Gone Tangling

Another week has gone by. Another week of running around after kids and appointments and whatnot. I had a biopsy taken from my left arm last Thursday, so I haven't slept well since then as every time I roll onto that side at night I wake up. So much fun. But fortunately it's my left arm so it hasn't stopped me drawing. I have been able to work on several detailed illustrations and have been tangling in the evenings. Catching up on challenges, tangling for my own enjoyment, trying out new things and techniques from the very talented Zentangle community. There are some truly amazing artists out there. The internet does have its benefits - we get to share in a much wider artistic community.

The Diva Challenge for this week was to use Molygon. I have trouble with this one. A lot of my crescents end up looking like squashed bananas, so I really have to slow it down.

Diva Challenge 315, Pepper, Molygon, Xyp, Crescent Moon

This attempt at Molygon isn't too bad, although I am not sure about the Pepper in the top corner. As a single element it feels too large, and the subtle shading is too subtle for my camera. Oh well, live and learn. One must try these things. I do like the Crescent Moons in the bottom corner, even if they do have smiley faces. And some of them definitely aren't crescents. I haven't really got the swirly thing happening with the Molygons. It sort of starts and then peters out. Ah well, it is what it is.

Far more successful from my point of view was my attempt at challenge #298, using Orbs-la-Dee. Going for a contrast between tangles that are flat and others that can be given a bit of dimension. While not there yet, this is definitely on the right track.

Diva Challenge 298, Bunzo, Orbs-la-Dee, Squid, Flux, Fescu

I had originally put Bunzo in every third diamond on the outside and Nzeppel in the others, but it wasn't working. So Nzeppel got drawn over with more Bunzos. The white gel pen was needed to get rid of the lines that showed, so the Bunzos ended up with more grey than I had planned. But it worked. Serendipity is a splendid thing.

And finally, challenge #290, using Nzeppel and Flux. I love these two patterns, they are on my list of go-to patterns, or comfort tangling, or whatever you want to call it, so I suppose this also takes care of the "Mac&Cheese" challenges of the past as well. Two with one stone. Although this was not entirely comforting to do. Leaving white space is always a struggle for me. I have a strong urge to cover everything.

Diva Challenge 290, Nzeppel, Flux, Cirquital

My eldest child keeps urging me to colour tiles before I start. When I paint, I always paint on a coloured ground, so I can see her wisdom in this, and I suspect it will calm that desire to cover all the surface. I certainly don't get the same drive with the black or Renaissance tiles, so she may well be on to something. There's no shading on this (I only just noticed), but I don't know that it's needed. It seems okay the way it is.

A Certain Magnetism

I missed last week's challenge as I was away. As in right away. I went to my brother's farm outside Murrumbateman (a little town about 40 minutes from Canberra), and was without internet. Or news. Which was lovely. The television is satellite only, and bounced from Alice Springs, right in the centre of Australia, so it was kind of weird that I knew when their next rodeo was on, or where to get framing done in Alice, but knew nothing of what was happening in the rest of the world. Which given the way that week was seems to have been something of a boon. Ignorance really is bliss.

One of the cows dropped a calf. She is unbelievably cute. We dined on one of the steers (Space Ghost - he won awards on hoof and hook and was incredibly delicious), and there were fresh farm eggs. Plus I went in to Canberra a few times to catch up with friends and have beautiful meals with them. And I got painting done. As in real honest-to-god painting, in oils on canvas. And tangled in the evenings while watching television with my brother and sister-in-law and nephew. A very good week.

The kids stayed home with their dad and everyone managed without Mum for the week, so I am thinking I can really do this again sometime.

I was looking forward to seeing this week's Challenge, but when it came up it left me rather bamboozled. Something inspired by the Earth? Or something on a recycled support? Really, I was unsure. But Laura the lovely Diva was kind enough to clarify. Inspired by the Earth. Gotcha. Still, it took a couple of days for me to work it all out in my head. Lots of reading and research, which was fun. I know a fair bit more now about the Gaia Hypothesis than I did. And weather patterns. And the shapes of the Earth's tectonic plates. But nothing was really singing. I didn't want to just do leafy, organic patterns because I tend to do those most of the time anyway. And then I remembered the Earth's electromagnetic field, which protects us from the worst of the solar winds and stops our atmosphere from being stripped away. So the weekly challenge turned out like this:

