Diva Challenge #178

'Use your initials to select the tangles' is this weeks challenge. I like these kind of challenges as one doesn't have to think much!! I used my initial 'A' for the string, and tangles Arches, Mumsy and Merryweather. Looks a bit awkward but there we are...

Guess what? I bought another gerbera! Cant resist them, especially when they're on sale!

Last week a friend gave me an art journal book. It is 260gsm and Bristol paper. Woohoo! The paper is sooooo nice I could eat it! In trepidation I started on the first page. Usual swirls! When all else fails, use swirls!
So far Ive swirled, tangled and blackened. Now I have to decide whether to shade or colour, and what to do on the background. Stay tuned....

Diva Challenge #177, more colour.

Carolyn Broady CZT designed a tangle called "Truffle", and has asked us to use it this week in challenge #177. Currently I have lots of coloured backgrounds around, so, as one was just next to me where I sat to create the ZIA, I just had to use it! I also touched it up with some new Copic Ciaos.

I've been showing you some work on watercolour backgrounds for a current swap I'm involved with. I have the 'bug' so much that I thought I would try a composite (9 tiles together). Here's a sample of one without the tangles and 2 with tangles.

They're a bit bluey as the light wasn't as good as I thought it was.

Yesterday we had thick fog descend on us late afternoon. I took some photos, it was so amazing.
 Last weekend my husband, daughter and I went for a few days to Torquay in Victoria, of which any surfer will know about as it contains the famous Bell's Beach. Famous for world championships. The sea was as calm as a millpond when we were there!
Opposite the hotel where we stayed was an awesome aboriginal style massive mosaic, so I have a few shots of that too. Hope you enjoy my gallery!

Diva #176; New tangles and some colour fun.

Always good to have a new type of challenge. Amy Brady presents us with BYOB this week. Bring your own beverage! In other words, your zentangle needs to relate to a drink in some way or other.
I chose to simply dribble some coffe , which I was drinking at the time, onto a tile.  I allowed it to dry of course, then set about to create! I chose to use a red pen and two browns, which are red actually with black added. I worked only on the coffee stain, just veering from it now and again to give an 'airy' feel to it.  Then shaded with coloured pencil in circles, so the colouring itself contained shapes. The design had an organic feel to it as I worked it.  I enjoyed this new approach to a design as it did not have the "locked in" feel of working with a string. Thanks Amy!

NEW TANGLES: Mathura and Soleil.

Technique: Watercolour wash background, micron black #1 , coloured pencils

I am still having fun creating ZIAs for out Facebook swap, Here are some of my latest. These are along a different line to my last 'batch'. I have kept to a monochrome colour scheme and made the effect to be delicate as opposed to bright.

Hope you enjoyed my blog today. Thank you for visiting!

Diva Challenge 175: UMT Crux and a new tangle"Apulia", plus colour

Use My Tangle challenge this week. Called 'Crux' by Henrike Bratz. There are heaps of variations one can make with it, so here's my offering for this week.  

Tangles: Crux var; Diva dance and Windfarm

Looking at a book on Mediaeval patterns this week, I adapted three of them. Each is named after the place they originated. I will share one each week. The first is called 'Apulia'. I have the step out followed by some examples.

This pattern also lends itself to variations, some of which are seen below.

This isn't finished, but you can see the difference when the pattern is filled in.

I love the lacey look you can get with Apulia. The large pattern I think I was trying do do a "Mooka " in  it!!

Another example of Apulia being filled in.

The circular design on the bottom half is also a new tangle I have come up with, step outs soon to be given. I like drawing these patterns as there is a certain rhythm to them. Have fun!

I must share a surprise I received yesterday. I was googling for some Gell pens and clicked on "images". As I scrolled down the page, amidst all the pens were some of my ZIAs (zentangle inspired art) I was totally blown away. How did they get them, and why choose only mine?? Here are two of them. There was four altogether.

and for those of you who are following my colour escapades a few more:-

Some colour for you!

Hi there, I received a lovely comment from someone waiting to see my tangles on last weeks bright tiles, so here are a couple. Hope you like them!

The blue is actually white as I took the photo in dim light. The white areas were covered with
masking fluid when I did the wash.

Thinking I need to use a bigger nib next time. I haven't done any shading yet, 

not sure it needs it.

I am in a quandary with these watercolour washes. some of them are so nice it seems a shame to cover the effects with pen!!

Diva #175

An unusual challenge this week, one I really had to think about. Asked to combine two strings and then tangle the result. So I considered how curves would go with curves, and chose strings # 93 and #112. I did make one mistake though, and that was to use a No.1 pen instead of a .05!

Just wanted to add a bit here..I belong to a Facebook zentangle group, with a current swap to create tangles on a watercolour background. Today I had so much fun splashing around, I thought id share a few of them