Saturday 1 February 2014

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.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

I really like what you have done with this. Very lovely.

Chrissie said...

This is really nice, you wouldn't think that there was a string of letters to start with. Great idea.

Paper Creations by Shirley said...

Beautiful artwork Paula, I really like the blue shading. It's interesting how you created the string. Have a great weekend, Shirleyx

jackiescrafts said...

This is a great tangle Paula
Enjoy what is left of the weekend
Jackie x

Anonymous said...

Interesting way to start a string, and I love the blue that you added!

Robin said...

It's so pretty. I love the contrast between the Aquafleur and the background. And the blue is lovely.

Tangles and More said...

The color really makes your Aguafleur stand out. Like the background you chose also. It is a nice contrast.

Anne's tangle blog said...

Like Donald, I like the backgroudn a lot. Aquafleur in blue is beautiful. I also like the small aura's around it.

Alice said...

this turned out great, paula! and i even like the paragraph about pencils :) the blues are really beautiful next to the stark black and white - lovely work!

Anonymous said...

That looks great, your blending is fab.

brenda said...

I missed this Saturday Paula, but better late than never as they say I guess.

The blue really is very striking and the way the centre swirls reflects the black tangling in the backgruond.

B x

Arnoldo L. Romero, MLA said...

WOW!!! I love the organic feel that the letters took. There's a feeling of movements, so they look almost like blossoming flowers. Your limited use of color really sets the letter forms out too. Blessings!

GinaA said...

My favorite colours Paula, so like the way you have used Aquafleur and having Sez as a background was inspired. I have not tried either of these so will need to use them sometime.
I have an Idea for a tile so hope to join in with the challenge soon.

Hugs
GinaA xx