one for the faint hearted

One of the steps that Krahula encourages us to take whenever we practice Zentangle really appeals to me. She says 'Appreciate the paper and tools'. And I do. I take a moment to look at them, touch them, line up the ones I know I'll need. It's like pausing for a moment before the magic starts to happen. Knowing that these humbles sticks will move, sometimes seemingly of their own accord, and make a little picture. Maybe the one you planned, maybe something entirely different.

If I had taken a photo before today's tile, to capture that moment of appreciation, it would look like this. 

 

As it was the photo came afterwards. When I knew that I would use that pale grey Stabilo Fineliner to draw Jellyrolls that you can hardly see, but somehow still need to be there. But alongside it are the usual suspects - the old pencil from a shop that no longer trades, the Derwent 2B (I had no idea that pencils, even those of the same solidity rating could behave so differently, but they do!), my grubby stump. And my faithful Micron 01, marked with a cuff of washi tape so I don't grab one of the wrong thickness when I'm in a hurry. I also like to tape my tile to my sketchbook to keep it still while I work (although I turn the entire contraption when the stroke dictates).

And along with a little help from me this was the tile they made. Using some of the left-over tangles from this weeks It's a String Thing challenge.