A simple study in scarlet - Ellish, with a handful of Printemps and some Indy-Rella. And you'll have to trust me when I tell you it looks better in the flesh - much less murky, more ruby swirls than roadkill!
Wednesday, 25 May 2016
red letter day
There's no need to be encouraged to try the new official tangle Ellish, but seeing as the Diva insists -
A simple study in scarlet - Ellish, with a handful of Printemps and some Indy-Rella. And you'll have to trust me when I tell you it looks better in the flesh - much less murky, more ruby swirls than roadkill!
A simple study in scarlet - Ellish, with a handful of Printemps and some Indy-Rella. And you'll have to trust me when I tell you it looks better in the flesh - much less murky, more ruby swirls than roadkill!
Wednesday, 18 May 2016
little black numbers
Two tiles and my very literal take on this week's Diva Challenge.
No shading, no colour. Just black ink. And just one tangle on each tile. On the left Bumps (by Sue Jacobs) and on the right the offical tangle Assunta.
Very different from my usual offerings, but different is good sometimes. They look like burns or bruises, like new tattoos. They look like the tangles have been cut out of the paper. They look quite serious.
No shading, no colour. Just black ink. And just one tangle on each tile. On the left Bumps (by Sue Jacobs) and on the right the offical tangle Assunta.
Very different from my usual offerings, but different is good sometimes. They look like burns or bruises, like new tattoos. They look like the tangles have been cut out of the paper. They look quite serious.
Thursday, 12 May 2016
patience pays
I read the guidelines for the Diva Challenge on Monday. And liked the thought of really working to get a good Duotangle going. I wanted to go beyond them just sitting next to each other. But I struggle with Pokeroot at the best of times.
Sometimes I like to go straight to the page with a challenge, work it through one stroke at a time - let the ink play on the page and see what happens. At other times I carry the ideas in my head and shift them around in there. Different approaches produce different results. And I think this one paid off.
After three days I started to see the idea, and when I drew it out on the tile it looked even better than I imagined. The hot pink paper, the white pencil highlights, the layout, and the Drupe leaves surrounding the Pokeroot. Good enough to eat!
Sometimes I like to go straight to the page with a challenge, work it through one stroke at a time - let the ink play on the page and see what happens. At other times I carry the ideas in my head and shift them around in there. Different approaches produce different results. And I think this one paid off.
After three days I started to see the idea, and when I drew it out on the tile it looked even better than I imagined. The hot pink paper, the white pencil highlights, the layout, and the Drupe leaves surrounding the Pokeroot. Good enough to eat!
Tuesday, 3 May 2016
fashionably late
Despite not wearing much, this little mix of Quib and Echoism couldn't get herself dressed in time.
She missed the party going on over at Tickled to Tangle. Where two tangles took on dynamically different looks, while still getting along very well with one another. She would have fitted in well, at home in a crowd of good company!
She missed the party going on over at Tickled to Tangle. Where two tangles took on dynamically different looks, while still getting along very well with one another. She would have fitted in well, at home in a crowd of good company!
Wednesday, 27 April 2016
earning our stripes
This week the Diva asked for stripes!
For me stripes are one of the most comfortable ways to tangle. They take all of the planning out of the process but leave plenty of room for invention. Because while it still looks great if one tangle lays next to another, even more fun happens when you try to gently join them. In fact I think it's a great way to learn the sometimes tricky art of joining tangles.
To choose my tangles I simply looked back through the last few weeks in my sketchbook and picked a handful of tangles that might work. Then I started with the longest stripe through the centre and then built out from either side, squaring off the whole with a couple of organic tangles.
I used the first piece from a pack of Khadi paper (Indian handmade cotton rag paper) that's been sitting here for a while. It's A6 size (roughly 14x10 cm) and has a very toothy surface. I used a larger than usual pen (0.3mm) to try to lessen the bumpyness of my lines and the graphite was hard to smooth and blend as much as I like. But the paper was otherwise a joy to work on and it feels like quite a special little piece.
For me stripes are one of the most comfortable ways to tangle. They take all of the planning out of the process but leave plenty of room for invention. Because while it still looks great if one tangle lays next to another, even more fun happens when you try to gently join them. In fact I think it's a great way to learn the sometimes tricky art of joining tangles.
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| Tangles used - from top left to bottom right - Fescu, Ponio, Y-Chain, Copada, Snugz, Antidots, Quib |
To choose my tangles I simply looked back through the last few weeks in my sketchbook and picked a handful of tangles that might work. Then I started with the longest stripe through the centre and then built out from either side, squaring off the whole with a couple of organic tangles.
I used the first piece from a pack of Khadi paper (Indian handmade cotton rag paper) that's been sitting here for a while. It's A6 size (roughly 14x10 cm) and has a very toothy surface. I used a larger than usual pen (0.3mm) to try to lessen the bumpyness of my lines and the graphite was hard to smooth and blend as much as I like. But the paper was otherwise a joy to work on and it feels like quite a special little piece.
Tuesday, 12 April 2016
kiss the graphite goodbye
I didn't fancy doing a full globular grid, as suggested by the Diva for this week's challenge. So I just worked with the central cross-section part.
The only tangle I'd chosen before hand was Wallbucket by Sandra Strait (which I spotted on a recent via to Ina Sonnenmoser's new tangle resource site Pattern-Collections.com). I wanted this for the middle section and I think it looks great.
And then I just let my pen do whatever it wanted. The arched sections took Betweed very well. Some non-specific arches provided a base for a few Flux and then I did a Verve-type border.
I've got into a habit lately of taken before and after images between finishing the line work and shading. I almost always prefer the shaded version, but today I didn't. It looked a bit messy. But perhaps because I'd coloured some sections with a grey watercolour brush pen before I started the detail work there was enough contrast to not need additional shading quite so vitally.
Anyway, there it is.
The only tangle I'd chosen before hand was Wallbucket by Sandra Strait (which I spotted on a recent via to Ina Sonnenmoser's new tangle resource site Pattern-Collections.com). I wanted this for the middle section and I think it looks great.
And then I just let my pen do whatever it wanted. The arched sections took Betweed very well. Some non-specific arches provided a base for a few Flux and then I did a Verve-type border.
I've got into a habit lately of taken before and after images between finishing the line work and shading. I almost always prefer the shaded version, but today I didn't. It looked a bit messy. But perhaps because I'd coloured some sections with a grey watercolour brush pen before I started the detail work there was enough contrast to not need additional shading quite so vitally.
Anyway, there it is.
Wednesday, 30 March 2016
layer upon layer
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| I stacked my papers with all the bottom left corners together. |
But anyway - no mistakes, no regrets. Here's sharing what I came up with. Just four layers, with three from some coloured papers. Sinchun on the Bijou tile, with blackened background and white ink beads. A variation of Zenith on the beige paper. On the green is Ponio (by Damy). And lurking there in the dark grey W2. Some white pencil and shading to liven things up a bit and there you have it.
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