Saturday 31 October 2015

Last of inktober

Today is quite an important day. Well, maybe not important, but a lot is happening today. It is quite obviously Halloween! And all the big and small kids are out and about trick or treating. Of course so were we (and takings were very plentyful) and my kids carved some beautiful pumpkins and put them in the driveway to signal to fellow trick or treaters. The first pumpkin you see has Happy Halloween carved on the other side and the second one has 5(!) faces all over it, although I am only posting two of them...



It is also the last day of the #inktober challenge, and my goodness, what a challenge. Do a drawing every day for a month, in order to develop good and daily drawing habits. I made it! I made a drawing every day and I enjoyed doing it. It was a chance to lay the groundwork for my Zentangle pattern rolo library, and I will keep it going, daily challenge or no.
I am still kind of glad it is over. I learned that basically I already have good drawing habits, I draw nearly every day of the week anyway, regardless of any challenges. But I am also very busy with family life and it is very hard sometimes to allocate the time for it. The feeling of "falling behind" is not a feeling I wish to associate with one of my favourite hobbies on a regular basis.

Here are my last #inktober drawings. The first is called "Punzel" by Maria Thomas, a variation of "Chainging", also by Maria Thomas. I have not as such worked with this one, but it is awesome when it is done, and it looks much more complete than its parent "Chainging". I will do that one later and then you will know what I mean.



And my last #inktober challenge drawing for this year:





Thursday 29 October 2015

Starawn

Today I did my #inktober zentangle design a little differently, in part to celebrate my 101st blog post and also to try out my white pigment ink pen on black paper. Unfortunately not as successful as I had hoped, the white pen dried very translucent and I had to go over everything 2-3 times. I am still using it in my reference library, even though it is not the best way to show off "Starawn" by Judy Murphy.

I should also mention that I get basically all my patterns from http://tanglepatterns.com (I hope the link works), as soon as I figure out how to put a link to her page into my sidebar I will do it, if you know how to do that, please leave a comment to that regard ;)





Post nr. 100!!

I never thought I would write this, but this is my 100th post! Yay! I wanted to post something special today and so todays #inktober drawing took me a while longer. It is not a rolo today, but a drawing in my sketchbook.

Enjoy!


Tuesday 27 October 2015

Y-Ful Power

I am back on track with daily posting, for now anyway. Todays #inktober drawing is zentangle design Y-Ful Power, by Shoshi. It is a lovely and versatile design, I have already seen it done on a large paper with a different tangle in each y shape. If you choose to follow the tangle design you will find that you get 3 interlaced layers and so I tend to use 3 decorative designs . Y-Ful Power also looks very nice after it is coloured.


Monday 26 October 2015

In case you get bored

I also figured some of you might get fairly bored with all the tangle patterns that I have been posting lately, so I am posting a second post today with some atcs I have been making for a wonderful lady in Texas I am having monthly trades with. I would love to post even more pics of stuff I have been up to but some are trades that are still not completed and I do not want to spoil the surprises...

For this months trade with my awesome partner I chose poisonous and/or carnivorous plants. I know she likes the carnivorus ones and I have already made her arted up envelopes and rolos on that subject. 
She in turn has sent me some awesome Toadstool atcs last month and a special surprise in the shape of a 5x7 canvasboard with another Toadstool on it. I hung it next to my bedroom door so I can see it every day when I pass my door. I hope you read this post K. and please know that all your lovely gifts you sent me are very much appreciated over here. 

Here I give you the classic Venus Flytrap, Sundew and the Poisonous Nightshade.






#inktober drawings 24 - 26

Hi, Everyone. 
I was a little bit busy over the weekend (and it was a long weekend here) and I also got sick with sinusitis. I have been drawing my daily #inktober zentangle rolos, I just did not have the time or energy to write even a short post, so now I am giving you 3 lovely rolos in the one post. 

This tangle is called Sprigs, by Michelle Beauchamp. I really loved drawing it, I am already planning to use it in a larger project in the future. I left it plain this time, without shading or colours because I wanted the lines to speak for themself. 




This next tangle is called Pokeleaf, and it is a variation of the Pokeroot I posted previously, by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. I really like Pokeleaf, much more so than Pokeroot. Maybe if I experiment some more with both of them I might warm up with the berry shaped Pokeroot a bit more.



And this last tangle for today is called Squid, also by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. I was a bit afraid to draw this one, every time I saw it in pictures it seemed somewhat chaotic and "untidy". I was doubtful if I could understand its internal dynamics (I don't know if that makes sense). But when I sat down to draw I had no trouble whatsoever. In fact, I enjoyed it very much, it had a very nice flowy and organic feel to it when I drew the lines. 





