hare today, gone tomorrow

In Zentangle, as well as life, I'm the tortoise far more than I'm the hare.  At one point in her book Krahula suggests you set aside 30 minutes to complete a tile.  I usually take far longer than that.  And that's the way I like it - slow and steady, enjoying each and every stroke.  But sometimes I wonder if there are benefits to speeding up every now and then?  It would mean the chance to tangle on days where there isn't much time, and it also might produce different visual effects if I have to be a bit more carefree with my drawing.

I decided to put it to the test to day when I saw the Diva's latest challenge.  I'm still not quite up to the pace that Kruhula sets - but I whacked these two out in a couple of hours.  I lean heavily towards the abstract interpretation of the challenge!  I used up my shamrocking for Adele's String Challenge last week!

The first is a little nod to those red-haired Irish beauties and their Emerald Isle (represented here by the tangle called Japan Diamond)! 

The second was inspired by Google's stained glass window banner to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.  Dugwud is spread across the whole tile, but only shows through on the bright coloured panels - which called for every shade of green brush pen that I owned.

There are things I like about them both - the uneven colouring on the diamonds, and the idea (if not the execution) of the second.  But I miss my precision and detail, and I'm not sure I'll be wearing my hare-suit too often, but I'm glad I tried it on for size.