Monday, December 28, 2015

Merry Late Christmas!

Merry (late) Christmas to all! I meant to write this post on Saturday, but then lack of motivation got in the way...^_^ Pretty much all my Christmas gifts were art supplies (of course), including two six-sets of Copic Sketch markers...which made me really, really happy ^_^ So here's some stuff I did with said new art supplies.

Tangles used: Paradox
Paradox in spirals, done with Staetdler Triplus Fineliners in Olive Green, Gray, Van Dyke Brown, and Magenta (I think.)



Tangles used: N'zeppel, Weave, C-Stem, Tipple
Tangles done with a Zebra Disposable Brush Pen - Super Fine. Color added with Akashiya Sai brush pens.


Tangles used: African Artist, Cadent, Mooka, Zinger, Antidots, Beadlines
Uni-Ball Signo Broad - White. It works better on smoother paper, but I think the Gelly Roll works better on the official tiles.




I started on this one by taking my black Copic, closing my eyes, and scribbling. It's not done yet, as you can probably tell ^_^



Tangles used: Drupe. Also not finished.
A random Copic background with some tangles that ideally will grow up to be a monotangle of Drupe. I've set myself another challenge to try and do monotangles of all the official tangles that have online instructions - and after this summer all of the others too, since I signed up for CZT Seminar 24! So excited ^_^ I actually did sign up a while ago, but never got around to sharing it. Now you know ^_^ There aren't any CZTs in my city, so I'm looking forward to being able to spread Zentangle a little more.

Enjoy and be inspired! ^_^

Monday, December 21, 2015

New Tangle: "Autumnal"

Autumn may be just a memory now for everyone on this side of the world...but here's a tangle honoring it anyways ^_^

Start with a line, curvy or straight (but not too curvy)


Add some wavy lines, with a corner every other time you meet the central line. I like to think of this as drawing a bunch of really fat Ms.

Do the same thing on the other side, but with corners where you have curves and vice versa. If that makes any sense.

Add a large teardrop shape in each curve.

It got flipped and I don't know how...but it's not a big deal ^_^ Add two more shapes behind the large teardrop.

Put smaller "leaves" in each corner and you're done!

In case the first few steps confused you, here's the shape that's being repeated on the curve.

Enjoy and be inspired! ^_^

Monday, December 14, 2015

Diva Challenge #248: "Give the Gift of Zentangle"

Ah, what a wonderful time of year...and a wonderful challenge to go with it. I almost never give away my tiles, but here's a good place to start...I would leave Random Acts of Zentangle around my school but I shudder to think what the average high school student might do to them ^_^ Here are 4 tiles, the first two of which have been given away at the time I'm writing this (I promise I'll do something with the others besides keep them...) ^_^

Tangles used: Meo, Flux, Tripoli, Verdigogh, Diva Dance, Xyp, Knightsbridge, some weird thing in a grid

Tangles used: Mooka
I spilled a bit of tea on this one...so I grabbed a spoon and dribbled some more on there.  Waste not, want not ^_^

Tangles used: Diva Dance, Ennies, Organza, Mooka, TootsieMoon, Shattuck, Opus, Sooflowers, Lola, Xyp, Cadent, Confettus, Beadlines, Antidots, Printemps, Crescent Moon, probably at least one thing I forgot
Gem in the center drawn using this wonderful tutorial

Tangles used: Meringue, Printemps, Yuma, Garlic Cloves, Indy-Rella, Shattuck
The green is some nail polish that my friend brought to school...for some reason.
Oh, and a very happy note...school's almost out for the year! ^_^ Winter Break starts a week from now...so I'll try to post at least a few times here and on my YouTube channel (link somewhere in the sidebar).
Enjoy and be inspired! ^_^

Sunday, November 29, 2015

A video and some drawings

I got a new sketchpad and had some time on my hands...



Maybe I do spend a little too much money on new art supplies (when I don't really need them), but I try and justify them to myself by saying at some point in the future they'll all be filled with incredible drawings (suuuuuuuure, Daniel...suuuuure.) ^_^ I still maintain that buying new art supplies does, however, ignite a brief spark of creativity as you just have to use them right away.



...See? ^_^

Also, a couple tiles for a Christmas-themed-thing in the making.

Tangles used: Wist, Antidots, Sprigs, Punzel, Opus, Pokeroot, Verdigogh, Printemps, Pendrills (first tile), Antidots, Flux, Mooka, Verdigogh (second tile)


Enjoy and be inspired! ^_^

Monday, November 16, 2015

Diva Challenge #244: "Tripoli Triptastic"

Just a quick one for this week's Diva Challenge.
Tangles used: Tripoli
Thanksgiving Break is coming up, so I'll try and post some more then. Enjoy and be inspired! ^_^

Sunday, September 13, 2015

[Insert creative title here]

Agh! I haven't posted in way too long...so I guess I should just give you a little short thing to let all you wonderful guys out there who actually pay attention to this blog that I'm still alive. Just chugging away in school...there will be a break soon and you will get a ridiculously long post during it, I promise. If I don't have homework. ^_^ Back to the grind...

