscribers had left a comment saying they weren’t sure how to get their Aquafleur to spiral inwards like mine did. So, I started the video by showing how to do that.

And it was rather fortuitous that I was asked about that as it meant I had an example of Aquafleur to compare to Pepper and Drawings! The similarity is in how the various segments are shaped. But by some simple adjustments, you end up with three different end results.

Although I left each drawing incomplete at the end of the video, I did show in the Pepper and Drawings tiles how I was planning to add shade and light to them. I wasn’t even sure I would complete the Aquafleur, but I am glad I did.

I’m not sure whether I have a favourite out of the trio of tiles. Each has its own charm and allure.

Template Thursday

It’s Thursday so that means it’s time for a new colouring template / colouring page for the members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group!

This week’s template is a combination of dangle designs and little pictures. Not one large and often intricate image to colour this week, but a series of little ones so that the template can be coloured in one little bit at a time. This is great for people who get overwhelmed by large, overly-complex colouring pages.

Just as a note, my book “A Dangle A Day” is available. It’s a tutorial book showing how you too can create your own cute and whimsical dangle designs. The dangle designs in the book are a lot smaller than this template!

This design was drawn on Rhodia Dot grid paper using a “F” Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen and then cleaned up digitally. I then added a wintry background and added some colour to some of the motifs.

I always love to see the many different and unique ways colorists bring my designs to life. Colour really does make all the difference to the templates.

Botanical designs – a sketchbook page

Botanical Designs (c) Angela Porter – Artwyrd.com

I’m carrying on with creating art for the pure joy of creating art, and today’s sketchbook page is a series of botanical designs.

I used Faber-Castell Pitt Artist pens (F and S) along with some dot grid paper. After scanning them in, I digitally added a watercolour background, though I’ve left the dot grid in place. Also, I’ve not edited out any errors in my drawings, or tidied up where the lines may over-run in places.

In case you’re curious, the only pencil lines I used were for the circular motif in the bottom left design, and to arrange the spray of seed pods in the top left design. Otherwise, it’s pen straight to paper and purely intuitive artwork – I just let the designs flow, even if I get unhappy with what I’m producing, I just carry on and trust my intuition will lead to something I’m happy with.

And I am happy with all of these designs, now I can sit back from them and view them at a bit of a distance.

What am I going to do with them? I don’t know. They may just sit in my digital ‘flower’ sketchbook. Maybe I’ll use them as the start of one of my entangled drawings. Or maybe something else will occur to me. Or maybe you have some suggestions – leave them in a comment!

For now, they’ve served their purpose. I’ve had a nice couple of hours drawing pretty things just for the contentment that drawing brings me.

On another note, I continue to improve from the stomach bug I had earlier in the week. I still tire really easily though and my appetite is still not good. I am, thankfully, recovering slowly and taking the time to rest and recover, and rediscovering that I don’t need to be constantly busy anymore. I don’t know when that need to fill my days with constant busy-ness crept up on me, but it did.

Suddenly, my mind has become full of fluff once again, so it’s time for me to go and do that resting up thing again.