187 Diva: Blind String

This week's assignment at I am the Diva is to us a 'blind' string (or for those who aren't zentangle aficionados, drawing a string without looking at the page while drawing -  like blind contour drawing).  My first attempt resulted in a mess right in the middle of the square - totally unusable.  My second wasn't too bad.  I kept trying for a nicer string, but I just got worse and worse!  So here is my string:

 

As you can see, I went outside the box with my string (I'm drawing in a sketchbook) so I used an eraser (horrors!) to remove those lines. 

Here is what I came up with.  This time I darkened the shading so the scanner wouldn't wash it out, but I did it a bit too dark.  Not sure I'd like anything with a string with small spaces like this, but this is what I ended up with.  I used the tangles bales, demi, neuron, hollibaugh, beweed and gryst.

Have a fabulous week.

Every inchie Monday: Throne

At Every Inchie Monday this week's word is Throne.


Time for a (short) history lesson!  (The teacher in me just can't resist, although I taught English and Art, not History.) 

This depiction is of the English coronation throne, also called King Edward's chair, in use since 1308.  It was used to crown Elizabeth II (although I'm not sure whether or not she used a copy of the chair - different articles from Wikipedia make this unclear.)   Also, every time a coronation occurs, the Stone of Scone, first mentioned in the 14th century,  is brought from its home in Scotland and put underneath the throne, which was built to hold it.  I love my British heritage.

 

 

  

 

 

The Stone of Scone:

 

 



 

 

Have a regal week. 

 

 

P.S.  I'm having connectivity problems, so if I don't get to your site to comment on your inchie, please forgive me.

 

27 Joey: Birthday Cayke

Well Happy 12th Birthday to Joey's daughter.  Here is some cayke for you.

I often find I have problem with strings.  (String #12 here.)  I can't seem to get creativity into them and I want to fill in every little space.  I think this time that I did a little better than usual with a string.  Or at least I'm happier than usual with my string work.

cayke, pokeleaf, mooka, finery

 

 

 

Hope every one has a happy week.

186 Diva Leaves, Leaves, Leaves!

Well I'm a little late posting this week.  I found some embroidery I started something like 20 years ago and for some reason decided to finish it.  I haven't been able to put it down since. 

I had a lot of problems deciding what to do with Leaves, Leaves, Leaves!  There are so many ways to go -- too much choice.  I'm not ecstatic about what I did, but I don't hate it either.  Ho hum. 

I went to google to find some pictures of leaves and saw a gorgeous close up of a green leaf, so that was my first choice of subject.  I'm still in denial about the upcoming seasons and most of the foliage in my part of Southern Ontario is still quite green.  I used different green pens and Prismacolor pencils.

Then I decided I should try and get into the spirit of things and try something fall-ish.  I cut this stem off the bush at the front of my porch.  (I don't know what it's called - I'm not the mad gardener my mother was.)  It was the only red on the entire bush.

 

 

I wanted to use my Inktense pencils to colour the tangle because they give such vibrant colours, but in my first attempt, I found the reds were so close in colour that shading one into the other just ended up with one solid colour.  I think it's adding the water that causes this effect.

Then I tried again with a little less colour.

Hope you enjoy my offerings.  I had fun making them.

Kia

Every Inchie Monday: salmon

This week's word at Every Inchie Monday is Salmon.

I'm not a fish lover and the colour doesn't entice me, but did you know there are something called Salmonberries?  (I love Every Inchie Monday - the research always brings up something new.)  I don't know what they taste like, but they look a lot like multicoloured raspberries, because they can be shades of red, pinks and yellow.  Here is the berry and the very pretty flower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Have a berry good week.

SEP for Tackle it Tuesdays

We have finished the alphabet for Tackle it Tuesdays  at Artful Creations.  So this September week Cheryl has asked us to create a tile using tangles that begin with the letters S E P.  There are so many patterns to chose from!  I decided to do a striped pattern, using the tangles pais, pnopsis (is that spelled correctly - or even named correctly?), scrolled feathers, esses, euca, shattuck, pokeleaf, and eyelet & ribbon.

I'm a little late submitting my tangle this week.  I found an embroidery project I started many years ago and all of a suddenly decided to try and finish it.  I haven't been able to put it down since.  I created this tangle early in the week, but wanted to try for something a little more creative.  Then I got caught up in my embroidery and it didn't happen!

