uneasy explorations

This week my tangling path led me back to the wonderful world of Relaxagons. I shared my first post about them in May, my next in June.  I've been hankering to get back to them for a while, and it was a pleasure to be working within their unique shape, with the careful guidance of Marguerite Samama's instructions.

Warming up - highlighted and shaded and with added Mooka on an orange tile
and with added dots and mini gems on a tan tile

However, the next idea Marguerite invited us to play with proved a real challenge for me!  She wanted us to focus on the tangle Paradox - a great choice as it's a lively geometric tangle which can dance neatly with a six-sided tile. But I have an very uneasy relationship with this tangle. 

Soft colours under Ginili, Divi and Cruffle against a background of fan-style Paradox

Early on in my tangling life I found it a real struggle to learn, as you can see from one of my earliest Paradox tiles.  Since then I'm able to tangle it without too much trouble, and I use a little pop of it every now and then, or use the Paradox principle for other tangles.  But I don't particularly like the tangle.  Despite those curves that appear it's so unforgivingly straight-lined, it's hard to get it to play nicely with other tangles, and it makes me feel utterly incapable when the time comes to shade it!

Something more minimal - three ribbons of Paradox in my early autumn colours

But I'm not one to dodge a challenge - so I persevered and managed to tangle a handful of tiles, some of which I almost quite like, and in a few places I even started to soften a little towards this cold-hearted tangle!

My favourite piece - Paradox in two sided shapes,
with 'Nzeppel and Fescu

Paradox will never be a tangle I use often, or one which gives me great satisfaction to use, but that doesn't matter, as there are so many more to chose from, I can't expect myself to love them all. 

If you'd like to buy the Relaxagons kit it's available from Marguerite's Etsy store.  She also sells her Relaxagon tiles in different colours and paper types.

eight days a week

Last week my world turned black and white - care of the wonderful videos that accompanied Zentangle's latest Project Pack.  You can find more details of Pack 06 and the videos explained in masterful detail by Linda at Tangle Patterns.

The fruits of my labours - all shapes and sizes, but all black and white

I didn't buy the pack, but wanted to join in with the fun - especially when I heard that the theme was No Mistakes - which is one of the central tenets of the Zentangle Method.  Apparently the Pack contains pens and also a special booklet, with black ink blots, drops, splashes, dashes and smears on each page.  In the videos we are guided to tangle back and forth between the black and white sections, switching pens as we go.

I decided to make do with whatever materials I had to hand.  Lengthy discussions took place among fellow tanglers about how best to create our ink blots.  I used a few different techniques - with differing difficulty and success. 

Day 1

Mooka, Tipple and Diva Dance on a small Relaxagon tile

I laid down the black using a Sakura Brush Pen

It took me a while to get the hang of moving between the black and white,
but then they started to blend quite seamlessly.  In fact I think the dividing line
disappears more on this tile than any of my later ones

On this first tile I deviated a bit from what Maria did - I used Tipple and Diva Dance around my Mooka instead of her Crescent Moon, and once I'd done this on one tile I brought little pops of those in on the other days too, just to help tie my set together.

Day 2

Arukas, Tipple, Diva Dance and some black ribbons on a watercolour postcard

On this one I used a black Inktense pencil - applied thickly then wetted to create my black mark -
the white gel pen skipped a little on this surface

I enjoyed the extra space, allowing those Arukas arms to extend and divide themselves - simple shading
on the white areas added dimension - but unfortunately my white chalk pencils wouldn't work over my black

Day 3

A line of pearls, spiralled Flux, Mooka, Tipple and tufts of Diva Dance on a
regular sized tile again with black section made using Inktense

This one was relaxing to do - there's something inherently calming about a spiral,
and running the detail line down one side of each Flux leaf gives a new look

Day 4

Munchin morphing into Paradox, with added Tipple

On this ATC I used my Black Soot Distress ink pad to create
the dark area

My gel pen ran very smoothly on the Distress Ink area
but unfortunely turned a little grey - but hey,
there are no mistakes here!

