Sunday 31 May 2015

Squid Shroom

The Squid Shroom is another member of the underwater shroom family. It lives in saltwater along coastlines in warm climates. It is a carnivorous Shroom and once it has its prey in its tentacles it will not let go again. There is hardly cause for alarm for humans though, as this Shroom hardly ever exceeds 2"  in lenght, its main foodsource being shrimp and tiny fish. The Squid Shroom usually is a camouflage greyish-brown mottled colour, however if you annoy it, the Shroom will "reward" you with a truly impressive colour display...


Saturday 30 May 2015

Zentangle Tile IX

So now, you have been very patient with me being on a Zentangle roll. Here is the last tile for now. All of these I will keep for myself to hang in one of my rooms. Usually I give most of my drawings away or trade them for other peoples art, but this series stays with me.


Friday 29 May 2015

Zentangle Tile VIII

When I came across the tangle design Finery I could not help myself, it reminded me of delicate wings. I wanted to get it right though, so I practised it first before attempting to turn it into an animal.


Wednesday 27 May 2015

Zentangle Tile VII

I am nearly done now with my recent Zentangle Tiles, I promise. I came across the tangle Riverstones and of course I had to use it for a river. The flower on the shore is made with a tangle called Trumpits, it has awesome variation possibilities...


Tuesday 26 May 2015

Zentangle Tile VI

In this one I did not want to try and create a scene, I just wanted to use the patterns and this is what happened. I am also using these Zentangle Tiles as practise with my colouring pencils
I just love to make tangles at the moment...



Zentangle Tile IV

I had mentioned that I adapted one of my tangles to a larger size. I had not coloured it when I wrote the post about it, so I hope that explaines why I am posting Zentangle Tile V before Zentangle Tile IV. The Zinger "flowers" look more drawn out than in the ATC size piece, I guess I could have made the Phicops "shell" slightly bigger to account for the wider format. Or move it a little to the centre. But this leaves more space for the shading.


Sunday 24 May 2015

Yin- Yang Shroom

Because the Yin-Yang Shroom bears the ancient symbol of balance and harmony, it has been picked to near extinction by soon-to-be-married couples, in the hopes the Shroom will aid them in having a more harmonious love live. 
Well, that's not how it works, folks...




Saturday 23 May 2015

Zentangle Tile V

I am definitely on a Zentangle roll these days. So I decided to make some 3.5" x 3.5" size Zentangle tiles for myself. I have some lovely bicolored, squareshape aluminium pictureframes lying around somewhere and these will now be put to good use. Just for this I also adapted yesterdays tangle and made another one in square size. I have not coloured it yet so that will be a post for another day.
This time I am also not using my lovely inktense pencils, but oil based Spectrum Noir pencils for better shading options.






Friday 22 May 2015

... keeps madness at bay!

Drawing Zentagle inspired art is just really meditative. There will be a lot more of this here in the future.
I am also trying to adapt a border in my designs, with part of the design overlapping/ hanging over this border.


Thursday 21 May 2015

A Tangle a day...

I am just so busy lately I do not seem to get around to posting daily. I will take better care in the future and try and post a nice picture every day because it I hope it will make me art more consistently and disciplined. 
But I have been making some art. I am currently learning some new Zentangle patterns and I tried some of them in zentangle inspired ATCs. Here is the first one.


Tuesday 19 May 2015

More Zentangles

I am very proud of myself as I have done two more Zentangles. I used a 3.5" x 3.5" watercolour paper card, or tile as tanglers call them, and this is the first time I stayed true to the original Zentangle principles by drawing random lines first and incorporating them into the design.
I will be doing more of those in the future.






Sunday 17 May 2015

Koi Shroom

I had fun making this Shroom, partly because it really is an unusual type that lives under water, but also because I loved the idea of having a Shroom mimicking an animal.
The Koi Shroom is a member of the rare family of underwater Shrooms. It thrives in small backyard ponds, fooling the pond owners into thinking that somehow they got Koi fish into their ponds. Their sand and seaweed camouflage is very effective at hiding the true nature of the "miracle fish". Incidentally the Koi Shroom gets its nourishment from fish food being dispensed by happy, unsuspecting pond lovers.



