Most of the time, now days, I draw the “crazy” version of Nzeppel, rather than the “grid” version. So I thought I would do this for a change of pace. I decided to add an internal aura to each bubble, just to provide some interest. That lead me to making the colored border. Zentangle drawn on an Original, Zentangle Bijou tile using a black and a brown, Micron pen. Shading done with colored pencil. Border colored with Copic marker.
Wevuz fever. She was tired of being grounded because of the illness. She never should have gone to the liquid planet. But watching the merfolk swim, with their beautiful coloring fascinated her. It was the height of tourist season while she was there. So many beings from so many strange places, all sharing the pathogens from their home worlds. Something was bound to happen. Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
This is my second tile from Eni's Fragmented Windows lesson . I really wanted to try this in blue because it reminded me so much of floor plans. I also made the grid a bit smaller than the first one. I’m not sure if I like it better, or not. I did have to use a finer tipped pen to draw the fragments because the squares were so tiny! Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using blue and dark blue, Pigma Micron pen. Shading done with Copic marker, colored pencil and graphite pencil.
Guess what I am making! I have been kind of “stuck” since about the beginning of the year. I got through figuring out how to handle black tiles, but then I couldn’t seem to get going on anything else I wanted to accomplish. Suddenly, about a week ago, something in the stars changed and I started making Zenbuttons, something I’ve wanted to do for some time. Now, I’m giving you a sneak peek at another project I wanted to try. I’ll be working on this next week. It will take a while because it requires tangling on several tiles to complete the project!
Yes, another Zenbutton! Last Valentine’s day I really wanted to participate in the Valentangle challenge. I ended up admiring everyone else’s work, but didn’t get anything of my own done. So, now that I’m on a Zenbutton kick, I did the challenge from February 5th! I did use four circles rather than 3. And I went with “hearts and flowers”, in as much as Toodles looks a bit like a heart, and I used actual heart shapes on the innermost ring. I thought the spirals looked a bit like roses, specially with the addition of the tiny black triangles, which reminded me of leaves.
Hints of spring. The patio by the pond was clear of snow. The air was brisk, but the sun shone brightly. She donned the fur-lined cape and boots and headed out to see the frozen lily pads as they thawed. The new buds among the fallen pods added their bright green hue to the rusty brown landscape. This is my first “standard” Zentangle of the year. I set up with a border and string, then I select the tangles at random. I never know what I will get. It’s always fun to make them fit together and see what I end up with. When the tile is done, I sit and look at it surprised at the end results. There is often a story that emerges, as if reading a book in my mind, with the tile as an illustration.
This Zentangle was done by Matthew Higbee. Matt is a 17-year-old high school student and a second-year art student. You’ve seen another tangle he did, here , previously, if you’ve been following this blog. I love that he decided to take off on his own, and used tangles that we haven’t been practicing yet. I think he made good choices, and the tangles have nice contrast between circular and angular.
Crazy. For this Zentangle, Nzepple has taken a walk on the wild side! This is referred to as Crazy Nzepple. I just wanted to do something simple and claming, and this fit the bill. I chose blue because it is the color of water and sky. It is soothing and calming. I added the gel pen accents, both the metallic blue dots and the white highlights to give the tile more dimension.
Unknown. I don’t know what the tangle at the upper right is. I can’t find it in my step-outs. If you recognize it, please join in on Facebook and let me know! Zentangle drawn on an Official Zentangle tile using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil. Tangles: Black Box Nipa Nzeppel Shattuck Tipple Wadical Yincut
Window box. As I sit in the chair by the window, perhaps this will be what I see. Zentangle drawn on an Official Zentangle tile using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil. Tangles: Aah Bumper Ennies Fescu Keeko Meer Nzeppel
Lace and pearls. They could see the honeycomb living towers through the window. Her pearls and lace-trim dress tossed on the floor. And while the great orb turned, they slept. Their dreams were filled with the lives of the rich and powerful. Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil. Tangles: Awdry Centipede Icanthis Nzeppel Snail Strata Y-ful Power Zingo
There be dragons! This tile is directly inspired by Eni Oken’s Tangled Dragons blogpost . I’ve been wanting to give it a go for quite a while, but just haven’t had time until yesterday. It was a little tricky figuring out how to do the overlapping loops, but I think it worked out well, over all! I think I want to try one with some color next time. Maybe I will try some distress inks with it!
We looked up at the ceiling and saw the fan, its blades moving slowly across the light. Blinking, bright, dim, bright, dim, it left us hypnotized on a lazy summer afternoon. Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil. Tangles: Antidots Betweed Crescent Moon C-Wing Footlites Nzeppel Orlique Printemps Tropicana
Cream. I like this simple Zentangle drawn on cream colored paper. However, it turned out that the pens bled a lot because of the high fiber content. So I guess I will have to keep on looking for a different brand of this color paper. Zentangle drawn on BK Rives cream colored printmaking paper using red and black Pigma Micron pens. Tangles: Bumpety Bump Fracas Kule Nzeppel Tipple
Leftie-Louie. This tile was done entirely with my non-dominant hand. That includes the shading and even the date and signature on the back. I was actually surprised at how well it turned out! Zentangle drawn on Official Zentangle tile using a black, Micron pen. Tangles: Crescent Moon Echoism Fescu Florz Nzeppel Pokeleaf Tipple
Earth Day. Saturday, April 22, is Earth Day. I drew this Zentangle years ago, but every time I see it, it reminds me of the earth and nature. Zentangle drawn on Official Zentangle tile using a black, Micron pen. Tangles: Nzeppel Pokeleaf
It‘s a star. The string in this tangle started out as a star and then warped into what you see here after the random tangles were chosen. Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Bristol Vellum using a black Micron pen. Tangles: Baton Carrés Circfleur Diva Dance Floo Munchin Nzeppel OOF Pearlz Prestwood Stiritup
Neuron was recently featured as the challenge tangle on a couple of Facebook groups. I didn‘t do this right away, because I wanted to think about how to use the tangle as a string, as I did here. I also wanted to experiment with a few red accents, and I thought the triangles that appear in this design were perfect. I felt the center needed something contrasting, so I chose Nzeppel. Finally, I specifically chose the tangles to go into the other filled spaces so that there were a lot of close line work. It‘s kind of unusual for me to select specific tangles and here, I feel like everything worked very well.
Joy. This Zentangle makes me happy every time I see it. I like the balance, and many of the tangles are on my list of favorites. Zentangle drawn on official Zentangle tile using a black Micron pen. Tangles: Beedz Bumper Cadent Emingle Fescu Flora Huggins Marasu Nzeppel Pinwheels Sh-Rock
Zentangle drawn on Official Zentangle Tile using a black, Micron pen. Tangles: Printemps Nzeppel Chillon Munchin Evoke Echoism