Diva Challenge 313, Meer, Flux, Beelight, Tagh, Fescu, Noom, Bunzo, Tipple, Skoodle

Imagine you are the Sun, looking straight at our Earth, but able to see into it, in cross section. There are the inner core, outer core and mantle. The crust, so fragile and thin, is just a line, the biosphere and atmosphere are rendered in Fescu, with the ionosphere as the white halo. And then the magnetic field loops out in bows. Behind the Earth the solar winds push the field out in a great stream so that it looks like Earth has a tail, or long hair, but the Sun can't see that. If I were doing this challenge again I would fill every space between the loops with Meer, but it's still okay as it is. Not perfect, but okay.

Our planet is really quite fragile. That field goes and we and everything else are just toast. We should be grateful for our Earth and take much better care of it. It could all be gone so easily. The politicians and their corporate masters won't bother, so it's up to us to speak up every day and call them to account.

In keeping with the plan to catch up on all those Challenges I missed (well, most of them, but anyway...), here's one I did while on the farm. Challenge 304, using Waybop. Quite a fun little tangle that. I've been using it a lot. Funny how some tangles you just take to, while others take a while to catch on. I've certainly caught on to this one. I did Waybops that were more standard, but I really like the way this particular one turned out.

Diva Challenge 304, Waybop, Betweed, Msst

I also had a go at some of the Renaissance tiles, both square and round. They make me a little wary, so it's good to practice something that pushes me out of my comfort zone. Good old Bunzo again. Maggots in carapaces. I have jokingly called this Bunzodala.

Bunzo, Tripoli, Flux, Pearlz

The Four Corners of the Circle

I've been away for the weekend with my eldest. Went down to Canberra to see friends and family and the Treasures of Versailles Exhibition. We had a great time, but I was quite tired when we got home. Four hours plus of driving, with two near misses due to idiot drivers who weren't paying attention and clearly weren't expecting for someone to be doing to the speed limit. Still, home safe and sound, so yay for us.

Regardless of the tiredness, I couldn't help looking at the Diva Challenge last night. I figured it would be up, even though I hadn't got my email alert yet (time zones - one of the perils of living on a sort of spheroid planet). And when I saw it, oh, I was so excited. I nearly grabbed my pens and paper there and then. But instead I went to bed. And slept like a log. And spent all this morning running around doing the things that needed doing and itching to get drawing.

Laura has set a challenge that is right up my alley - a string with circles and squares.

See, here's the thing. I love sacred geometry. And the thing about sacred geometry, or classical geometry if you prefer, is that circles and squares are really important. And the presence of one implies the presence of the other.

I was reading recently "The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day" by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen¹. On p.52, writing about varying cosmologies, Stewart and Cohen point out that to "many [ancient central American] cultures the world was both square and round". Which when you think about it makes perfect sense. The Four Corners of the Earth, anyone? A circle is the basis from which a square is constructed and they share the same centre point (which is often considered the fifth point of the square). Prior to the invention of the set square the only way to reliably draw a square, with accurate right-angled corners, was to start with a circle. Frankly, it's still the best way to do it, as far as I am concerned. And you can do it with just a compass and straight edge. No fussing around.

A circle can easily lead to a square. A square has to have come from a circle. No wonder I couldn't wait to get started. Although of course, life gets in the way. So here I am at nearly three in the afternoon and I have only now found time to put pen to paper.

Diva Challenge #311, CircleSquare, Bunzo, Cyme, Knightsbridge, Marasu, Printemps, Wasser and a spiral
Megan Hitchens, black ink, brown ink, white ink, graphite, white chalk on tan paper. 2017

It's a little wonky as I did it free hand, but using a mandala tile really helped. I think the Knightbridge was a mistake, or needs something else happening in it. And I should have gone much more carefully with the spiral, but otherwise... well... it will do.

For squares and circles I much prefer this, which I did with a compass and straight edge, but it's not the formal challenge piece as it was done for INKtober last year.

Playing, Paradox, Knightsbridge, Hollibaugh, Meer, Tipple, other patterns that I should go look up their names
Megan Hitchens, blank ink on white paper, 2016

You can really see the difference a straight edge makes. Oh well.

Squares within circles, circles within squares, turtles all the way down.

No archived Diva Challenge today as I still have stacks to do.

