Hex 8 Fragments

A little friend helped show me just how simple a fragment could (should?) be.  This fox is a die cut set from Karen Burniston that is cut from white watercolor paper, water colored then assembled.  Adorable isn't he?  And I'm still using my Papertrey Ink hexagon cover plate die.  This time I cut from Strathmore mixed media paper.

Reticula and fragments from a different perspective!

I saw some extremely basic geometric inspiration on Pinterest.  Wow, I have grown accustomed to seeing triangles within the hexagon, but this made me look at things quite differently.  

Paradox

I put the hexies on the back of a piece of post-it tape to keep them corralled while I drew.  

Maryhill

I started putting the puzzle pieces together and went for a pattern that radiates out from the center.  

I tried them out in the honeycomb frame.

Paradox and Maryhill alternating.

Did you notice the large hexagon created by the 6 triangles?  Too cool!

I  temporarily adhered them to some cardstock for watercoloring.

Now for some watercolor ( I used Derwent Inktense pencils) 

I decided to emboss the coverplate on a card with the design (I die cut copper card and then hand cut around the honeycomb Reticula to just frame my design) and add a little stamping ( stamp by Momenta) and embossing powder.  

The fox thinks it's a little busy, so I think I'll try again.....

I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday.  Thanks for stopping by.

Visual texture

My contribution to The Weekend In Black and White.

Be Kind To Elephants meets Go Big or Go Home

#BeKindToElephants

After viewing Ellen's YouTube I knew I needed to use it as a drawing string.  It was just calling out to me.  And what's bigger than an elephant for Laura's Go Big or Go Home Challenge?

After tracing on the graphic

Please check out the video, (link above) and if you're on Twitter, retweet.  As I'm not on Twitter, I'm hoping posting my version of her graphic here will get some attention to the cause.  

Ha, the ink covered up my outline :-0

I used a circle die cutting a large Zendala (about 7 1/4 inches diameter) from Bristol vellum. After printing out this article I found on the Ellen's campaign (I think I printed the page with the graphic at 175%?) I decided then to try this stencil technique to add some color and texture.  I probably would have started out with watercolor paper or mixed media, had I realized I was going to do this technique from the beginning.  In the end, the Bristol worked ok with the stencils and it was lovely to draw on later.  I transferred the drawing to the paper using graphite on the back of the printed page and tracing it out (old school). I used Sakura PN microns and a 5.0 Graphik Line maker, graphite and colored pencils to tangle Enyshou, Fife, Nipa and Shattuck. I let the stencil dictate some of the lines and tangles.  

After tracing the design (again :-)

Enyshou got me started

Thanks for sharing your support, however you can.  

A4 fragment and November calendar.

As I was filling in my habit tracker for October, I noticed that the fragment A4 (from the Zentangle® Primer) could create plaid!

Here I tried it out as a monotangle (er monofragment?).  See the individual fragment down in the lower left?

And here, a totally different look just by taking the same fragment but repeating and mirroring in a different pattern.

I really liked the plaid and decided it would make a nice card for someone special.  I took Bristol vellum and air brushed using Copic markers.  I used a hexagon stencil I cut.  Next I tangled with a black micron inside the hexagon.  I added the gold grid on top with a GellyRoll just to complete the plaid look.  Next I scribbled the gold on a white scrap of cardstock, let it dry and then die cut it, along with several black layers all stacked together for the sentiment.  I believe this die is by Crafter's Companion.  And here it is mounted on a black A2 card base.  

And I case you're wondering what my November calendar for my BuJo looks like:

Fife as a calendar.

Have a good week!

Inktober 2017 (2 of 2)

And on to the second half of the month.  Enjoy:

(fat)  My thought pattern went to a curvy ogee grid.  I looked up some ogee patterns and thought Mariposa could resemble a fat slice of watermelon.  Not to mention, Viveca's grid approach to the ogee grid is fabulous!

(graceful) Enyshou is my go to graceful pattern.  No instructions, (see your CZT) but some excellent examples at the link.

(filthy) I thought C-view looked like a microscopic piece of dust...maybe on Pigpen?

(cloud) at this time, NOAA was describing our weather pattern as a river in the sky.  Cloudfall seemed to fit the bill.  And those scales are Betweed and Shattuck.

(deep) Wellwellwell.  This is a fractal version of Well.

(furious) Floo (sorry, no instructions, but see your CZT!)

(trail) Luckily Bijou moves slow and I was able to still find him on the Skwim trail.  This was a really late night when I completed this.  I realized the next morning that I should have done the back side of Bijou for a proper snail trail!

(juicy) Molygon

(blind) This one stumped me initially.  But when I sat down to draw, Bronx Cheer easily emerged.  

(ship) Parasail-Z

(squeak) Nuwave

(climb) Static

(fall) Falz (slight variation)

(united) BB

(found) Organza Again.  This used to be a frequent tangle for me.  Through this Inktober, I found it again :-)

(mask) Enyshou and Rain

And the full calendar:

Yeah!I did it!

Have a good one!

Inktober 2017 (1of 2)

I have heard about and seen some participation in Inktober in the past, but not participated myself.  This year I thought I'd give it a go.

If you are unfamiliar with it, Jake Parker started it in 2009 as a way to improve his inking skills and develop positive drawing habits by picking up a pen and drawing every day during the month of October. It has grown into a worldwide event with thousands participating!  Please check out the link above for more information including his list of daily prompts for October 2017.  

Although I wanted to participate, I was a little intimidated about getting something done every day.  So, I decided to go small, challenging myself to draw in each calendar square of my bullet journal.  Each square is approximately one inch.  In hind sight, I wish I had gone just a tad larger, but I was successful!  I posted updates to the Zentangle® Mosaic ap. Sorry I wasn't able to keep up with daily posts here, but you get the better(?), all-over (or half over in this post) view!  Here is the first half as I thought it was too many photos not to split it into two posts. Enjoy! 

My initial calendar which is a variation of 1/2 Orbs.  This pattern is easy and makes a great calendar grid!

Day 1 prompt Swift (look for daily prompts in parentheses in the duration of my post...or on the calendar itself) tangle is Riverstones.

(Divided) Tangle:  Funsin

(poison)

(Underwater) Gnarly

(long) one long line of Amaze.  There aren't online instructions for Amaze.  In this version the line doesn't touch, however you can also just do one overlapping squiggly line.  

(Sword)  Knightspeek for Knightstar ;-)

(Shy) Bijou hiding in Skwim.

(Crooked) Static (I don't believe there are online instructions for this one either, however if you've attended a beginners class for Zentangle you've likely learned this one.  If you haven't been to class, maybe you should! ;-)

(Screech) Needing to follow Bijou's advice to Stop, Btreath, and go on.  

(gigantic) To Infinity and beyond, of course!

(running) MoFins, because it just keeps going and going...

(shattered) Shard

(teeming) teeming with Tipple!

(fierce) Dragonair

(mysterious) There's nothing more mysterious to me than how crisscrossing lines make up Oblique.  Again, no official instructions online but it's pretty self evident.  Or, see your local CZT!

All of the ink is done with microns.  Shading is done with a combination of colored pencils and graphite pencil.  

Hope you return for the second half!