Letters Challenge Aquafleur

February's Challenge (Number 23) for the Chocolate Baroque Zentangle Group is to create a tile or ZIA (|Zentangle Inspired Artwork) using a string based upon any letter or letters of the alphabet.

To make my string I took some chipboard letters, arranged them on my tile, drew round them & then fattened the letters to make them chunky & rounded.

The recently released instructions for Aquafleur were in my mind so I though I'd see how that fitted into my letters & did some rough sketches whilst becoming familiar with the pattern. I was rather pleased with the results so went ahead with that idea then inserted some blue veining using a blue Pigma Micron pen.

tangles: Aquafleur, Sez

I'm still experimenting with shading techniques. I've come to the conclusion that I like using coloured pencils but just in a limited colour palette & blending with a dry paper stump which avoids any risk of a solvent interacting with the pen work already laid down.

You may prefer to skip this paragraph if you're not interested in the subtle differences between wax-based & oil-based colour pencils. I had intended to put down only one layer of colour but found that I wanted to experiment with adding darker tones & was quite thrilled with the resultant depth that I found emerging. I was using the Derwent Coloursoft wax-based pencils on W H Smith 220gsm white cardstock (this has a good tooth for pencils & doesn't bleed when the Pigma Micron Pens are used plus it is easily obtainable throughout England & Wales). I know that wax-based pencils have a tendency to bind when layered heavily but I was surprised to find them doing so after just applying a couple of layers, plus I was taken aback by how quickly they gave off debris & became blunt. I do love the vibrancy of the Coloursoft colours but next time I'll use the Faber-Castell oil-based pencils when I'm layering for I know they have none of the above disadvantages regardless of the substrate they are used on. Neither pencil is superior to the other, it is really a matter of preference & will vary in degree according to what substrate is being used.

I also like tangling to the very edge of my 3½ inch square tile & making a ZIA by mounting it on black cardstock.

It's not often that I manage to join in with The Diva's Challenge but as this week (Challenge #152) her brief is to use the tangle Aquafleur I'm adding my name to the list of participants.