Time for Tangle Tuesday! This week, I have a brief look at three tangle patterns that feel very related to each other – Hatooringlke by Mina Hsiao, Springle by Zentangle Inc. and Zinger by Zentangle Inc.
I wanted to add some botanicals to a pile of greeblie, robotic, mechanical space junk and these patterns spoke to me. They could very well be made from metal and futuristic material themselves!
At the last knocking, I remembered to try Diva Dance, another tangle pattern from Zentangle Inc, as a variation to the nice curvy lines. Something interesting happened … and that needs a bit more exploration.
I love playing around with motifs, letting variations appear on my paper. So, having a day dedicated to exploring in such a way is, I think, a good idea for me!
Today, I chose two templates. One ‘seedling-y’, the other ‘coral-ish’. I ended up with this page (A5) full of possibilities and potential.
I worked in an A5 Arteza plain paper notebook rather than a sketchbook. I’m getting papers all over the place again. As much as I like the discbound sketchbooks I have, I just felt the time was right to dedicate a casebound book to my motif, tangle and fragment pursuits.
The paper reminds me of dot-grid notebook paper, without the dots. I didn’t expect it to work well with the washes of colour. However, as a sketchbook, it’ll be fine for me. The smooth surface of the paper is a pleasure to draw on. Also, I won’t wreck the nibs of my fineliner pens so quickly!
Oh, I also used a matt graphite pencil to add shadows – no tortillon or paper stump, just using pressure and/or layering to increase the depth of the shadow. I also worked with texture in the shadow in the blue seed-pod/sea anemone/round thing. That is something I want to look at a bit more going forward too.
Yesterday, my YouTube video tutorial was about drawing the botanical, zentangle patterns and other motifs in this week’s colouring page.
In today’s video, I focus on the cute, if somewhat unruly, Doodleworlds critters. There’s so many of them that this is the first part! Then, there’s adding colour to the design.
I had a lot of fun filming this tutorial. There is a kind of narrative with the Doodleworlds characters. I’m definitely looking forward to part 2!
I’d started off in an organic Entangled, Zentangle fashion but decided I’d really like to include some cuteness and whimsy in the design. So, enter Doodleworlds through a crack in the space-time continuum. Or maybe just in one corner of the page, for now.
Of course, the template in the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans Facebook group won’t be available until tomorrow, but there’s no harm in having a sneak peek, is there?
Today marks the Lunar New Year celebrated in China and other Asian nations. It is the year of the Tiger.
I thought I’d draw a design based on some of the symbols associated with the New Year celebrations held by Chinese and Asian communities worldwide.
To start, I used various Distress Inks – fossilised amber, ripe persimmon, spiced marmalade and aged mahogany – to colour a 14cm x 14cm (5.5″ x 5.5″) piece of Canson Imagine mixed media paper. Tigery colours!
After marking my border guides in pencil, I drew in the outer border of stylised plum blossoms.
Next, a layer of coins, all with the square hole characteristic of Chinese coinage, but many with imaginative patterns within.
I then realised I hadn’t put a tiger anywhere! So, I popped a cute and whimsical tiger head at the centre, all smiling and happy.
Finally, as far as drawing was concerned, I put some bamboo overlapping in a Zentangle Hollibaugh manner to fill the space.
Then it was time to tackle adding colour. The part that always vexes me. I used watercolour pencils in this instance. I discovered I liked working in a loose, just let the paint and water do what they will, kind of way. I got some interesting textures and patterns, particularly in the spaces between the bamboo.
I’m not entirely sure this was all a good idea, mind you. Part of me really wishes I’d drawn this on plain paper, or maybe coloured paper, but left the colour at that. Some shading.
And I’ve just realised that I haven’t really done any shading in this design! It would be awkward now as I’ve added gold and white gel pens to the design. Oh well.
I’m not all that happy with this drawing. I may spend some time doing a version of it, but on plain white paper. Just to see the difference.
There’s always something to learn from each drawing that is done. Always. However, I don’t always learn those lessons, such as how I feel I struggle with colour when it’s traditional media or the importance of contrast/shadow to bring depth and dimension to a design.
I definitely need to make a list of things to consider when drawing in my commonplace book.