Friday 23 October 2015

Pokeroot

Todays #inktober drawing is called Pokeroot by Maria Thomas. It is very easy to draw, the only tricky bit is getting the spaces between the little berries or cotton balls right. There is a variation of this design I will be posting tomorrow.
I thought I was doing very well with my Zentangle design rolo collection, in my little box it looks like I have a nice little stack and so I thought I'd count them. I experienced a little bit of an anticlimax then, as I have "only" 26 rolos including todays, but then Rome wasn't built in a day either. I will just keep going and eventually I will be able to get myself and fill a nice little rotary Rolodex holder...



Thursday 22 October 2015

2 drawings today

I actually completely forgot to post the #inktober drawing I did yesterday, so today I am posting two wonderful zentangle designs. The first rolo in black and white features "Maisie", by Carla Jennings. It reminds me of seed pods and the decorative designs used for the seed pods can basically be anything. I think I might be using this one quite a lot in the future.

The second (todays) design is call "Twizted", by Terry Brown. I used my dip pen and blue ink to draw it. Twizted reminds me of ripe grains, ready to be harvested. I had very little initial contrast in between the separate grain sheafs (?), so I just went over the outlines again with my blue ink, that seemed to just give it a nice dimensional effect. I am not sure if that can actually be seen on the picture, as my iPad has a very low resolution.





Tuesday 20 October 2015

Wheelz

Todays #inktober zentangle design is called Wheelz, by Joyce Block. I wasn't very relaxed when I drew it today, not sure why, and it gave me quite some handpains. I like using it anyway, it reminds me of an alien motorway of some sort. 



Monday 19 October 2015

Scrolled Feather

This post was supposed to be yesterdays post, but I had not realised it had not gone through. Maybe I forgot to finalise it or something. When I went ahaed to post it today it did not show the pictures, so here it goes again.

This is one of my absolute favourites, called Scrolled Feather by Helen Williams. I love its soft and flowing shape and I find it an absolute pleasure to draw.
I was asked by some of my readers if 1) they could follow my lead and also make a rolodex based zentangle design library? Of course you can, I am sure I am not the first to do this and I will not be the last, so please go ahead and share the result with us ;)
And 2) if I draw the methods of construction for each design on the back of my rolos? Yes, I do. I keep it rather unspectacular since its only for my own reference, but I will post this one as an example for you ;)






Finery

If you have read some of my earlier posts you might recognise todays #inktober Zentangle design. It is called Finery by Rick Roberts and Maria thomas, and I have used it for butterfly wings and also in my polyptych zentangle inspired piece.




Saturday 17 October 2015

No Zentangle Today

I thought to myself this morning that all you who read this blog (at least every now and then) must be getting fairly bored by now with all the Zentangle inspired Rolos I am making this month. So today I did something a little different, it is some kind of #inktober self portrait, done outside in my yard. 
I admit that my shoes are not white as in the picture, but black, and also I was not able to capture the lovely moss green shade of my awesome corduroy jeans in black and white. Still, not bad for a first dab at (human) self portrait...


Friday 16 October 2015

Stitch / OUOUOU

I am not sure who to give credit for todays #inktober drawing. I am getting my designs off a very good webpage called tanglepatterns.com and the lady maintaining it has two persons listed for this particular design. She is crediting Karry Heun, as Karry forwarded the design to tanglepatterns first.
Stitch is great to use on the line between two larger areas you are tangling. It will then look as if there are two interlocking pieces of patterned material, you can see it in action on one of my earlier posts in August about Polyptych zentangle inspired art...





Thursday 15 October 2015

Socc

This Zentangle design is called Socc, by Erin Olson, and it is my #inktober drawing for today. It is very easy to draw, just takes a bit of time and patience. It is very good for a background filler, where the design is next to an outside border/ string.



Wednesday 14 October 2015

Kozy

Todays #inktiber drawing is called Kozy, by Marieke van Nimwegen. I tried something a little different this time. I purchased some Windsor & Newton inks and tried used a watercolour brush to colour the feather shapes with them. The first layer is yellow, then blue and red respectively. I managed some shading, but I definitely have a lot to learn about ink...


Tuesday 13 October 2015

Luv-A

I know I already wrote a short post earlier this morning, since that was a replacement post for yesterday I have another one for you for today. Todays zentangle rolo is called Luv-A, by Sharon Caforio. Lots of hearts, some little added droplets as well, and I could not help but colouring it, too. Some designs just scream for colour and other like it b/w and grey. 



Leaflet

I completely forgot to post my #inktober drawing yesterday. I drew it in some spare minutes I could squeeze out of my busy day and then in the evening the kids and myself decided it would be a great idea to practise their fire making skills. They managed to lite a nice little bonfire with dry leaves, and twigs and about twenty odd matches. 
The funny thing about it is that todays zentangle (by Helen Williams) is a superb and forgiving background design featuring leaf shapes. And when I drew it I had no idea we would be using leaves as fire lighters later on...