Diva 185: Phicops and Diva Dance

Hello Fellow Tanglers,

This week at I am the Diva the challenge is to tangle a duotangle using Phicops and Diva Dance.  I had a lot of trouble integrating these two patterns.  I offer you three examples for your perusal.  I'm not completely happy with any of them, but it seems to be the best I can do this week.

The first is the more traditional tile style:

 

 

 

 I really like the round form of phicops, so the other two use that mainly.

 

 

The last one is supposed to be Phicops bubbles coming out of a Phicops bubble machine:

Well, that's enough for now.  I must remember to sign them before I scan them.  Have a happy week.



Joey's 26 - oke and acorns.

Joey at Made by Joey is into Autumn these days.  Even though I'm still ignoring the season that comes before that W word, I felt it was time to cooperate a little more than last week when I used all green instead of autumn colours.  I found using an acorn as a string quite a challenge,  but ended up quite liking what I came up with.  Colour by prismacolor.

 

 

 

Have a colourful week.

Every Inchie Monday: Schedule

This week's word at Every Inchie Monday is another of those interesting words with more than one way to pronounce it (like khaki).  I'm in the Sh-edule camp, as opposed to the sk-edule pronunciation.  (No inchie reason to bring this up - just my endless fascination with the English language.)

Once again, I couldn't decide which idea to use.  So there are two (only two!) this week.


Now that I am older, and luckily more financially able, I no longer have to rely on bus schedules.  But I spent many years riding the rails (our local bus company is called the Hamilton Street Railway). 

Our city buses are a rather ugly yellow and blue.  For a while they were yellow (gold) and black, which was neat because those are the colours of our city's Canadian Football team, the Hamilton Tiger Cats.  I don't know why they changed.  Yellow and blue are supposed to be the city's colours - they show up in the city logo, I think.  Here is my rather poor depiction:

 

 

 

But the second idea is more important to me.  I love baseball, and in particular I love the Toronto Blue Jays.  For the first time in over 20 years they are playing meaningful baseball in September.  At the point of writing, they still have a chance to make the second wild card playoff spot.  A small chance, admittedly, but a chance nevertheless.  So here is the September schedule of the remaining games the Jays have to play, until the end of the season.  If you know anything about baseball, you can see it isn't an easy schedule.  Go Jays.  Hope to be watching you for playoff baseball in October.  

 

home games in blue, away games in black

 

 

Have a great time this week.

Joey's Challenge #25: Leaflet

Made by Joey's challenge this week is to use the tangle pattern Leaflet.  It is as a recognition that Autumn is upon is.  Here are my offerings.

The first is in homage to Lori at all things tanged found Here.
I absolutely fell in love with her Falling Leaves and have borrowed her idea of making the veins of the leaf alternately thin and thick.  Mine isn't quite the same and by no means the same quality, but I couldn't resist this beautiful technique.  Thanks Lori, hope it's OK.

 

I'm sure the background pattern has a name in the zentangle world, everything does, but I don't know what it is.  I just drew crosshatch lines and emphasized the crossings.  I wish it was more even.

My second offering is not exactly "crispy golden colours" as suggested.  In fact, I am denying the oncoming season because I cannot face another winter like the last one and being forced to stay in a neighbour's basement while I waited 47 hours for my power to be restored.  My neighbours are the best in the world, but 'there's no place like home'. 

Nope, no autumn here.  Haven't seen a red or yellow leaf yet.  Still in the 20's (C) here even if there is snow (shudder) out west.  I refuse the W word this year.  Have a warm week. 

184 Diva's Challenge

This week at I am the Diva we are using a new tangle called ING.  I like the architectural quality of this tangle, which isn't surprising as it was suggested by a sculpture with a lot of angularity.   (This sculpture can be seen on the Zentangle Newsletter of September 3, 2014.)  

So here is my offering #1 for this week's challenge.  I felt the straight lines of the pattern needed some softening, so I added Mooka and some Fescu.   Hope you like it.

 

 

 

 

 

Many thanks for all the lovely comments I have been getting.  They warm my heart and inspire me to draw even more.  Have an amaz - ING week.

 

 

Every Inchie Monday: Red.

This week's word at Every Inchie Monday is Red.  I could not make up my mind which idea to do for Red - so I did  three.  Hope that's OK.


Well let's get really far outside that box.

WKRP in Cincinnati is a TV comedy show that ran from 1978-1982.  It revolved around a radio station and its eccentric workers.  I highly recommend watching it if you get the chance (I think there are DVDs) as it is very funny.  (On YouTube there is a twelve minute clip from the episode about the turkeys you should definitely watch.)