-Daniel

Monday, August 24, 2015

Diva Challenge #232: Betweed AND Tangleation Vocation #20: Opus by Zentangle

Hello all! ^_^ I don't use Betweed that frequently, but it certainly is a wonderful pattern...that will probably be finding its way into more of my pieces as a result of this challenge ^_^
Tangles used: Betweed, Zenith
 I decided to try my hand at some marker shading with this one...without realizing how dark my "light" blue marker was. Oh well, full speed ahead! A clear Stardust (which you should totally get because it's amazing) found itself in there at the end too ^_^
Tangles used: Betweed
And, on a much less cheerier note...school is in. Which is fine and all, but it means less time for tangling...which means no Tangleation Vocation results this week. Sorry :-( Although this certainly is a special Vocation...the 20th! *happy trumpet noises and confetti* And we have ourselves another official Zentangle pattern that shows up pretty often in my drawings - Opus.

Oh, and cat pictures.
Hmm...what could this be?

Can I wear it? Yeah, I can wear it.

Can definitely wear it...

^_^


Enjoy and be inspired...and link me some cat pictures too! ^_^

Monday, August 17, 2015

Diva Challenge #231: The Undulating Tangles in C and S Minor AND Tangleation Vocation #19: Crescent Moon by Zentangle

Several unsatisfactory attempts preceded this one for the Diva Challenge this week...

Tangles used: Dansk, Onion Drops
I have a massive, massive stack of cheap "rice paper" to use up, so I did this Zendala on some of it. I like the texture. ^_^

And speaking of nice textures...this watercolor sketchbook I got in California, the Global Arts...um...Travelogue, I think. Er...I don't know. If you're curious just search "Global Arts watercolor book", I guess. ^_^ OhmygodIfreakingloveit. And it was 30% off when I bought it... *salivates* ^_^ Here are the three things I've done in it so far.

Tangles used: Jeewels, Flux, Betweed, Pokeroot, Sand Swirl, Emingle, Mooka, Hibred, Crescent Moon

Tangles used: Shattuck, Crescent Moon, Fescu, a wavy thing, Featherfall, Sand Swirl 

With black ink from an inkstone and Prismacolor colored pencils
Just looking at that last picture I'm sure you can see the incredible texture ^_^

And finally, what I did for the Tangleation Vocation challenge, Shattuck...which involved Mooka. Again. Maybe I should just rename this the "Mooka Challenge." ^_^ 

Tangles used: Shattuck, Mooka

Tangles used: Shattuck
Also - I'm thinking about just having participants email me their entries so I can post them directly here and link back to their blogs or wherever else (if at all) they're posting their art if they want. It'd make for easier viewing of the wonderful stuff I'm getting and let people without blogs or the like to show off their stuff too ^_^ If you think this is a good idea, tell me in the comments. Thanks! ^_^

And now moving on to this week's Tangleation Vocation: Crescent Moon, the tangle everyone knows and loves. Enjoy and be inspired! ^_^

Oh, and make sure to check out my YouTube channel for occasional drawing videos! Link's in the description ^_^ Thanks!



Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Diva Challenge #230: "Let's all be ZenDivaDala" AND Tangleation Vocation #18: Shattuck

So, I really don't do a whole lot of Zendalas. I don't like symmetry. How to remedy this? Freehand the template, of course! And add an asymmetrical background. Still a lot more symmetrical than I would normally draw...but of course, it's a Zendala ^_^

Tangles used: Tripoli, Shattuck, Keenees, Sanibelle

And now some exciting news - the YouTube channel will be up and running soon! Of course, school's starting in nine days, so once that happens there won't be a whole lot of videos. *grumble grumble* Check it out - there's a link in the sidebar - if you want to see the video of me drawing this really really fast. Or...if you want to see it in the future, depending on when you read this, since I haven't uploaded it yet at the time of writing. I do have one other video, so you can watch that ^_^
EDIT: *sigh* Technology strikes back. I swear, Apple is on a quest to make sure I never get to post another video. I will work through this. There will be more videos. At some point. I promise. ^_^


And finally - your Vocation this week is Shattuck. I should be posting what I did for Printemps, but...it sucks. So I won't. Just imagine Printemps without the whole "overlap" part...that's basically what I did. And then I added a bunch of background stuff...*shudder*


Enjoy and be inspired! ^_^

Monday, August 3, 2015

Diva Challenge #229: +/- AND Tangleation Vocation #17: Printemps by Zentangle

Fun! ^_^ I tend to constantly drift between packed-in detail and airy minimalism (more so on the detail side, of course ^_^), but still rarely focus on negative space. So, this was fun and unique.
Tangles used: Gra-vee, Xav, Emingle, weird ribbon-y thing that I probably will never post stepouts for

And, here's my little set of Verdigogh tangleations (AKA "Mooka on a stick" and "I'm too lazy to do anything more") ^_^
Tangles used: Verdigogh, Black Pearlz, elements of Chemystery and Mooka
Your Vocation this week is the official tangle Printemps! Enjoy and be inspired! ^_^

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Diva Challenge #228: Organic AND Tangleation Vocation #16: Verdigogh

A challenge centering on organic tangles? How could I not do this one to death? ^_^ Before doing these, I scribbled out a bunch of Mooka on a piece of cardstock and promised myself that I wouldn't do it in any of these tiles. ^_^

The collection.