Monday 12 October 2015

African Artist

Todays #inktober drawing is called African Artist, by Tina Hunziger. I haven't used it before but it has some awesome background possibilities. I am also very tempted to draw it in something like an A4 size and have different tangles in the bubbles instead of the stripes...



Saturday 10 October 2015

Snayls Trayl

I was very busy today. But not with my kids, if that's what you think, my husband gave me a "day off" and so I left the house in the morning and spent the entire day drawing and painting away in some very nice cafes where I live. I can not yet show most of what I worked on today, but I did get the chance eventually to do todays #inktober drawing. It is called Snayls Trayl and it is by Andrea Shuman. The design possibilities inside the snayl are extremely versatile and it is another one of my favourites.

And just in case you are wondering why I am posting all these inktober drawings of zentangle designs: I am in the process of building a rolodex library of zentangle designs. That is why there is usually only one design featured. 
I am also usually very busy with family matters during the day and my drawing time is very limited, so I do not always get to colour my rolodex cards. I like to try and convince myself that I will do the colouring at a later stage, maybe on a rainy day, when there is nothing else to do ( effectively never, but don't tell me)...



Friday 9 October 2015

Combo

Todays #inktober drawing is a combo of different zentangle designs, so I did not list them all. I made the drawing in my sketchbook, which works perfectly well for pens and pencils, but unfortunately not so much for ink drawings. The ink bled a little and so I did not get any clean crisp lines. I also tried diluting gouache paints and watercolour paint and use them for ink (since I am too cheap to buy the good bombay inks I crave), I just have to work a little more on my consistency so the colours do not appear to be too weak.



Thursday 8 October 2015

Flux

And today I drew another favorite zentangle design of mine for #inktober, it is called Flux by Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts. This time though I tried something new I found on youtube. I drew the design with my dip pen and waterproof black india ink. Then I thinned out some watercolour paint with water and added blue shading. It was only my first try so it's not perfect, but I intend to use this technique again.


Wednesday 7 October 2015

Betweed

Todays #inktober drawing is zentangle design Betweed by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. It looks very complicated but is very easy and satisfying to draw. You can imagine it is another one of my favourites. The first picture is still with no colours, just the lineswork. 





Tuesday 6 October 2015

Crescent Moon

Todays #inktober drawing was a zentangle that was new to me. It is called Crescent Moon by Sandy Steen Bartholomew and it takes up the top part of my Rolo. Underneath it you can see the little maggoty looking sqiggels, they are a design called Bunzo by Maria Thompson and Rick Roberts. I felt I did not want to use Crescent Moon on its own as I feared the Rolo might be too bland looking. I wanted to pair it with a rounded design and Bunzo came in very handy.
This is the first time I used my dip pen for the whole drawing, even the black half circles. I had to wait with the process of drawing until all the kids were in bed, otherwise they might have redecorated my walls with indian ink...



Monday 5 October 2015

Trumpits

Todays #inktober drawing is called Trumpits by Theresa Glover. I absolutely love using trumpits in different variations for tree silhuettes. As inktober is mainly about daily drawing with ink I used only the tiniest amount of colour and did the drawing and shading all with the same pen.


Sunday 4 October 2015

Brain Shroom

Yay, I made another Shroom, and what a fantabulous one it is! I am not sure if I can count it into the #inktober challenge but I will do it anyway, I used the same ink pen as for the previous drawings and inktense for the colours. 
Be very careful with this one when trying to cultivate it though. It has an IQ of 1567 and will have you believe you are its spore within 5 minutes...


Saturday 3 October 2015

C-Six

Todays #inktober drawing is the zentangle design C- Six, by Mei Hua Teng. It was featured on Tanglepatterns.com and it has all the makings of becoming a new favourite of mine. I can't help it, I am drawn to rounded, swirly and spiraly shapes.
And I just noticed that this design would be awesome as rolling hills behind a medieval cityscape...




Friday 2 October 2015

Phicops

Yesterday I posted my first Zentangle inktober drawing. I only realised that it would have been good form to include the design name in my post and also to give credit to the inventor of the design. Yesterdays Zentangle design is called Zinger and was invented by Maria Thomas. 

Todays #inktober drawing is another Zentangle design called Phicops, originally invented by Brad Harms. I love drawing Phicops, it can take on many different shapes, it can look like a fan, a tropical leaf or even some kind of mollusk. I have also seen it used very effectively in the drawing of clothes collars and such. 
The additional design possibilities for the single "blades" are endless.


Thursday 1 October 2015

First inktober drawing

Today is the first day in October and also the start of the inktober challenge. I have to keep my ink drawings simple today and tomorrow due to one of my kids birthday parties that needs organising, but I got some drawing time in anyway.
So, here is #inktober drawing nr. 1