Diva Challenge #219 ~ Straight Lines *EEK!!!*

EEEK!!! That's what I said when I read that the challenge this week was all about straight lines. I don't like straight lines, probably because I can't make mine very straight and I tend to try to be a perfectionist. So I have been trying hard to come up with something that I remotely like and I think I may have 1. This first one isn't it however.

Diva 219 - Tile 1

This one was the first one and definitely didn't work for me, especially after I tried to use a Spectrum Noir to add some shading. I had thought it was going to turn out pretty good, because I liked some of the tangles I was using, but in the end, I had to try again.  So here's attempt #2....

Diva 219 - Tile 2

This one didn't have the kind of *oomph* that I was looking for, so I just kind of haphazardly shaded it and called it done.  Strike two!

Diva 219 - Tile 3

Actually, I quite like this one and it is probably my actual submission...lol. Hubby thought it needed something else added to the background, my son and I thought that any more would ruin it, so I left it as is.

Diva 219 - Tile 4

This one turned out fairly nice, I think. I didn't want definite edges, so I tried to stipple the ends out to fade it, Not sure it turned out the way I envisioned it, but it is still pretty good. I may have to actually work on this one or redo it and shade it, but i kind of like it this way with only the minimal shading on the lines in the background.

So that's it for today, but I learned a lot about me and lines. I definitely prefer organic or curvy shapes, but there is a lot to be said for straight lines too. For one thing, after I got into the rhythm of drawing the lines, it was quite relaxing...something I never thought I would say about drawing straight lines. And also, it's not always necessary to fill all your space or shade everything. So I guess it was a good week.

Thank you all for your wonderful comments last week, they are much appreciated. There are so many wonderful artists here and I appreciate comments from all of you. There is so much to be learned from each other here and I'm glad I found this place on the web. Thank you for stopping by and all comments are very much welcomed. If you would like to see the other submissions for the challenge this week, stop by the Diva's place (click here) and check them out. Better yet, come and play with us and show your own artwork. Thanks again for stopping by :)

White on Black or Found.....Diva Challenge 218

First off, as always, thank you all so very much for your very kind comments. It means a lot to me to have people visit my blog. This is such a fabulous group to be involved with and I always learn something from everyone's posts.

So....this week, the Diva challenged us to use white on black tiles or tangle on a found object. I don't have any black tiles, but I "found" some black scrapbooking paper in my stash, so I guess it covers both criteria, right? I cut it into 3.5" squares and sat looking at it. I couldn't for the life of me get any kind of idea to gel in this thick skull of mine. So, I started to look through all my sketchpads and sketchbooks and half-baked tiles that were started and never finished (I have a LOT of those) and decided to try an idea that I was working on with a spiral design sort of.  The pen I used is the Sakura Gelly Roll and on the paper I was using, it was perfect as long as I didn't try to draw too fast. So this first one was an experiment and although I loved it, I had absolutely NO idea how to highlight this. Couldn't shade, because it already was a shade. So I left it as is. Here it is for your perusal....

 Although this isn't exactly a zentangle tile, I think it can qualify as a ZIA (Zentangled Inspired Artwork). I don't actually know if I used any actual tangles at all, since I just let my pen do the walking on this one and I just went along for the ride.








I decided that I had best try an actual Zentangle, so I thought about some simple tangles that might be

suitable for white on black. It seems to me that since the pen puts down a much thicker line, it would be much easier to use much less complicated tangles. So for this one, I used Ing, Fescu, Zinger, Flux, Mooka, Dragonair, Tipple, and Luv-A, as well as a quilting design that I liked called feathered clam. I only put one of those in there because it just seemed to fit in the space *grin*.





The highlights in this tile were made using a white Conte Pastel pencil and blending it with a very small tool that I actually don't know what it is called. I had these from years ago when I was using pastels to color in stamped images on cards that I was making. They are very tiny, but are almost like using a cotton swab to delicately blend the color. I like the way they worked out and this is a picture of the tools that I used.

So that's it for this week, but I think I really enjoyed working with the black and may have to try it some more. If you want to see what other people in this challenge did with this, just head on over the the Diva's website (click here) and check them out. It's a fun group of people and I always learn from them, so if you want to play with us, give it a try!

As always, comments are always appreciated and I am trying to check out the other blogs to see what has been done. It takes me forever to type some days due to arthritic fingers, so if I don't leave a comments, I will try to get to you next week.  Happy Tangling!

Diva Challenge #217 ~ Dex vs. Bunzo - 35?

The Diva had another challenging week, but still managed to get a challenge posted for us again. I don't know how she does it sometimes! Her youngest was again in the hospital but thankfully was out in time for Mother's Day so they could all have a great day. Her challenge this week is to do a duo-tangle using Dex and Bunzo only. The 35 comes from the fact that Dex has 3 letters and Bunzo has 5, which coincidentally makes it appear as 35, which is also how old the Diva is this week.  So, Laura, here is my Duo-tangle and Happy Birthday to you!