Tangles used: Opus, Fescu, Featherfall, Ionic

Tangles used: Locar, Punzel (kind of), Qian-Long (again, kind of), Twistee (once again, kind of), Organza, Fescu, Opus, Euca

Tangles used: Uncorked, Pokeroot, 100, N'zeppel, Zinger

Tangles used: Pokeroot, Printemps, Rixty, Wist, Aquafleur, Zinger, Fescu
So much fun ^_^

Moving on - but keeping with the organic theme - your Vocation this week is Verdigogh. And I should have my Cadent example here, but summer is when I plan to do a whole bunch of different things Zentangle and end up doing nothing but the Diva Challenge, so I don't. Sorry. ^_^


Enjoy and be inspired! ^_^

Thursday, July 23, 2015

New Tangle: "Undu"

I'm...uh...not sure exactly where the inspiration for this tangle came from. Topographic maps, maybe? Either way, I'm glad it did! ^_^ Undu (named so because it's very undulating - I know, I'm not creative) is pretty easy and forgiving, although it definitely requires some focus if you want to get all the auras juuuuuust right. The steps are simple:

First, draw a squiggly line going across your section.

Aura it a few times (I did 3).

Then add more auras...but have them "diverge" from the previous ones (this picture got flipped 90 degrees somehow, but you get it. I hope.)

Then aura the "sections" created by those a few times.

...And repeat.

Here it is finished - and looking quite bold with some of its lines filled in! This works really well to cover up those little "hand spasms" or whatever you want to call them (not mistakes!).

Hope you enjoy using Undu! Be inspired! ^_^

Monday, July 20, 2015

Diva Challenge #227: Circus Life

I don't really have much to say about this week's challenge, except...fun fun fun! ^_^ Also, Fescu. <3

Tangles used: Tropicana, Cack, Fescu
Oh yeah, and the YouTube project has (surprise!) been canceled. Not because I'm too lazy to shoot videos, but because my iTouch is being a butt and not properly deleting said videos. Even though I've gotten them off of my photo stream, they're still in the "Photo Library"...which I apparently can't access. If anyone has any idea as to how to remedy this, please tell me. ^_^

Monday, July 13, 2015

Diva Challenge #226: Simplicity AND Tangleation Vocation #15: Cadent by Zentangle

Note to self: when you go on a vacation for a month and can't do any blogging during it - say something about it.

On a cheerier note, I'm not dead! ^_^ 

Yeah, I was on vacation for a month. It was awesome. I went to California with one sketchbook and left with six ^_^ I guess having artsy grandparents will do that to you. Obviously, a lot of drawing was done...and I had my first class with a CZT! It was awesome...I finally met someone who was just as into Zentangle as me. And, of course, I was introduced to a bunch of new art supplies I really really really want now...funny how that works. ^_^ 

I'll slowly be posting some of the stuff I did while in CA (there's a lot of it!), scattered throughout all my other posts I suppose. And now to the point - Diva Challenge! I really enjoy the Simplicity challenges - my instinct is always "detail detail detail" so these are like a breath of fresh air. This one kinda reminds me of water lilies...really stylized water lilies. Without the water. ^_^

Tangles used: Indy-Rella, Fescu
And now for the second order of business - this week's Vocation, Cadent (in case you somehow aren't aware of the steps). Enjoy and be inspired! ^_^



Also - I'm setting up a YouTube channel! ^_^ My first video should (hopefully) be up later today - it might not be the greatest quality, and there won't be any audio, but ah well. After all, I'm just beginning ^_^

EDIT: It's been done! Check it out here. ^_^ Turns out there is some audio, which is mostly me talking while recording, only sped up so it sounds like there was a mouse on the desk. Yeeaaahhh...you might want to mute it ^_^

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Joey's Weekly Tangle Challenge #63

OK...so, I shall just pelt you with a bunch of images now. No more words required ^_^

For Joey. Tangles used: Japan Diamond

Tangles used: Msst, Crescent Moon, Shattuck, Flukes, Fescu, Puf, Knightsbridge

Tangles used: Ladybug-me, Diva Dance, Vega, Hurakan, Flux, Leaflet

Tangles used: Florz, Finery, Pokeroot, Zenplosion Folds


Tangles used: Sand Swirl, Mooka