Thursday 25 July 2019

seeking shade

This time last year I was writing about tangling through a UK heatwave.  And the same is happening at the moment, albeit thankfully on a smaller scale.  I'm lethargic and disinclined to work on tiny details or pieces that need a lot of blending, smoothing, tinkering.  I'm adapting my tangling to the mood of the weather.

I'm also learning to work with my materials, rather than against them.  I picked two tiles from the stash of lokta paper kindly sent to me by my tangle friend YvetteLast time I worked on two tissue thin pieces with grasses trapped within them.  This time I picked two of the thicker pieces, in this shade that reminds me of parched grass.  This paper is heavily textured, especially on one side, it calls to mind baked earth desperate for rainfall.

I knew the paper would challenge fine pen work, but I wasn't in the mood for that anyway- so grabbed my 02 and 03 black pens and set to work tangling loops and giant Tipple and then adding a few other tangles.  I added some small pops of brighter green, from a particularly juicy pen and watched the paper suck the ink into itself.

Going loopy - mostly unnamed ink roamings with added Pixioze

The view from down under - similar but with Inaura

A handful of white highlights and the merest suggestion of graphite shading and they were done.  I tangled them separately, but they were always destined to be a pair.

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I found a small burst of additional inspiration, and tangled this piece on an ATC sized tile I'd coloured with a Faber-Castell Gelato, a set of which I received as a recent birthday present.

Melting moments - a simple spread of Esher
with added detail lines

The heat is set to break tomorrow, and I hope the week ahead brings some sea breezes because I'm keen to bring some summery teals and blues into the mix.

13 comments:

  1. All are beautiful..We have 42c today so all is done as early as possible. Teddy the rottie boinged like Tigger and broke my toe yesterday so art is tricky. Have done a little watercolouring that's all. I am going to borrow your go with the flow attitude..it certainly produces gorgeous results for you xxx

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    1. Oh Hilary - that is too hot!

      I'm so sorry to hear about your toe - nasty. Hope it starts healing very soon. One of the rare moments you wished you had a micro dog instead?! ;)

      Yes, do whatever arting you feel like, even if it's just follow a pencil line idly around a page!

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  2. Oh Jem! I knew you would work magic with that lokta! Lovely languid tangles that reflect your weather and your coping skills �� We are having a warmer than usual winter here in Oz, I don’t mind the cooler weather, I cope much better with it than I do with the severe heat. Looking forward to seeing what you do when you break out the greens and blues �� keep up the good work! ����

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    1. Thank you Yvette. The thicker lokta has its own personality and once I accepted that we got on very well. I'm looking forward to trying other things with it - but fine controlled detail probably won't be one of them! ;)

      I think the extremes are becoming more extreme for everyone. I remember you saying how hot your summer was. And I know Oz has been struggling with severe droughts for a few years. You're right, cold is easier - warming yourself is more manageable than cooling yourself. Stews, blankets etc. Although I was griping about the cold only a few months back when our heating broke down!

      I have some lovely things planned for the weeks ahead. Maybe I can influence the weather with my colour choices ;)

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    2. Best wishes, Jem, and belated happy birthday - what date is yours? Mine was 13 July :)

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    3. Happy belated b'day to you too Yvette. Mine was the 30th June!

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  3. WOW - I really ADORE the first two tangles . . . and most especially the second one. Drippy and oodles of doodles . . . very nice contrasts too.

    Am melting . . . and glad the weekend is upon me! xxx

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    1. Belated happy birthday wishes going your way.x

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    2. Thank you Sarn, for both of your comments. A bit cooler today with me, hopefully you're benefiting too!

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  4. Even on a slower day you are much more productive than I could ever be �� sending you some seabreeze ��

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    1. Thank you Debbie. These were done over a few days to be honest. I think you pack a lot into a small space, where I spread mine more minimally over a number of tiles!

      Thank you - I can feel the breeze!

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  5. I love how you used bold tangling against the textured paper. What a neat effect!

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    1. Thank you Artzy. The texture of the paper sort of made the choice for me. Fine lines would have turned messy!

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