3Z practice

I've got lots of spare 3Z-sized tiles now, so I had a break from ValenTangle today and did a few of these. Firstly a really quick one with Flux and Mooka, then a ZenGem surrounded by Mooka, and finally Flux with Paradox in the middle, and surrounded by Printemps. I weighted all the tangles to give an extra sense of depth.

ValenTangle Day 10: 3Z puzzle

Today's prompt was to create a puzzle from 3Z tiles, designed so they look great on their own or placed together. I haven't got any official 3Z tiles as they seem difficult to get hold of, so I haven't tangled on triangles before. I've been keen to have a go though, so this motivated me to make my own, from some old watercolour paper. I really liked Marguerite's 'Delft delights' example, so I treated myself to a blue micron for this one. These two took quite a while, but I like the result, particularly when placed together.

12 Days of Zentangle: Day 7

We had a busy weekend with friends, but after they'd gone home I found some time to relax and try out my new Zendala tiles. The first had no string - just a flux border and a sprig of mooka, with some filling. Finished of with a new one - Scrawlz (prettier than it sounds!)

The second is from the 12 Days of Zentangle, day seven, on a pre-strung official white Zendala.

Renaissance Mooka

I've seen lots of examples of BIG Mooka on the Zentangle Mosaic app, and wanted to have a go myself. I'm fairly pleased with the result, particularly the Mooka and  Sand Swirl, but I wish I hadn't added the small white Mooka top-right - it really doesn't need it. Still, there are 'no mistakes' in Zentangle, so I'll take this as a lesson learned!

Used: black, sepia, brown and red microns, white gelly roll, white charcoal and graphite, on a tan tile. 

Butterfly ZIA

Finally finished this ZIA - a Christmas present for my friend Nicola. It's 8" x 8", the usual black micron 01 with graphite shading, and Prismacolour pencils for the zen gems. Hope she likes it!

A renaissance tile for the New Year

Had to try out a couple of my Christmas presents - new red and brown micron pens. Also used black and sepia, white gelly roll, plus white charcoal and graphite for shading. I can definitely understand why Zentangle was originally just black on white - it's amazing how much more complicated things get when you add more colours/media. I really wasn't sure about this one at first, but I think it turned out alright in the end. Definitely need more practice though!

12 Days of Zentangle: Day 2

This was a slightly more involved creation, and I chose to pretty much copy the version in the video by Rick and Maria. It starts off with a white tile, with poke root emerging from the corners, clasped by gold bands. Tripoli then fits in 'underneath', in the centre circle. A hole is then cut in a black tile, and flux decorates the outside, in white gel pen, with a circle of gold orbs around the centre. To finish, cuts are made along the edges of the gold bands, and the black tile folded so it can be inserted into the white tile.

Moonlight

Discovered the other day that the moonlight gelly roll pens fluorescent under UV light! After purchasing a new UV torch I did a fairly quick tile to try it out. They definitely glow nicely under UV, but it's really hard to photograph! Not sure if the problem is the camera on the phone not coping with the strange light, or if there's too much white light mixed in with the UV, causing too much reflection on the black tile. It's an interesting effect, anyway - will try out some different photographic techniques.
First photo below is in normal light, second is in UV.

Tangled shell

Went for a lovely walk on the beach with the kids this afternoon. Loads of shells around, so I collected a few to have a go at tangling them. This it's my first attempt - good fun, so will definitely give it another go!