Recent Tiles

I try to do a tile-a-day, in the morning, after the kids leave for school.  It clears my mind of the morning chaos, grounds and centers me for the day ahead.  As I mentioned in an earlier post I've been working on line weight and rounding.  Here are some of my recent tiles, in rather dark photos because it's been so rainy here the last week or so.

#covfefe

A new tangle I found on Pinterest called Salo

Tangles: spoken, huggy bear, w2, and Zen Gem

Peace, Love, and Zentangle

My son's tile, after my first Zentangle class on Friday:

Tile-A-Day: Serendipity

I usually tangle first thing in the morning after the kids leave.  It centers me, a little quiet after the hubbub of the morning.  Today, the sun is shining and my prism cast this rainbow on my tile.

Tile-A-Day: Peace

Tile-A-Day: Frames

Now I just need to practice my lettering so I can put quotes on the inside.  A friend recommended either Joanne Sharpe's Art of Whimsical Lettering or David Harris's The Calligrapher's Bible as a resource.

Tile-A-Day: Shading

For a long time, I did not shade my tangles, mainly because, as an art historian, I worried about realism and the consistency of the light source. But during CZT training, I came to see shading as just another aspect of the pattern itself, without trying for realism or a consistent light source; shading gives depth and dimensionality to my patterns.   Now, I do consider where lines overlap and what shapes could be rounded when deciding on where to put the graphite.  Look at the difference below.

Some shading tips:  hold your pencil almost parallel to the paper, in the palm of your hand, not as you would for writing.  Place the point of your pencil where you want the shade to be the darkest.  When you rub the graphite with your tortillon (or finger or tissue), place the tip at the darkest point and make little circles to draw the graphite out.  Be sure to leave some white areas, for contrast.  

To improve my practice, I'll be looking at Chris Latourneau's Made in the Shade:  A Zentangle Workbook.

I shaded where the strips of punzel "overlap," along the centers of flux to create rounding,
and where the bands of zander cross the bundles.

Tile-A-Day: Go Large!

When I feel like I'm in some kind of a tangle rut or I want to try something different, I remember the suggestion to draw patterns extra-large for a new effect.  I imagine I could make them even larger.