Saturday, February 20, 2016

Ghosts of Tangles Past

So . . .  this week the Diva Challenge asks us to revisit an old tile and redo it the way we would do it today. I first came in contact with Zentangle in May of 2014 when I was first on Pinterest and saw a couple of drawing that really interested me. They were something called "Zentangle" and I had never heard of it. Well, since I use Google to look up everything, I googled the term and started all kinds of beautiful abstract pieces that I thought I would like to try. So I went to zentangle.com  and started reading the blog there. They claimed that it was an easy thing to do, just one line at a time and you could create beautiful art. I thought that I would have no problem with this, since I had been interested in art my whole life and had even been an art major in college. Of course, that was AGES ago and I had mostly been doing crafts and life since then and I really didn't graduate from college, so I had forgotten most of what I had learned. I mostly drew animals and cartoony things before I got interested in rubber stamps and then scrapboking and when I saw zentangle, it seemed to call out to me.

I didn't know anything about what a string was and I was in too much of a hurry to take the time to do the steps for most tangles, so I would look at something and try to draw it. As a result, most of my early pieces were really crap-tastic and bear no real resemblance to actual tangling. But be that as it may, I started studying what I could find on Zentangle and little by little, I have been teaching myself to do some, what I consider, fairly decent tangle pieces. Check out the before and after and hopefully, there is progress there.


 One of my first tangles done in June of 2014. I really have no idea what the tangles were supposed to be, but my son told me that the big shell type thing was my attempt at Phycops. It took him about 2 weeks of trying to help me see which way the lines went, before I actually had the "aha" moment and figured out what I had been doing wrong. Thank you very much, TB3!
 Here is my redo on this one and I left out a lot of the tangles that were in the older one. I think that I finally learned how to draw Phycops. It's not the same at all because my early ones didn't have strings and no rhyme or reason to them. I feel better about the newer ones, because I feel like I have finally found my stride with them. Hope you like!

Another of my sad attempts at Phycops (also June of 2014), I was fascinated with that particular tangle and just couldn't make it work for me. My son can see things that I can't and he has the knack of helping me to learn the correct procedure. I keep trying to get him to try to tangle, but he really isn't interested. Again, no string and apparently no shading either, so the new try has definitely got to be better.

Again, here is my redo of the old tile and as you can see, I really DID learn Phycops. I used some of the other tangles in this one too, although I didn't use all the attempted tangles that were in the old one. I find that I like a bit of white space as I become more confident in my work. Hope you like! This one was just completed yesterday.









As always, thank you for stopping by and taking a look at my attempts. I am thoroughly enjoying this tangling journey and hope you are too. Thank you also for any comments and CC. It always helps. If you are interested in seeing what some of the other wonderful artists in this community, just hop on over the the Diva's blog (CLICK HERE) and take a look.

Have a great day!

13 comments:

  1. Do you really wonder if there is progress????? Wow, you have really grown in your tangling.

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  2. Wow, I am fascinated to see your growing up in tangling. Both new tiles are so beautiful.

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  3. I just can agree with Anne and Bine: you have made a wonderful progress!!!

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  4. Wow. The difference in your style is clear and yes you have definitely grown. And yet there is a definite charm in your first attempts. They lack the 3-dimensionality especially of the later ones and your Phicops today is beatuiful. But I think your attempts at phicops back then, while they don't look like phicops, really, are still beautiful, too. I like the old ones a lot.

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  5. I love reading your story and seeing your compared tiles! You too can see the confidence that you've gained in just a couple years! You mastered Phicops!

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  6. These are wonderful...and I love your PHicops..I hope to be able to do that one day!!! Thanks for sharing !

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  7. Really amazing and lovely work! You have made great strides;-)

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  8. You've got it!!! So much growth. I love the movement in the new tiles, especially the first one. Isn't it nice to feel free to use fewer tangles and draw them bigger, and even leave some space? Your new work b r e a t h e s :)

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  9. Wonderful what a change! Yes, it works much better using the method and step outs :-)

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  10. Such an amazing example of growth and confidence.

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  11. I also figured out Phicops sometime between the first tile I chose for this challenge and the redo. It really was like an "aha" moment---you know, angels singing amidst rays of light. Of all the before and afters I've seen for this challenge, I think yours show the most "progress" in technique and feeling. I started tangling the same way you did. It definitely is a journey and one worth taking.

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  12. What great progress! Your newer tiles are wonderful, showing so much more confidence, contrast, and flow.

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  13. Wow. What an amazing study! Your style developed beautifully.

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