The station ran one famous radio commercial for what seemed to be one of the station's only sponsors (they also had a funeral home as a sponsor if I recall correctly).  Well, it was for Red Wigglers, the Cadillac of Worms.  I cannot get this song out of my head!  Go to Red Wigglers, the Cadillac of Worms to hear the song (it's only 21 sec long). I was surprised to learn there are actually such things as red wiggler worms.  So I drew some red worms (the actual appearance and pictures of worms make me cringe, as I am not the outdoor type, so this inchie is not exact!)

Well, because this is so gross, I decided to do the colour red as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But actually the first idea that came to mind, as I rapidly approach retirement, is the Red Hat Society.  As the poem (by Jenny Joseph) goes,

 

             When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
             With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.

 

 

 

 

 

Have a red hot week.

 

 

 



 

Joey's #24: circles; and the letter 'Z'

Over at Made by Joey Joey has had a week of running in circles and suggested we tangle a group of five overlapping circles.  I like using grid patterns in circles for some reason, so that is what I have done here.  Nothing special, but fun to do. 

                                                patterns used:  heartfully, teis, Japan diamond,
                                                           cadent, cubine and zin



At Artful Creations Tackle it Tuesday is all about tangles starting with the letter 'Z'.  There are lots of tangles that begin with 'Z' but after a lot of playing I decided I liked the simplicity of a duotangle.   Wonder where we will go next week?

patterns used:  Zenplosion Folds, ZeScen

 

 

Have a happy week of tangling.

#183 Diva Challenge: UMT X-Did

Hello Fellow Tanglers,

I love Annette Carlo's artwork.  I was so excited to see her pattern as this week's UMT on I am the Diva .  Her tangles are always wonderful and her inchies are fabulous.  (If you get here Annette, I couldn't post a comment on your blog again.  Your Vitruvian Man is inspired for the word Renaissance and your drawing is great.)

But I found this tangle difficult to get my brain and fingers around for some reason.  I think I just need more practice but let's blame the rain.  It definitely rained on my parade today.  Just as I was going out the door it started to pour, so being the wimp that I am, I promptly turned around and went back inside.  (I hate maneuvering my four foot scooter in and out of the van in a deluge.  It's not fun and I always end up drenched.)

So I decided to get outside that 3.5 inch square box and remind myself that where there is rain, there is also rainbows. 

To do Annette's pattern the justice it deserves, I may post another after I practise a bit more.  Happy tangling.

Every Inchie Monday: Renaissance

This week's word at Every Inchie Monday is

Long post!

Ah, the Renaissance.  My favourite period of art.  Prepare yourself for a brief presumptuous blurb on my favourite art of various forms.  (It's the art and English teacher in me; I can't help it.)  I'm sure a lot of you know these things.

 

I wanted to show you my favourite Renaissance painting, which is Titian's "Bacchus and Ariadne", but it is a complicated canvas full of numerous iconographic figures in various positions and wasn't really sensical in one inch format. 

So instead, my first offering is a photograph of one of the foremost achievements of the early Italian Renaissance -- the dome of the Florence cathedral.  It was a wonder at the time, and still is, I think.  The cathedral itself was built from 1296 to 1436.  The dome was engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi and was "the first 'octagonal' dome in history to be built without a temporary wooden supporting frame"  (Wikipedia) -  a stupendous achievement.

 

 

 

 

But going with my policy to do something more than submit a photograph, I did another one. 

 

This one is supposed to represent the English Renaissance, a hundred years later and more focussed on literature than the Italian, which is known more for its visual art (although there is great literature too).  

 

English Renaissance is Shakespeare.  I love Shakespeare, but when it came to writing my Master's thesis on Renaissance literature, I chose to do it on Edmund Spensers' allegorical masterpiece, "The Faerie Queene".  Published in 1590 - 1596, it is the longest poem in the English language. (at least it was at the time and for many centuries - who knows what has been written in the recent past).  It is a remarkable achievement - six books, containing approximately 50-60 cantos (it varied), each canto consisting a different number of stanzas (30 - 50), each stanza containing exactly 9 lines using the same consistent rhyme scheme - over 1000 stanzas.  Wow.

 

So here is my Fairie Queene (often called Gloriana and who was allegorically meant to represent Queen Elizabeth I).  It's kind of sad representation of such a glorious poem but I'm not good at drawing people. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here endeth the lesson.  Have a glorious week.