Day 5

More pearls, Printemps and Melting Mooka, and Diva Dance
and Tipple on an Inktense blackened square tile

This was my favourite day - something about Melting Mooka
really appealed to me - the way it grows and forms those
sections ripe for filling

Day 6

Ing, Tipple and various spiral fills and details

Having watched the video I knew using white chalk would be
necessary, so I made my black section using a piece of
black pastel paper stuck to a white tile.

I made the spirals in graphite on the left using a precision eraser pen!

Day 7

Indyrella, Tipple, Diva Dance on a Bijou tile
coloured with Inktense

I struggle with Indyrella, it takes focus to keep it neat,
hence choosing to do just a little tile on this day!

Day 8

An embedded word on a rectangle of Medioevalis paper - 8 x 11cm

I applied a swipe of black Distress Ink across this tile

Pure pleasure to pick a word - a word I need a great deal right now -
and then watch it disappear, while still remaining

I had a great time following along with the Zentangle videos, absorbing the enthusiasm and skill that the team share in each and every one.  It's been great seeing how others respond to these same projects.  I think this is a technique that I'll revisit again and again - I'm already busy researching the best black and white inks to buy to help me create even better tiles to work on.  I can also see that the technique could be adapted to work with colours too - particularly the deeper ones. 

Keen eyes might also have noticed that I'm trying to make better used of my chop (the initials I use to sign my tiles once finished).  Often I just stick it in somewhere without much thought - but I'm trying to make it sit more mindfully and creatively within my tangling - with success on a few of the tiles, and on one I forgot it altogether!

six-sided celebrations

Today is a special day.  It's the anniversary of my very first Zentangle tile.

Back in the summer of 2013 I bought Beckah Krahula's One Zentangle a Day book, cut up a handful of thin white postcards, grabbed a 0.4 non permanent black pen and a pencil and tangled my first tile.  Two days later I tangled my second - and I haven't stopped since.

I blogged about my early exploration here - although I confess that I didn't start my blog straight away.  Initially I made notes on my tangling progress on pen and paper and only started the blog a couple of months in and then typed up my notes!

From little acorns - Static, Crescent Moon and Tipple

Everything I hoped Zentangle would bring me has happened.  My tangling has grown in confidence, ability and imagination.  I've explored different shaped tiles, different pens, a multitude of colours whilst never losing the love of basic black and white.  I've connected with people from all over this weird and wonderful world.  I've felt full to the brim with Zentangle excitement and also basked in utter calm as a tile takes shape at the end of my pen.

Mighty oaks - Drupe, Drawings and Aquafleur

Apt that six years on my current obsession is the six-sided delights that Marguerite Samama calls Relaxagons - which I blogged about a couple of weeks ago.  Moving on from getting to know the tile, Marguerite invites us to explore the hexagon shape using tangles which can benefit from greater space.  She offers example and suggestions and I tried this with three different tangles.

Firstly I worked in black and white on one of the delicious hand made Relaxagon tiles, cut from the same Fabriano paper as the Zentangle original white tiles.

Drupe with added Beadlines and Fescu

Then I coloured a tile using the watercolour pencils included in the kit.  Not only are the colours perfect compliments to each other but their quality is wonderful - they mixed and mingled so well.  

Drawings - usually reminiscent of birds, this looks like something
more at home beneath the waves. 

I prepared my final tile by masking using thin washi tape and then smooth blending some blue Distress Ink.  When I removed the tape the hexagon was divided into all sorts of interesting shapes - which I began to fill with Aquafleur.  Disaster struck in one section of the tile - I lost track of which ribbons I was filling and it all started to unravel!  A few moments of despair where I considered ditching the tile - then the 'No Mistakes in Zentangle' motto came to mind and I grabbed a black Posca pen and covered over the mistakes.  When it was dry I went back with my white and gold pens and if I hadn't told you, perhaps you might have thought it was my intention all along!

I've been tangling Aquafleur fairly regularly over the years -
but I noticed one day that it didn't feel quite right, and when I checked
I'd drifted a little in how I tangled it and so the inward twisting spiral
had disappeared.  (Here's an example on a similarly masked tile)
It's worthwhile going back to the step-outs from
time to time in case you've drifted and need to find your way home!
Or else just enjoy your drift and call it a tangleation!

