A Book Review, a Challenge, and a Book Question

This week, the Diva challenged us to create a Zentangle using pointillism style. In pointillism, the art is done using only dots.  In a similar way, stippling is a technique for creating depth and texture using only dots.  When I was writing Made in the Shade, I learned a lot about stippling and found it creates an interesting and beautiful effect.  

I had forgotten about this technique until I had time this weekend to delve into my copy of Written by four talented CZTs, this book will inspire you to step out of your comfort zone and try some new techniques. Norma Burnell, whose popular Fairy Tangles, is the artist whose use of stippling in her delicate, organic tangles inspired me to use stippling in this piece destined for my new book.

It also uses her lovely tangle Dragonair and a new one called Pubfleur which you will see more of in my book. Besides Norma's beautiful fairies and flowers, the Art of Zentangle includes four fun and funky projects by Penny Raille. If you want to "lighten up" your art, you'll love these whimsical projects. Lara Williams shows two different ZIA projects and gives advice on creating strings. I've heard students complain about not knowing what to use for a string. Lara provides practical advice on that.

Finally, Margaret Bremner shares her expertise on Zendalas. Her stunning art alone is worth the price of the book!

This is a nicely designed, sturdy book meant with plenty of room to practice right in the book. It is a worthy addition to any tangler's library and a great book to have on vacation. All you need is this book and a pen and you're ready for hours of enjoyment.

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One thing about stippling/pointillism is that it can take a lot of time. Since I don't have a lot of that right now, I decided for Laura's challenge, I would use a pen with a much larger nib than I usually use. Bigger points = less time stippling. Despite this shortcut, I like how this one turned out. The background tangle is one that my daughter developed for the new book. She based it on the windows of our church, Seton Parish, so the tangle is called Seton It is similar to several other tangles, but I haven't been able to find out exactly like it.

All of that stippling reminded me of a quilt I made many years ago. That one was stippled by hand using a needle and thread and had a pretty flower center, so I felt like the tile needed something flowery also. That is why I added mooka and flux to what was supposed to be a monotangle.

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So, you've had a very small sneak peak of the new book. This book will feature 52 different tangles and show you 6 different ways to do each of them. That's enough for a bit of tangling every day, but also enough time to really get to know each of the 52 tangles. I hope to encourage people to experiment with tangles they know and love and use their own creativity to adapt them to their own style. Right now, we're considering 2 different titles for this book. If you want to see what they are and have a chance of winning a free copy, take this quick (3-question) survey.

One Zentangle a Day - Day 34 PLUS the Diva Star Challenge

I feel like I am constantly apologizing for sending the OZAD late, but in this case, I think you will agree it was worth the wait, since I just got Sonya's magnificent Zendalas.  She was with me yesterday when a fox got after our chickens and helped us round them up before they were all eaten.  We lost 4, but it could have been so much worse.  After that, I was just too sad to blog.  

And, since the Diva challenge was to use stars, I thought it quite appropriate to combine the two since these very geometric Zendalas are star-like.  At least mine is.

First, here is my star for the Diva Challenge.  

 

I received it in my goodie bag at Retreat to Paradise. My first thought was to trace it for a pattern.  Duh.  It was meant to be tangled, so I did.  I think it would have been nicer if I painted it first.  Live and learn.  It was a lot harder to tangle on the slopes than I had anticipated.  Not sure I would do this again, even though I like how it turned out. Here it is after using a white charcoal pencil on the flux.

Now, on to the good stuff. Day 34 of One Zentangle a Day has us tangling a very geometric Zendala.  As was the case yesterday, since I am reading on a Kindle, I could not just copy the template.  I did try to recreate it using Genevieve's stencils, but got off on a different direction somewhere in the middle.  

See, an 8-pointed star.  It's not quite done since I haven't shaded it yet, but I think it is pretty nice as is.

Now, in order I received them, are the rest of the participants' lovely work.

First, from Ellen Gozeling:

Day 34. Another Zendala. Love them! And I did 3 again. Black and white, one with cool colors and one with warm colors. Love the first 2 the best. The black/white was not to my liking before the shading. It was bland and the patterns looked too much alike. With the shading the patterns stand out from each other. Better!

 

 

Maria Vennekens writes:

 

At first I made day 34 as always in my calendar using a self designed angular pattern to work in . Although it came out rather satisfying , I also decided to transfer Genevieve’s pattern to a Zendala tile and do that also. Because I did not copy very precise and also used round looking patterns it came out very organic looking.

 

As you surely expected I did not do the color version.

And finally, from Sonya Yencer, lots of lovely work:

Even after my first submission for Day 33, I decided to give this string a try even though I definitely didn't like it. When transferring the string from the book to the Zendala, I realized why I didn't like it. The "petals" that radiate around are organic, but the center is very geometric. IMO, there was a distinct disconnect between the 2. For me, in order to move forward, the solution was simple - I changed the string on the center. While I was at it, I decided to do everything off-center, and repeat the string for more of a fabric design feel. Then I was excited about it and moved forward quickly, using a core group of tangles but changing their position so it wasn't just the same thing on each "flower". Very pleased with the flow. Happiest with the center of the full "flower"!

{Love this off-center repeat.  Cool idea}

Day 34:

Today's string was *so* geometric that I decided it would be challenging to see what I could do to make the final product organic. It wasn't in the instructions, but it was fun and I'm pleased with the resulting Zendala.

 

For the first time I decided to try the color exercise. Too many colors would distract from the penmanship (which is what I love about this type of art) so the palettes are simple. I am happiest with the teal, green and yellow. I'd be curious to know what others think of this!

{I was lucky enough to see this in person.  Can you believe it actually looks better in person?!?!?}

 

 

 

I really cannot make up my mind which I like the best. I love them all.