Monday 15 October 2012

MCC All About Zentangle - Wk 3

Links: MCC (My Creative Classroom), Marie Browning

I have quite a few projects from the third week of the course when Marie introduced various ways of adding colour to tangles. Since there are too many to post at once I thought I’d post my final piece of artwork for that week first. It was actually supposed to be a Zentangle Inspired scrapbook page – I adapted the exercise somewhat & started by drawing & colouring the butterfly as my focal image & then constructed the rest around it – much the same as if I’d used a photograph for the focal image.


This has taken the best part of a week to draw, colour & assemble with plenty of learning experiences along the way as I’m not a person who can draw by instinct/naturally. 

Prior to this course I’ve not used Tombow pens & I discovered as I was initially trying to work on my favourite Winsor & Newton Cotman 190gsm Cold Pressed/NOT Grain Fin watercolour paper that the Tombows refuse to blend out smoothly when direct to paper watercolouring - a very visible hard line remains. On an earlier exercise where I’d not been shaping elements I’d used the more robust Daler-Rowney Langton 300gsm Hot Pressed Extra Smooth watercolour paper without the hard lines so I had to conclude that the different watercolour papers were having an impact upon the blendability.

The thick hot pressed paper doesn’t really respond very well to a ball tool for shaping but I eventually managed to shape my butterfly & petals without creasing by gently rounding them over several sizes of glue bottles & pencils.



angled view showing dimension of flower & butterfly
close-up showing detail & glittering of butterfly 
close-up showing lettering, bee & caterpillar

The project was drawn by hand using Sakura Pigma Micron Pens 01 & 05 onto a 9¾ x 7 inches piece of the Langton hot pressed watercolour paper & watercoloured with the Tombow markers using the direct to paper method. The butterfly’s body has been glittered using Stickles glitter glue & shaped as above.

14 comments:

brenda said...

This one is a real treat for the eye Paula, what wonderful talent you displayed on this lovely piece.

B x

Aquarius said...

Wow Paula this is wonderful and for someone who 'doesn't draw' this is an excellent result. There are so many lovely elements in this and the colours are vibrant. I think the border just seems to finish it nicely. Great stuff!!

Gill said...

Wow Paula, another triumph. You just go from strength to strength!
gILL X

Sandra said...

A beautiful piece Paula.
Sandra

Sally H said...

It is stunning, Paula! I can see there is a huge amount of work in it, and I love it!

Miranda said...

Hi Paula, this is gorgeous, lots to see and all beautiful coloured! It's great to see how you progress with tangling, really beautiful! I wish I had more time to tangle but I can hardly keep up with reacting on all the blog messages......
Before I know I spend to much time behind the pc and that comes at the expense of my creative process.

hope you are ok, warm greet Miranda

jackiescrafts said...

Wow Paula this is stunning, I love the butterfly and the dimension you have achieved . Your colouring is wonderful I really like the brightness of this piece

Jackie x

GinaA said...

The artwork on this piece is just superb Paula, your colour shading and choice of patterns for the butterfly and those stunning flowers is gorgeous and I love the way your eye is drawn from one piece to the next, with those lovely details like the bee and caterpillar along the way. Using text to make those fronds is just brilliant and your tiny ant is great. I am sure you must have signed it somewhere but I can't spot it. A very pleasing, harmonious project , well worth all of the effort.

Barb said...

Luv, luv, luv the vivid colors and design!!

Elizabeth Allan said...

Paula your adventures in Zentangle have been heavenly to see and watch over the past several weeks. Just when I think one of your posts is my favorite, I find another stunning post to greet me. Spectacular drawing and the color is amazing!

Elaine said...

Paula, I am truly amazed at you incredible progress tangling. This is gorgeous, so vibrant and pretty, and not at all what I expect from tangling, you are really opening my eyes. I love those insect elements! Elaine x

Annie said...

wow Paula, how fabulous is this! I love the mix of cool colours and the sparkly bits too.
hugs, annie x

xxxtglxxx said...

Now this is pretty! Love the border with the drop down green swirly things and the vibrant colours really make this outstanding :)

Pretty shapes, shades and your balance is perfect.

hugs

xxalisonxx

Cathy A said...

Paula the addition of colour to your zen tangle adds a whole new dimension, this looks amazing it just bursts with life!