Thank you for sharing my tangle-anniversary with me.  Thank you to those who have been with me since almost the very start, and thank you to those who've joined me through the years.  Thanks for your encouragement, inspiration, and company on this tangled journey.  Here's hoping there are many more tangled adventures in the years ahead!

one foot in summer, the other in spring

For the last few weeks I've been tangling in an entirely different space - a six-sided space!  I've been spending time in the wonderful world of Relaxagons.  Relaxagons are a new concept and kit, lovingly designed and produced by Dutch CZT Marguerite Samama. 

If you'd like to buy the Relaxagons kit it's available from Marguerite's Etsy store.

I've talked at length before about how I'm picky about buying new products, materials and kits, so I won't repeat myself.  Suffice to say, buying the Relaxagons kit was a considered choice, but one I'm very pleased I made.

Exploring Relaxagons -
I confess that I cut a few of my own tiles just to use till I got the hang of things!
(I still struggle to break the habit of hoarding my special supplies!)

As well as hand-made tiles with a beautiful little detail along the edge, and carefully chosen coloured pencils, Marguerite's instructions are thorough and inspiring.  There are many ideas and suggestions to gradually explore the unique properties of tangling on hexagons.  The suggestions start simply and then progress.  There is enough guidance to help us achieve good results, but plenty of freedom and suggestions for where we might take our own practice.  And that is the strength for me.  It reassures me that I will get plenty of use out of the kit, and will be able to take it in new and unexpected directions.  I know I'll be using the Relaxagon concept for years to come - just as I'm still enjoying all that Marguerite's Zen Buttons and Persian Mosaics have to offer.

The first activity Marguerite suggests is getting to know the Relaxagon tile by using it for free tangle play.  This seems a simple idea, but is surprisingly effective as tangling on something that has 6 sides and 6 corners really does feel quite different!  The tiles are a little larger than regular square tiles too - but smaller than Zendala. 

My first Relaxagon -
I started with Antidots, my ultimate comfort tangle - some Cubine, and
Fescu appeared as well as some detail lines.  The result was quite unexpected, like
the top of an ornate jewellery box.

My second Relaxagon -
I started with some Marasu, which came to points rather than spirals.
This tile looks bold and dynamic and I love the way that
negative space in the middle jumps out.

My third Relaxagon -
I laid a light colour wash of 3 blue triangles before I tangled -
but the colour mostly disappear when I shaded, leaving only
a hint of blue.  N'Zeppel, feathered Fescu and Doodah.

By this point I noticed I'd become utterly mesmerised by the symmetry of the hexagon, and wanted to break that.  Not that there is anything wrong with symmetry, but sometimes imbalance is just what we need.

My fourth Relaxagon -
I put down more blue this time, using one of the watercolour pencils from the kit.
Then I just let myself get lost in the repetition of a handful of ZT original tangles -
Mooka, Ynix, Printemps, N'Zeppel and Tipple - half filling the space and then stopping!

I'm ready to move on to the next activity in Marguerite's instructions, but I'm thrilled at the results so far - and I feel that the unusual shape of the tile has taken me to places that a circle, square, rectangle or triangle might not have done.  I'll return with further explorations at a later date!

*******

In other exciting news I've been working on my latest Zigzangle piece over the last couple of months.  I work on these a little at a time and slowly but surely they grow.  I hadn't done one since I joining in with the ZT HQ Twelve Days project at the tail end of last year.

My partner eco-dyed this Khadi paper zig-zag using turmeric.

This time I worked entirely in blue ink - out of my comfort zone for sure -  and shaded using only a darker blue pencil.

A host of tangles on this including - S-Vine, Inaura, Opus, Cruffle, Sitika, Nik, Fescu and Beadlines

The rough surface of the khadi paper zig-zag forces me to worry less about the precision of my line work and the smoothness of my shading - as neither are possible on that surface.  However, like the Relaxagons, it's fun to work on a different shaped paper and working little by little over many weeks reminds me that there's no need to rush, that process is far more important than produce.