Tomorrow my family is heading out of town for a five-day excursion down to Portland, Oregon to gather with a few hundred other homeschoolers. This annual trip is a highlight of our year and a chance to reunite with far-flung friends and an opportunity to make new ones. Five days filled with fun for the whole family as well as sharing support with other parents for the process of facilitating our kids's educations.
In light of my weekend travel plans, you get a mid-week post!
This week the Diva's challenge to "spill it!" encouraged me to explore the intuitive process of art a little more deeply. No set string, no pre-planned tangles or patterns, just the opportunity to invite chaos and chance into my art practice and respond intuitively to what arrives.
I've been admiring tiles splashed with watercolor lately and so that's what I decided to use for the "spill it" challenge. First I splashed some watercolors and then I spilled some salt.
watercolor drips, splashes, and spills
I used the smooth side of one piece of Canson watercolor paper and one piece of Strathmore Printmaking paper because I didn't want too much surface texture of the paper to interfere with the tangling later on with my Pigma Micron pens.
I used Windsor & Newton watercolors in Transparent Yellow and Quinacridone Magenta because I really enjoy the combination of yellows, pinks, and oranges they make together and being transparent colors I knew they would blend beautifully without getting muddy.
When everything was dry, I cut both papers into ten 4" by 4" tiles.
4in x 4in tiles splashed with watercolor
I chose this tile because the long leggy drip of watercolor across an area of white space immediately brought to mind the tangle Quandu by CZT Eni Oken. That was the start of my intuitive process.
beginning to intuitively tangle the organic shapes created by the watercolor
I continued to follow the drips, splashes, and spills, filling an irregular shape with Aura-leah, another with Printemps and Flux-like weeds. When a lone Poke Leaf showed up in those Fluxy weeds, I knew that more Poke Leaf and some Poke Root would have to find a home somewhere in the tile. More of each tangle here and there, then joined by Footlites and many orbs and auras. I know that I could keep developing this tile with shading and highlights, but for now it just feels finished. I decided to listen to that feeling.
Have you ever had the experience where an art technique seems just out of your reach? I feel that way every time I see a Zentangle renaissance tile where the tangler has artfully mixed black, brown, and red ink with shading and highlights on that mid-toned tan paper. I have made quite a few attempts with frustrating results. I just couldn't seem to achieve the effect I so admired. I was feeling really stumped! Recently I remembered a technique called "copy-cat" that can be used to accelerate the process when you want to learn something new. I was introduced to this technique in the context of learning new languages, but learning accelerators are techniques that can be applied to any kind of learning. So why not apply it to art?
(Follow the links to read more about copy-cat and Evan's project!) First I gathered examples of renaissance tiles that I admired or that had an effect I want to learn how to achieve, and I saved them to a new Zentangle Renaissance Tiles Pinterest board.
Then I started trying to identify what it is that makes these particular tiles so intriguing and engaging. This was the "seeing effective performance" step. I noticed that I really liked white highlights that popped, that I liked the contrast of the red/brown ink against the black, especially when used within the same tangle, and that I liked the tiles where red/brown shading accented red/brown ink. The next step in this using this technique to accelerate learning would be to attempt to duplicate a few of my favorite parts of these tiles until I felt like I was able to recreate the results I so admired. This is a step that I can return to again and again to deepen my understanding. If you want to try this yourself, why not try CZT Adele Bruno's tangle Sand. Her step-out shows an example on a renaissance tile. A perfect way to get started!
Next I gave myself a whole page in my tan sketchbook to create some tangles, make mistakes, and hopefully discover some successes, continuing to try to copy-cat the techniques I observed but applying them to a variety of patterns.
In this practice page, I want to especially call out the El Prado by CZT Maria Tovar because here I am using a version inspired by The Ragged Ray. Copy-cat two ways!
