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.

It Was Bugging Me

Back again. Who'd have thunk? Two in two days. But I kind of got the Frunky bug.

Plus... Having posted, I went and looked at everyone else's Diva challenge responses for this week. Wow, there are some talented people out there. But... having looked at Katharina's whole post for Frunky, instead of just the step-outs, I realised that my little effort was very similar to something she had done. Maybe I half saw it when I visited her page in the first place and was subconsciously channelling. I don't know. But it did make me feel uncomfortable. So I went through the other Frunky tiles I had drawn (I said I'd got the bug) and decided to share another one that's a bit less similar.

On a Bijou tile, so signed with the little Tangle Bug instead of my usual monogram. I love these little tiles. There is no room for faffing around. Straight down to business and get it done. Although, having said this, I now have a 0.05 micron and am itching to miniaturise. Anyway...

Diva challenge #310, Frunky, Flux, Megan Hitchens, black ink and graphite, 2017.
Better? or too figurative now? Sigh.

And in keeping with trying to keep to a plan, I did another challenge from the Diva archive - #198, which, incidentally, is also challenge #1, right back at the beginning. Simplify. So, on a Bijou tile, because it is small, in a circle string, because that is, let's face it, one line, a single tangle, Nzeppel. Shading is simple too. Not thrilled, but not unhappy either.

Diva Challenge #1 and #198, Nzeppel, Megan Hitchens, black ink and graphite, 2017

No fussiness, no thinking, no fear, just done. Simple.

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.

Uramaki

Another week, another Diva Challenge, this time set by Sandy Hunter. If it's a grid pattern, make it free form. If it's free form, make it a grid pattern. And use our favourites. Basically we are turning our favourite patterns inside out.

I am an over-sharer. Sit with me long enough and you'll hear more about my life than you could possibly want, and especially more about my children. I have three blogs, for crying out loud. Three.

This is only the sixth post on this blog, but already I've shared that I have favourite patterns. Squid, for instance. Flux and Nzeppel have been mentioned, Xyp too. Five posts and you know four of my favourite patterns. Like I said, over-sharer. And here it comes to bite me on the bum because I cannot lie about which patterns I have to work with.

Last week's challenge was supposed to put us out of our comfort zones, but I loved it, revelled in it, had so much fun. This week, however, this week the comfort zone was definitely somewhere on the horizon. I could see it, but there was no way I could reach it. My lovely, comfortable, familiar patterns were about to become unrecognisable, out of control.

It wasn't that bad. But it wasn't "bulk fun" either (favourite phrase of an old school friend).

Drupe, Squid, Tortuca, Nzeppel, Beelight, Well, Mucha, Seton

There was nowhere to put Xyp, Flux I had seen on some other responses to this challenge so I left it for fear of subconsciously copying. I went with what was left of my best favourites, and then others that I often turn to, and a new favourite, Seton. Some of this I would do again, other parts - no.

Beelight is quite nice, although I wouldn't call it freeform. Take the grid out of Nzeppel and you just end up with crazy paving, or at least I do, so that's a big no. And Well just becomes a series of little flowers (boring). Tortuca? I could draw spirals until the cows came home, read for a while and then tucked themselves in and turned the lights out. Mucha in a big grid is quite fetching.

Seton without a grid was so much fun. I'm going to be doing Seton without a grid A LOT from now on. They look like Dorset buttons or fly wheels or something. So many possibilities.

 And oh look, there's Squid. Again. Because I always seem to do Squid. But that was the point of the exercise.

I can do a freeform Squid
I can do it in a grid
I can do it here or there
I can do it anywhere
I do so love to draw a Squid
I do so love it, and so I did

- with apologies to Dr Seuss