1. Pratchett Terry, Cohen Jack, Stewart Ian, The Scicnce of the Discworld IV: Judgement Day, Ebury Publishing, 2014

Back in the Saddle

Two and a third years. That's a loooooooooonnnnnnnggggggg time between posts. But that's the way life goes sometimes. All my blogs have been on hold, or only dealt with very sporadically. And as for tangling - hahahahaha. It has barely happened. But....

I'm trying to get back on board. I have still been drawing when I can, but not painting, and doing calligraphy when I can. And it is way past time I got back to tangling.

Do you know the funny thing about that? I was scared to start back up. Everything felt rusted shut. Over the last two and a bit years I have been maintaining my tangle manual (all the patterns I like, with the step outs), and checking out the Diva's challenge each week, and reading the Zentangle blogs and newsletters. And, of course, The Tangled Way (Lianne Woods - great teacher), Enthusiastic Artist (Margaret Bremner) and the incomparable Magratscraft (this is a must). I just haven't done more than read. Well, a tile here or there, but otherwise no (I might share them another time, I might not).

Other things have been drawn on Zentangle tiles in the meantime - the paper is so beautiful that it can't be ignored. Things that are quite detailed and need to be mapped out carefully, and corrected where necessary. And I've found out another reason why you don't rub out when tangling. One, it's not wrong. Two, the paper HATES rubbing out. It pills and shreds and generally reacts very badly. And then bleeds like no one's business. So never, never feel tempted to rub out what you've done. It's really not worth it. Turn a bug into a feature, as the computer people say, or turn it upside down, a la Mr Squiggle, or something. But Don't. Rub. Out.

Life is getting back on track, very slowly, and fingers, toes and eyes crossed that I have not just jinxed that. Some canvasses have been prepared (that's a story for one of my other blogs), some serious drawing undertaken, and actual research done too. So I felt I really, really should get back to tangling.

The fear was still there (I know that's silly, but there you are), but the Diva challenge made it easier. UMT challenge with a great pattern, Frunky, by Katharina Königsbauer-Kolb.

Diva challenge #310, Frunky, Megan Hitchens, white gel pen, white chalk, soapstone, 2017

For a black tile, this scanned remarkably well. The soapstone can be quite reflective, which makes images problematic. Not this time. I'm very happy with it. Frunky is a lovely pattern, and a great one for dusting off the cobwebs, or blasting off the rust.

Of course, then I got enthusiastic. Several half-finished tiles dating back to 2015 got finished (yay), and I thought "why not catch up on the missing challenges?" So I looked at the last one I did (#195) and then at the next one (#196 - the sort of Christmas/dolly one), which I have decided to sit on for a while. And then found in my box the tile I did for #197 way back when it was set, but never posted (nor shaded, I just realise. That could be why). That's handy. So here it is. Finally.

Diva challenge #197, Arukas, Paradox, Nzeppel, Bunzo, Flux, Megan Hitchens, black Sakura micron, brown Sakura micron, 2014

I had decided to use Arukas, the set tangle for the challenge, as the string and then fill the spaces with whatever took my fancy, including Arukas. It's a little busy, but I like the two ink colours. Bunzo worked well. The brown ink makes the graphite look steely grey.

Now to keep the momentum going and catch up on all the others in-between. But, the best laid plans of Mice and Megans. We'll see long this lasts.

Being a Bit Off-Hand

Diva Challenge number 194. And look, it's the day of the challenge and here I am posting. Eliza Murphy set the challenge - draw with your off-hand.

I'm going to admit up front - I love this challenge. I was actually excited to do it, instead of the usual fretting over how to approach it.  Usual routine, looked at what was already there from people, read through their processes and the comments, had a bit of a think. But instead of the usual procrastination that follows I headed straight for my desk and got started. My poor son had to come and remind me it was time for school (he loves school - he'd go on the weekends if they let him).

This one seems to have thrown some people a bit of a curve ball. We are so used to having the fine motor control our main hand affords us. And we know we are expected to be neat. Ever since learning to write, ever since learning to colour in, it has all been about control - "keep your lines straight, write neatly, colour inside the lines". And there are good reasons for this, but it is not all there is.

My spouse was born left-handed. He is of an age where lefties were looked down on and he was made to write with his right hand. He did it, but his handwriting was awful. His handwriting is still awful. When he got his PhD the joke was that the title doctor finally explained his handwriting.

