Having fun today, combining drawing and cardmaking! Zentangle inspired drawing of course.
This card is 2½” x 7″ in size, and the paper I drew on is a 2½” x 6″ piece of Canson Imagine paper.
I chose to use Sandswirl and Holly tangle patterns in the design. After all, they were my tangle pattern and fragment of the week! Plus a couple of other bits and bobs – flowers, crystals, a bit of mooka and a sprinkling of flux.
I did make a boo-boo though. I didn’t let the silver ink dry long enough before I used an eraser. I checked that it was touch-dry, but it wasn’t eraser-dry. Ho hum, dash and darn it!
I used the same metallic silver to draw a border and add a little bit of embellishment. The embellishment is under my fingers, duh!
The sketchy diagram to the right are the dimensions for making an envelope for the card. Red means cut out, blue add glue.
Ah! Fragment variations! One of my favourite things to do just for fun!
Today, I chose the lovely tangle pattern ‘Holly’, by Linda Dawson, as the source of the initial fragment.
My coddiwomple through the variations let to some lovely variations. Some were definitely dead ends, and some just don’t work in a reticulum.
Each dead-end and ‘fail’ teaches something. To persevere. And to accept that playing around with variations means mistakes, yeuchy variations are going to result. This is what sketchbooks are for – to make mistakes, to try things out, to work out what does and what does not work. And more importantly, to help get over the fear of failure, of having a go.
Even the ‘fails’ can lead to fragments that are lovely and unexpected.
Also, it’s nice not to have the pressure to create finished and highly polished artwork. It’s always nice to draw just for the joy of drawing.
Tuesdays are #TangleTuesday! This week I’ve chosen “Sandswirl” to draw and work out some variations with.
Sandswirl has long been a favourite tangle pattern of mine. I’ve never thought about exploring variations of it. I really enjoyed doing so!
When shadows are added, this tangle pattern becomes really dimensional in an interesting way.
I’ve never thought of using Sandswirl as a border before. This shows that all the time I’ve spent exploring patterns and fragments is paying off! I’d always thought of Sandswirl as a filler pattern. Today, I discovered otherwise.
I love alliteration! Back in the so-called ‘Dark Ages’, the time between the collapse of the Roman Empire and the Battle of Hastings in 1066, alliteration was used for rhymes. One reason I’d love to learn to speak, write and read Anglo-Saxon.
I’ve decided to have a different alliterative social media theme for each day.
Fragment Friday was a natural choice. I absolutely enjoyed creating variations for each of the fragments in the “Fragments of Your Imagination Challenge” that ran through January. I miss doing these variations. So that led to this particular theme.
For my first Friday Fragment, I decided to use ‘Hearts’ as the theme. Today it’s not so much creating variations on a particular fragment but the use of a particular motif within each variation. Some of the variations are familiar fragments or tangle patterns. Others go off in surprising directions.
Pen drawing on 5.5″ x 4″ (14.5cm x 10cm) Canson Imagine paper coloured with Victorian Velvet Distress Ink.
I’m not at all sure about this design. It started fairly well with the hand-lettering and corner designs. But it went a bit downhill from there, in my opinion. In hindsight, the use of pink metallic pen was a bit of a mistake too. Seemed a good idea at the time though!
By the end of the drawing process, I think it is more a melange of heart-themed tangle patterns than anything else. That is how I’d describe today’s video for sure.
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!
Gingajava, a tangle pattern by Donald Wilka CZT, is not a pattern I’m familiar with, though I think I tackled a fragment similar to this when I did a few fragments in one go a few days ago.
It’s an interesting fragment, and does lend it’s self to variations fairly well. However, to keep the essence of the tangle, not as many as I’d thought.
Having said that, my creative mind isn’t firing on all four cylinders this morning; one at best I think. So, this fragment does deserve another look at at another time.
Beyond the fragments of your imagination challenge…
Just two more fragments to do in this year’s #FYIC2022 challenge. So, my mind is turning towards what next.
These challenges are fun. They give me a defined task to do each day. I find that really helpful as I’m not very good at motivating myself at the best of times.
So, I’m not sure what to do next … not just in terms of projects for my business, but videos and social media posts.
It’s always a funny feeling I have at the end of a challenge, project, commission, contract – there’s a sense of accomplishment, but there’s also a kind of sadness, emptiness, that it has come to an end.
I’ll figure it out; I usually do. But for today, I really do need to put my head down and have a sleep. I didn’t get a good night’s sleep last night and my attention is straying way too much. That also means it’s not a good time to come to decisions about what to do next, other than give my mind a chance to rest.
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.
Art is the Adventure 