Aquarium. Even though there was little free liquid on this planet, it was the home to the Celestial Aquarium. Her crew had just brought in a new specimen for display. As they completed the delivery, she decided to take advantage of the situation and walked off to see all the creatures from this part of the cosmos for herself. Some were so odd, she didn’t even recognize them as life forms. She enjoyed guessing which thing in the tank was actually alive.
“Just as the sun rose over the landscape, shards of yellow penetrated the deep blue water to reveal life beneath the sea. Tentacles of deep green seaweed danced to the music of the current. In the deepest depths of the water, life was awakened with the bright morning sun. Creatures of the sea revealed their secrets.” - Jo Flaherty Jo posted this as a challenge on the ZIA Tips, Tricks and Techniques Group on Facebook. I decided to begin by creating a fairly standard Zentangle, using just a few of my favorite “aquarium” tangles.
Garden view. When I looked out of the window, I realized that all of the plants were bare stems and pods because of the hot days of Summer! Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil. Tangles: Huggins Sedgling Squid
Busy. This tile is from a time when I used complicated strings and lots of tangles. But I think there are some interesting things here, that I‘ve further developed. For example, allowing one tangle to flow behind another. I also followed the string from the Cubine into the Striping. Now days, those concepts are used often when Zentangling, and are specifically taught in classes, tutorials and books! Zentangle drawn on Official Zentangle tile using a black, Micron pen.
Squid inked. The Squid tangle is the central motif in this tile, but some of the other tangles hold their own because of their light/dark balance. Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Tangles: Bales Cubine Fescu Indy-Rella Squid Static Stoic Vermal