My practice page helped me see what combinations of ink color, chalk pencil, and graphite or colored pencil shading I liked best out of my experiments. So I continued to practice those combinations in this week's challenge tiles. The Diva's Weekly Challenge #281 This week the Diva challenged herself (and us!) to get more familiar with the geometric tangle ING. I filled the triangular spaces of my ING spires in different ways and put a Fleavy-inspired background behind it.
Diva Challenge #281
ING, Fleavy
It's A String Thing Adventure #159 This week's challenge was to use Printemps, Partay, and Palrevo in a double-lined spiral string. I decided to use the aura'd variation of Partay that CZT Margaret Bremner showed when introducing the tangle and to mix it in with the overlapped Printemps. I used the grid-based Palrevo in the spaces created by the double-line of the string. I think it looks a bit like a layer cake!
IAST #159
Printemps, Partay, Palrevo
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"Go for the Gold" is a phrase I grew up hearing, an idea that encourages us to dream big and work hard toward those dreams, to give your best, like the Olympic Athletes who strive to land the most difficult vaults, set new world records, be the first person to breakdown an old barrier.
I was inspired by this idea and by Olympic rings with the crown of Flux on the Diva's own challenge tile this week. I chose interlocking rings as my string and the tangle Fleavy by Linda Farmer, CZT in gold and silver metallic gel pen on black paper. I've been seeing some lovely tiles using this tangle and it was one I wanted to add to my toolbox of go-to patterns.
Gold and Silver Fleavy rings 6" x 6" metallic gel pen on black paper for Diva Challenge #280
Inside the rings I continued with a pattern that is essentially a collection of curvy auras, Fleavy without the leaves, using Hollibaugh's drawing-behind technique. I'm not sure if this pattern has it's own name or not. If you know of a name for it, please leave me a comment and let me know!
This pattern in the center was made with some of the Gelly Roll Moonlight Stardust pens. I noticed as I tested out my materials on a scrap, that the main color of the Moonlight pens (green and blue in this case) soaked into the black paper leaving only a thinner line of the silver and gold sparkle behind. It was an interesting way to be able to achieve different line weights and keep the center pattern from overwhelming the Fleavy rings.
metallic and moonlight stardust Sakura gelly roll pens
In this week's string adeventure, CZT Adele Bruno challenges us to use the new tangle Drogon by blogger and artist Lilly Moon and our own favorite or "Gold Medal" tangles. I've been using group challenges to push me out of my comfort zone for the last several months, learning new tangles every week. So I had to flip back through my sketchbooks and older tiles to recall my go-to patterns. Classic Zentagle patterns Mooka, Poke Leaf, Flux, and Zinger were shoo-ins. Nebel is a newer addition I've come to appreciate, and Niuroda is another new-to-me tangle I have been itching to try out. Oh, and I sprinkled a tiny bit of Cruffle in there as well.
Drogon, Mooka, Poke Leaf, Flux, Zinger, Nebel, Niuroda, Cruffle line art for IAST #158
Drogon, Mooka, Poke Leaf, Flux, Zinger, Nebel, Niuroda, Cruffle for IAST #158 after shading
Focusing on these dedicated Olympic athletes and the Olympic Rings that symbolize their dreams and achievements reminds me of a visual representation of Ikigai, an idea about finding one's purpose.
Ikigai, according to the article on Wikipedia, is "a Japanese concept meaning 'a reason for being'. Everyone, according to the Japanese, has an ikigai. Finding it requires a deep and often lengthy search of self."
The flash fiction story of who I am, the sound-bite I put in my profile these days is: reader, writer, mother, dancer, dreamer, artist. My life has evolved from one focus to another, one 'reason for being' to another. As a homeschooling mama, in raising my kids and facilitating an education for them, I find myself in that intersecting space between passion and vocation. I hope to guide them to be compassionate people who do good in the world, so I think I see some mission in there as well. Right now I feel like I am in the passion stage as an artist. Art is what I love and learning new things is something I am pretty good at, so this journey where I am learning to make art that I love is a pretty fabulous place to be. Next though, next I want to enter the mission stage. Making art that the world needs? That sounds amazing. What about you? If you are reading this blog, have you found a place in your life where PASSION meets MISSION?