Challenge 217 - Dex and Bunzo
Media: 3.5" sq tile, Black Micron 01, pencil to shade
Tangles: Bunzo, Dex

This is the first time I have ever done Dex, but it is a fun gridded pattern to do, and Bunzo has always been one of my favorite tangles ever since I saw it the first time. So this isn't anything spectacular this time, but just a nice laid back little tangle that was very relaxing to do. Hope you like it!

Thank you all so very much for your wonderful comments last week....I do appreciate your comments and read them all every week. Happy Belated Mother's Day to everyone out there, be you a biological mom, a step mom, a dad acting as a mom, a furbaby mom, or anyone that just relates to loving having someone to take care of. 

If you are interested in joining our tangle adventures, just head over the the Diva's blog (click here) and check out all the wonderful artwork being shared. Who knows, maybe you will be inspired to join us! :)

As always, comments are always appreciated and I definitely appreciate your stopping by!

Diva Challenge #216 ~ UMT Brella

First off, thank you all again for your kind comments last week. They are always appreciated.

We had a pretty good week last week although it was a little tough on my son. He is on disability for many things, but had to go through a mandatory evaluation which is something we do periodically. This time he was extremely anxious about it because they didn't give him much notice about the appointment. The therapist he spoke with understood and apologized about the lack of notification for him, but also spent a good deal of time talking with him. My son suffers from depression, extreme anxiety and social phobias, as well as a lot of pain, due in part to an auto accident we were in. But he does well in helping here around home and I very much appreciate him. When the therapist was talking with him, she asked if he had ever had a definitive diagnosis for his Autism/Aspergers and we told her that both his therapist and doctor had said that he is most likely on the scale somewhere. Well, she got busy and got her evaluation tests out and FINALLY confirmed what we had assumed for a very long time - he is autistic. Now that he is 30 years old, it's good to have a firm diagnosis. And she thinks that if we can understand it and how to deal with it, it will lessen some of his other problems. So it was a very good week for us!

The Diva, Laura Harms, had a great week also in that her youngest is showing progress in being able to eat solid food. Congratulations to Laura on that highlight for her week. Little landmarks are so wonderful when we are trying to make progress. Her challenge this week was a UMT, as is normal for the first challenge of the month. This month our UMT is Brella by Bunny Wright and since Star Wars is a big deal in the Diva's household, she chose to use a Star Wars theme for Star Wars Day - "May the 4th be with you". We are pretty much geeks in this house too, although my son is by far the biggest geek in the house and so I attempted to do something Star Wars too. I actually had this done on Monday, but have been busy running errands until today, so I couldn't get a picture of it until now. I chose to do the Rebel Alliance sigil - I know, not very creative, but I really haven't been feeling very creative lately. It was very relaxing for me to do it though, so I guess it was mission accomplished.  See what you think...

May the 4th be with you!
Media: 3.5" x 3.5" tile, Black Micron pen, pencil
Tangles: Brella, StarMap

Very simple, but very enjoyable to do also.

As always, any and all comments are appreciated. If you would like to see the other submissions for this challenge, head on over the the Diva's place (click here) and check out all the awesome artwork there. Enjoy!

Labyrinths are Among Us~ Diva Challenge #215

First off, let me say that I'm sorry I didn't get around to all the blogs last week. My hands were giving me fits (arthritis and fibromyalgia) so I was basically staying away from the keyboard because it hurt to type, but I have peeked in to some from last week and I am going to be working on some of the challenges I have missed. That being said, let's move on to this week's challenge. When I woke up Monday and saw that the challenge was to draw a labyrinth, all I felt was sheer panic! To begin with, I had no idea what a bonafide labyrinth looked like, but the Diva helped us out there by sending us to a couple of websites. I looked at those and kind of got familiar with what a labyrinth should look like, but somehow I wanted something different. So...as my husband often says to me...I went into full research mode and spent a few days on Google and Google Images just looking around. Thank you, Diva, for such a challenge! I found out so much about labyrinths and the reasons for them, that it made it all so very interesting. Like she said in her post (paraphrasing here), mazes and labyrinths are not the same thing at all. I find after looking at everything, I definitely prefer labyrinths. I must have gone through all the scratch paper in the house trying to decide exactly how I wanted my labyrinth to look, but finally settled on a design that I absolutely love. This is what I would like a labyrinth to look like if I were able to build one in my back yard (I can't, my yard is barely wide enough for a picnic table).

Diva Challenge 215 ~ Labyrinth
Media:
4" x 4" tile, Micron (black and brown), pencil for
shading, green and blue watercolor pencils, white colored
pencil for highlighting and white gelly roll for orb dots
Tangles used:
Miander, Ovy tangellation, Flux, Fescu, Zinger (1)

When I started with the Miander on the path, I cursed myself for choosing that particular tangle and especially for making it so small, but I love the way it turned out and found that it was very relaxing to tangle it. In looking back at it, I find that the places that I was really in tune with the pen are the smallest design areas and the larger ones are more just trying to cover space. But I really do like the way it turned out. In fact, so much so that I will probably make another one and make it larger and frame it. Thank you once again, Laura, for your wonderful challenges!

If you would like to see the responses to this challenge and check out the Diva's blog for other challenges that she has issued, go to the Diva's Challenge blog (click here) and check it out.

And remember, any and all comments are welcomed and appreciated ... always!