I'm right-handed, but I have long experimented on and off with drawing and writing with my left hand (enduring fascination with Leonardo da Vinci, who was not only ambidextrous, but could do mirror writing. Great brain exercise if you can cope with the bizarre results of trying). When I was in Year 8 of High School we did a sculpture component. We were each given a plaster block and told to sculpt it (after working out designs and plans and having them okayed by the teacher). I could barely make a mark on my block. I told the teacher, who said it's plaster, stop being pathetic, get on with it. For two days I worked away, barely making scratches and becoming more and more tired and frustrated. Third day, I couldn't move my arm or open my fingers without large amounts of pain. Turned out I had severe muscle strain (and was in a sling for a fortnight). At which point the teacher decided he'd show me how silly I was and he'd carve part of my block for me. He gave up after a few minutes, apologised and declared my plaster block as hard as concrete.

To cut a long story short (too late!) I spent the next few weeks writing and drawing with my left hand. It was revelatory. Our abilities do not reside in our hands. They reside in our minds. Fine motor control is another issue, but ability...

The drawings I produced were different, looser, but had their own beauty. My mum has the drawings I did then, or I'd scan a couple and put them here. Writing was do-able, but like my poor spouse, it wasn't tidy. Calligraphy got set aside for the entire time (Most nibs are cut for right-handers. You can get left-hand nibs, but they are still difficult to use. I've had left-handed students. Most give up because it is such a trial. I feel so sad for them. Thank goodness our Sakura pens don't rely on handedness.)

So here's what I did. I liked it up until I added the Bunzo. I have to learn to ignore the string when appropriate. It's there as a guide, not as a dictation. Put your finger over the Bunzo and it's suddenly a much nicer tile. As it is, it looks like something out of Doctor Who and the Green Death.

Squid, Flux, Bunzo, Tripoli, Nipa, Fescu

Here are some things I found useful, if you are feeling daunted by this challenge:

Firstly, relax. Because it is just a tile and because you'll do better if you relax.

Try not to get the pen in a death grip. You'll actually have better control if you hold the pen gently.

Experiment with line creation. If you are shaky pushing the pen, try pulling it, and vice versa. Eg. using left hand, if you are shaky pushing the pen from left to right, try pulling it from right to left. Obviously reverse if you are using your right hand.

Be confident. Hesitant lines are never as attractive as confident lines. Even if you don't feel confident, just go for it. Seize the moment, draw that line!

And in the end, have a laugh, (I certainly did after I got over the maggot crawling over the hill). So here's a laugh for you (it is actually one routine followed by two songs. I have put this up for the opening routine, about two minutes long, so don't feel daunted, but by all means go on to the songs. Flanders and Swann were marvellous).

This Should Have Been My First Post...

... but it wasn't. Because I was too excited about putting up my responses to the Diva Challenge.

And this should have been my first post because this is the "why this blog" post.

So, why this blog?

I have two other blogs, but they are quite particular. One, History in the Making, is for my genealogy stuff. I really need to get back to that. It's been four months since I last wrote on that. Slack, but there are reasons, just not very good ones. The other, Grasping Nettles, is for my art production, keeping myself on track by going public with my progress. That gets used a lot. This one, Catching the Bug, is specifically for things Zentangle.

There are some tangle posts on Grasping Nettles, in the context of exhibitions. You can read them here, here, here, here, and here if you are interested. But I came to the conclusion yesterday that if I am going to regularly do the Diva Challenges, which is my aim, and as I want to post more Zentangle-related things, I could do with a specific blog. So here it is.

And the title? I am a punner and my son is a literalist. So we have been joking around since January with the idea of the Tangle Bug that I caught being an actual little bug, or beetle. Then Maria Thomas introduced the world to Bijou, so I felt inspired to bring the Bug to life on paper. And now it's gone virtual.

The thing about bugs, and it holds true for this, is that sometimes they are beautiful and fascinating and just what you need in your day, and other times they are really irritating and won't let you be. And won't go away. I have a few bugs, the Tangle Bug being just one. Sometimes I feel like Charles Darwin, one in each hand and one in my mouth, just so I can carry them all (yes, he really did. Boys).

So here's to bugs. And lots of tangling.

Tangle Bug, Megan Hitchens 2014, Bijou tile