waiting for the fall

What goes up must come down

The wonderful world of Zentangle has good and bad days - I'm learning to live with that.  Not every tangle, or every tile pleases me - but often after a dud, one I really like comes along next.  And the process is (usually) always a pleasure.  The Day 26 activities that Beckah Krahula suggested left me feeling like I was playing with a yo-yo.

Pokeleaf was introduced as a variant to Pokeroot and I found it far more satisfying to draw.  Anything orbish often leaves me thinking it's too flattened or wobbly, whereas leaf shapes seem to make sense to my pen - maybe because I spend a lot of time writing about trees?  But Growth felt a bit lame, and despite much practice I couldn't draw it in a way that looked or felt good.  To add insult to injury I decided to try again with Bucky - that most stubborn tangle.  I did it but the result is a bit awkward - each tangle looks like it's standing uncomfortably next to it's neighbour.  My Growth pyramids remind me of Croquembouche - which look impressive, but I'd rather have a decent serving in my own bowl!

Break on through to the other side

The second activity was another one using colour - and I used the coloured pencils I had to hand.  I don't think they are particularly good quality as you have to be quite firm to get much depth of colour out of them, but it was fun to play with shading using colour rather than just graphite pencil. I used Dex - which I'd spotted on Tanglepatterns, which creates a lovely blocky base for my Flux to grow out of.  I love Flux - but mine often come out as single slender vines and I want to try to make them work differently.  I popped a few Cruffle in to fill the space around.  And I like the result.  It looks like the kind of floral decoration an interior designer might install in a loft conversion.  Some soft red leaves to counteract all the glass and brickwork.