Zentangle tiles are quite small at 3.5" by 3.5" so as to be something one can complete in a short amount of time. This constraint is another aspect of how the Zentangle Method is such an accessible art practice. In terms of taking on a new hobby and beginning a meditation practice, there is a convenience to knowing a simple tile can be completed in half an hour, or a complex one with detailed texture and shading in an afternoon. But given the small size of these pieces, scale is a principle of design that I often forget to take into account. In art, scale refers to the size of one object in relation to another. Variety of scale is an important part of creating a dynamic artwork. When I first started drawing this way, I made every pattern the same scale. I think seeing other tanglers' creations for the Adventures in Monotangles was the first place I recognized how varying the scale of a pattern could transform it. I challenged myself to try to work with tangles in more than one scale on each of my tiles this week.
Diva Challenge #279: Duotangle Meer vs Auraknot What stands out about auraknot to me is the way the ordered drawing-behind technique creates a weaving quality. What I like best about meer is the wavy ridge down the center that allows me to play with the idea of surfaces that face towards and away from the light. I used a Promarker Watercolor marker in Cerulean Blue for the gem and orbs, and I used Prismacolor markers in two shades of warm gray (30% and 50%) for the shading this time. I'm not sure if I achieved as much depth and contrast in the shading as I usually do when using graphite.
Duotangle: Auraknot vs Meer
It's a String Thing #157 With new tangle Abeko, a change of scale was easy as varying the size of the loops as I followed the spiral string in this week's prompt. Phroz has so many shapes within shapes that it needs some room to turn out right, but it was fun to pop a much larger version in the lower corner and bring out the 3D aspect of the pattern with shading.
IAST #157 Abeko, Phroz 6" x 6"
One reason that I am considering scale these days is that I have been having trouble with eye strain from working so detailed and so small. I've started cutting my own 6" x 6" tiles to make things easier on my eyes. Even at 6" x 6", these diminutive works are tiny delights with all the minute detail, the way small wobbles of line are packed tightly together creating a whimsy and an authenticity. What an impact then to see this type of art magnified to a much larger size, say taking up an entire wall? Looks like fun to me!
It's been a while since my last post due to a busy few weeks filled with travel and visits with family and working on some DIY home projects. But here I am, back just in time to help celebrate the third birthday of CZT Adele Bruno's It's A String Thing blog challenges. I haven't had much time to draw, paint, or tangle during this busiest part of our summer so I admit it took me a bit of time to warm those artsy muscles (both mind and body) back up. Here's my take on it using the string framework of three candles with a shot of the linework before shading and the final result.
O, Onomato, Orbs-la-dee, Opus
linework before shading
I really like how the rough surface of the mixed media paper I used gave a texture to the stones of Orbs-la-dee when I shaded them. If I had chosen the smooth bristol paper I sometimes use instead, the result would have been smoother, possibly even glassy looking stones. Every little choice creates opportunities for new discoveries.
Happy 3rd Birthday to It's a String Thing!
Last post I wrote a bit about expressing grief through art and art that has a voice, that speaks out, art that is powerful. Last night my oldest child and I had the opportunity to attend an art reception for photographer Jess Dugan’s project To Survive on This Shore and acrylic paintings and mixed-media artwork by the Trans Teen Art Project in Seattle. The photographs were part of a project that combines photographs of transgender and gender-variant people over the age of fifty with interviews about their life experiences in regards to gender, identity, age, and sexuality to provide a nuanced view into the complexities of aging as a transgender person. The paintings and mixed-media works were produced during a project to: support trans youth in Seattle with a safe space for creative self expression, build community into the future, and develop public awareness of the Seattle trans youth community. It was a beautiful and inspiring display of self-expression, of giving voice to identity, and I felt honored to be a witness.