Saturday 16 May 2015

Celtic Design Mosaic Series Final

This is the last card for the Mosaic swap. The three coils remind me of snakes, I think I will draw it again, but instead of making the centres round I will actually make them look like snakes... 
Or I could start with the pointy tails on the inside and have the heads on the outside...
Or...



Friday 15 May 2015

Celtic Design Mosaic Series Part III

And here is my third celtic design mosaic. This one is my personal favourite, I like the green leafy centre design.




Thursday 14 May 2015

Celtic Design Mosaic Series Part II

Here is part two of my Mosaic series. I think it turned out a bit dark, but I like the way the three central colours work together. If I had to do it again I would leave a little more space in the centre to break it up a bit. But it is done now and I read on Zentangle.com that every line we draw we drew with purpose so how can it be a mistake?



Wednesday 13 May 2015

Celtic Design Mosaic Series

My current swap is a hand drawn/ hand painted mosaic swap. So I had the ingenious idea to use a celtic design for it. I found some in a book (yes I admit that), and then I drew some random lines for the mosaic lines. And my ingenious idea turned into a lot of work. I think I used every inktense pencil I own as I wanted to achieve some colour variety. Here is the first.


Tuesday 12 May 2015

Al the Octopus

I made this Al the Octopus for my husband. It is the official mascot for the Detroit Red Wings NHL icehockey team. Unfortunately they will not be winning the Stanley Cup this season, that is probably why Al is looking so angry.


Sunday 10 May 2015

French Cheese Shrooms

Todays post is all about the rare type of French Cheese Shrooms.
The Cheese Shrooms are - as the name suggests - 100% naturally forming cheese growth. They can occur in many many different varieties. Here we have a gentle Gruyere with a mild and wafting aroma,
and also a green veined Roquefort Shroom with a heavier, creeping scent.
Enjoy raw with some fruit, cured ham and a good wine.


Saturday 9 May 2015

May Day III and IV

My life is so busy right now, I did not get to write a post yesterday. I am posting yesterdays card today though, so no harm done. The last May Day cards are another firesite and a May Beetle close up. 




Wednesday 6 May 2015

May Day II

Today is part II of the May Day Series. Todays picture is called Dusk and Mayfires. Well, kinda obvious when you look at it really...


Tuesday 5 May 2015

May Day I

It has just been the festival of Beltane, the 1st of May. I have taken part in a May Day swap and since all the cards are now on their ways to all the participants I might as well post mine here.
This one is a May Day firesite in a sacred ancient stone circle.


Monday 4 May 2015

North Star

Today I am posting another Zendala, they are a lot of fun to draw. I can not make up my mind however if the red background looks more like a cross or like a stylised brain. Hmmm, see for yourself...


Sunday 3 May 2015

Zentangle Shroom and...

I woke up this morning and realized that I had not posted any art yesterday. I guess I got tso busy with life for a change it totally slipped my mind. But... since this is MY blog and it is and should be all about ME (!) this does not matter at all and I do not need to apologize to anyone. I am however going to post 2 different Shrooms today to make up for it.
The first Shroom is called Ice Cream Shroom and I think it is fairly obvious as to why.
The second Shroom is ominously called Grenade Stalk Shroom and it needs to be handled with extreme care and only under adult supervision !! It was drawn with a sepia coloured marker and shaded with Coloursoft pencils as opposed to black and my usual favourite the Inktense pencils.
I used Zentangle designs to create both of them and I think they turned out ok. ( And that is the only think that really matters here anyway ;-) )






Friday 1 May 2015

Spring Equinox II

So here we are today with part two of the Spring Equinox set. The first one is Ostaras footprint in the snow, melting it and allowing new growth and little creatures to establish themselves. It is my favourite of the four. The second one is a trinity of hares. The hare is one of Ostaras symbols, and the trinity of hares was a very popular celtic design. They always remind me of the book (and the movie) Watershhip Down, read it if you get the chance, it is worth the time.