zentangle patterns

Entangled Art WIP

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This is a work in progress, and I drew part of it during today’s YouTube Draw With Me ‘tutorial’. It’s another piece of ‘comforting’ art; I drew some Entangled Art yesterday and today to help soothe my ragged emotions and thoughts.

A big dose of Star Wars yesterday afternoon and evening (four films in total!) and some intuitive, entangled drawings seemed to help greatly. And a relatively good night’s sleep was had, too, at last!

The fear and existential dread that had risen up deep in my lower abdomen seem to have been dispelled, and I feel more content and like my usual self.

I am, however, keenly aware of some personal challenges ahead of me in the next weeks and months or more. So, I feel I’m in a sunny, flowery woodland glade, and the monstrous forest lurks around me, waiting for me to rest, recover and be ready to take the next steps on this journey.

And it can wait for a while. It’s been a tough three months or so – injury to ribs, the overwhelming distress during the “holiday season”, the pressure of deadlines once I could work again, and some other revelations. I’d rather like a bit of a break from it all! Oh, and the past week has been very ‘people-y’ – brunch out with a friend, two funerals, a large meeting in person, and a visit from another friend.

This past week pushed me to my limits and drained my emotional, mental and physical energy. But I will recover. “This too shall pass.” And so it has, for a while at least!

It’s so nice to feel contented without intense fear, anxiety, and upset. And it’s nice to feel I can do some art just to enjoy it. That’s something that’s been missing for a couple or even a few weeks.

The trick now is to remember entangled art, and a Star Wars marathon is really good for me! Not always easy when in the grip of a crazy rollercoaster ride of careening emotions and thoughts.

Two Seed Pod Posies

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This morning I finished the posy to the right, and I thought it would be interesting to post both versions together.

The version on the right was actually drawn before the one on the left; it was the inspiration for yesterday’s drawing tutorial video on YouTube. I decided to add colour to it yesterday evening, and I added the subtle background pattern this morning.

I like both and would find it hard to pick one as a favourite. There are pros and cons to each for sure.

What do you think? Which do you prefer?

Draw with me – Tangle Patterns. A Sketchbook Page

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Please click on the ‘Watch on YouTube’ button – cheers!

I’m fine, but feeling a tad out of sorts today. So, I needed some art that would be self-soothing for a bit of selfcare. Nothing is better than starting to fill a page with tangle patterns, and all of these are new to me!

From top to bottom, the zentangle patterns I used are:
Wigwag – Jody Genovese CZT
Moonrice – Ilonka Weerts
QuaSahnt – Heidi Kay

I coloured the page with Distress Inks (Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade) then added some Ripe Persimmon through a stencil.

Draw With Me – A background for a slow stitched panel

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Please click on the “Watch on YouTube” button. Cheers!

After a very broken night’s sleep, I woke with a headache, again. So, first breakfast was some painkillers. Second breakfast was kiwi fruit, banana and scones! Yup, I’m the best part of six feet tall and like a hobbit!

Anyways, while I was waiting for the painkillers to kick in even just a tad, I did a little bit of slow stitching. I found a small piece of black felt that had some blue, turquoise and green fibres needle felted on its surface. So, it got attached to a larger piece of a rather bright green felt with some slow stitching.

I then thought I’d rather like to see if I could create a tangled background to place the textile panel on, when it’s finished.

I happened to have this piece of paper I’d coloured with Neocolour II water-soluble wax pastels lying around and it seems to harmonise quite nicely with the felt panel.

I wanted to take inspiration from the shapes and/or patterns in the textile panel to create the background. And that’s exactly what I did in today’s video.

The background isn’t finished as I want to complete the slow stitched panel first. But I’m fairly pleased with it so far. I do intend to add metallic/iridescent gold, blue, green to the background to tie it in with the panel.

I have no idea whether this will work out. I often ask myself, “Angela, what on earth were you thinking?” when I get part-way through a project. And I’m at that point now. Still, I shall persevere and see how it works out at the end. If I learn nothing else, combining slow stitching and pen drawing may not be the best idea, or perhaps it will be an interesting idea that needs a bit more thought.

For now, I’m going to put this to one side and continue working on some hand lettering and slow stitching.

Draw With Me – Whimsical Houses #3 – Starting a village

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This was a lovely way to spend an hour or so on a sunny Saturday morning! I’ve often said it and will say it again and again, I do enjoy drawing things of whimsy.