I woke this morning with an idea to create a frame for an art quote using some fo the fragment variations from the Fragments of Your Imagination Challenge. So I did. And here it is.
Some bits of the frame are a tad clunky, but overall I think it’s good enough.
The quote from Ruskin about art is one of my favourites. I don’t set out to create art with any kind of message that may change how people view aspects of the world/society we live in. I don’t set out to record my observations on life, to tell a story. My art is personal to me as I create drawings that contain patterns, line-shapes, motifs that make me smile inwardly. If I make any one other person smile, then my art has done it’s job.
I get a lot of pleasure, contentment, and peace from drawing. And I hope that comes across in my art. I want to draw designs that are pretty, interesting, intricate. Drawings that you have to stop and look carefully at to see all the different things within them.
Today, I drew my last two pages of fragment variations for the Fragments of Your Imagination Challenge 2022.
Day 30 is Ladybug by Shie Naritomi CZT. At first, I didn’t know what to think of the fragment or what I could do with it. However, as I started to draw it, a variation appeared. Then another. And another. I was truly surprised by all the fragments that appeared!
Fragment E4 was right up my street! I know I’ve only scratched the surface of the possibilities with this one.
Today’s YouTube video has a quick look at these pages, followed by a flip through and review of each day’s page(s).
I really enjoyed playing with the various fragments, even the ones that gave me a bit of trouble! To see how many different pattern cells could be created just by simple changes never ceases to amaze me. My only problem is that I have way too many to use in my artwork. However, there are many that fellow artists, tanglers, doodlers can use or draw inspiration from.
I’ve learned a lot of things from this month’s daily drawing. Some I can put into words, others aren’t quite ready to be verbalised.
One important realisation is just how important shadow is to bringing patterns alive! Not just that though; how more textural patterns work with shadow so they enhance each other.
Another was just how many shapes fragments can be in! I’d actually call many of them motifs, though. Moving away from squares, seeds, circles, triangles into the realms of teardrops, ginko leaves, hearts, spirals, kites, rhomboids and more was an eye-opener for me. And a lot of fun!
I’ve started trying to put together the many ways I used to vary a fragment, but it’s all still a bit messy and the words aren’t quite flowing right. It is easier to show rather than explain just using words!
I’ve got mixed feelings now the challenge has, for me, ended. There’s a sense of achievement, but also a sense of loss. Having a daily focus is really good for me. When I don’t have a contract to work towards, I tend to be unfocused, all over the place, and nothing ever really gets done.
Self-motivation isn’t a skill I have a lot of. It is something I think I need to develop. I have a list of books that I could do, including two full of my variations from the Inktober Tangle Pattern Challenge 2021 and the Fragments of Your Imagination Challenge 2022 too.
It’s not just self-motivation, however. It’s also this darned imposter syndrome and a lack of belief in self as well.
What next?
I’m not sure what to do yet for YouTube and social media. Do I carry on with more fragments? Perhaps ‘draw with me’ videos may be an idea. What about card making and similar?
I actually don’t know what to do! So, if you have any ideas or suggestions or requests, leave me a comment!
I enjoyed exploring the leaf shaped fragment based on Naaki. I ended up with two pages as I filled the first one with ideas before I started filming. So there are some repeats. There are quite a few variant fragments I’d like to use in my drawings in the future. Indeed, a couple have found their way into a drawing I was working on as today’s video was uploading and processing.
DooDah is a tangle pattern I use fairly regularly in my entangled drawings. It has an elegance of simplicity.
Having said that, when I saw it in a fragment form I thought, “What on earth…”. I had very little idea of what would transpire. I felt it’s simplicity of construction would result in limitations. And to an extent, that is true. However, I do think I came up with some variations that were true to the way Doodah is constructed, others are deviations from that to a degree.
Adding shadow helped to bring life to the fragments, and sparked off further ideas. So at the last knockings of today’s video, I had a flurry of ideas to add to this page. These were more like aide memoire rather than polished fragments, or indeed borders. But they’re now noted down for possible future use.
I’m learning with these pattern, or fragment, explorations to expect the unexpected, especially when I think I have no more ideas!
Art is the Adventure 