come again

Things took a different turn over at the Diva's place this week - where guest Sharla Hicks asked us to Redux / Remix / Revisit one or two of our frequently used tangles.

I varied the size and direction of Flux
and had Tipple pooling and dripping
down.  I tried to shade with watercolour
and stippled with a coloured pen.

One of the things I like about Zentangle is its mindlessness - no, that's not quite right, its mindfree nature.  The fact I can sit and let the pen make strokes and see where they take me.  But sometimes it's good to make it a more mindful activity.  To really worship the form and honour it and see if it's willing to grace us with even more beauty and pleasure.

I tried to make Tipple textural by having
it wrap the columns and I let Flux tumble
free.  I tried to shade more heavily than
I would usually.

To choose which tangles to redux I went back to some of the first ones I learned and those I use often but tend to be lazy with - using them over and over in the same ways I originally learned them.  The two culprits I chose were Flux and Tipple.  Flux I always have as meandering vine with even sized leaves on each side.  Only once or twice have I drawn it as a fixed clump.  And Tipple is always a helpful little filler, but never much of a star in its own right.

I altered Flux and drew it as a freehand
grid 'wrapping' a solid.  I tried to alter the
size of Tipple to create dark and light
but lost focus a bit!

In addition I wanted to try to give more thought to shading, and to the layout of my tangles on the tile - I always tend to stick to the square border and fill it - but often admire the tiles of those who deviate from this.

I spent a long time playing in my sketchbook and then produced three tiles (click on any image to enlarge) over two days - each to some degree succeeding in doing something new.  It was a great challenge, and has opened a new way of exploring tangles.  I know I'll do this again.