Houses are one of my current themes. As they’re all imaginary, I can ignore any architectural/structural rules. Towers I love, in particular. I’d love to be able to afford to buy or build a wonderful, quirky tower to live in. I’d like a dome on top so I can watch the night sky or thunderstorms clearly. For now, though, I can dream of living in a tower and create what I can imagine on paper with pen and ink.

I hope you’ll join in and try your hand at whimsical buildings and create your own village full of peace and harmony!

Draw With Me | Stylised, whimsical, imaginative seashell No.3

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Click on this link to view the YouTube tutorial video.

Day 3, shell 3. This time a little more complicated, or so it seems. I took some imaginative liberties with this one, and that’s fine! I’m not trying to accurately draw these shells, just get the essences that make the shell identifiable. Then, I want to add my own ideas of patterns and colours and alter things a tad.

Making those imaginative changes was an enjoyable thing to do. I hadn’t realised how much I do this in my art generally. Sometimes, it takes a while for me to have that kind of insight – this one took about 20 years!

I’m also really chuffed that my YouTube channel has hit 750 subscribers! I was amazed and humbled when I achieved one subscriber. 750 is beyond what I imagined. I’m both amazed and humbled by this. So a huge thank you to all who have subscribed.

The fifth and final part of Draw With Me… A Sketchbook Page Full Of Oyster Shells

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Click on this link to view today’s drawing tutorial on YouTube.

Finally, the page is as full as I’d like it to be of oyster shells! I did some hand-lettering before filming the video. I just wanted to add a quote about oyster shells and practice hand lettering.

I really enjoyed drawing all of these shells. The last one, a more whimsical one than the others, is my least favourite. It did, however, give me the chance to do something a little different when adding textures.

I really didn’t think out the layout of the hand-lettering. Maybe I’ll work that out, eventually. Maybe!

Overall, I now have a great reference page in my sketchbook as far as oyster shells are concerned.

I may do some further work on this page. Part of me wants to add words/quotes/facts as a background to at least one shell. I’ll see how I think about that after a little break from it.

In the process of drawing this page over the past five videos, I’ve gained some insights and understanding about my motivation to start a YouTube channel. I didn’t seem to have any clear purpose for making the videos, but with time and working on it all I think the pennies have finally dropped. That’s a good thing, maybe. All I have to do is to keep this purpose in mind (and remember it!). Fortunately, I’ve recorded my ah-ha moments in a journal, just in case I need to refer to them.

Now all I need to do is work out the next motif to focus on!

Draw With Me … Whimsical Floral Motifs

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Click on this link to view the YouTube video that shows, step by step, how I draw and add pattern to these motifs.

On Wednesdays, I draw the weekly colouring page (or template) for members of Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group. As this week’s template (and next weeks too) has a fair few floral motifs in it, I thought I’d make them the focus of today’s video over on YouTube.

The flowers are all rather whimsical and stylised, but that’s no bad thing. I’ll never stop thinking that we need some more whimsy in this turbulent world (and that’s putting it mildly!). If I can create a little world of beauty and whimsy with pen on paper, then I think that’s a good thing. And it’s even better if others can use colour to bring the worlds to vibrant life, or can learn how to draw their own whimsical worlds too.

I was a science teacher for 28 years, until I left to focus on my mental and emotional well being as well as art. My desire to help others gain confidence and inspire them to learn new skills, to find enjoyment in this process, then that’s a good thing too.

Template Thursday!

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Ooh, I do love a mandala! And a flowery one is just the ticket for this week. Things botanical have been a bit of a theme for me this week, so it’s natural they’d find their way into this week’s colouring page/template for the Angela Porter’s Coloring Book Fans facebook group.

I kept to a fairly limited palette this week, and that really does help me produce coloured art I feel happy with. And this colour palette does make me smile.

Template Thursyay!

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Here’s a partly coloured version of this week’s colouring page / coloring template for the members of the Angela Porter’s Coloring Books Fans facebook group.

It’s a Doodleworlds one, full of cuteness and whimsy, even the drunken party skulls! Definitely winter themed, though it would be interesting to colour it in tropical colours, just for fun!

Drawn with an 05 Sakura Pigma Micron pen on ClaireFontaine dot grid paper. Colour added digitally using Clip Studio Paint.