Weekly challenge 156- Curvy Gridlock

I really loved the idea of  this weeks challenge. Straight lines aren't really that big a challenge for me but I really PREFER curvy lines and fewer angles. This week's challenge is to try grid patterns on curved or wavy lines.
I am uploading this one as my challenge, mostly because it's something completely different than my usual... and I wanted a change of pace. :)
Fun, quirky, not my usual style, so it seems like a good fit.

The little puppy is a cartoon that I used to sketch on everything way back in high school. I've always had a soft spot for him and the pawprints were just something I did because I couldn't find a pawlike pattern.

I like it. It was fun.

Sometimes it's not what you expect....

When I came up with the shape for this one, I thought it kind of looked like a flower. As I was tangling the center "petals" they began to look like feathers and it began to look almost like a dreamcatcher... also cool.


Then, as it often does, it took on a life of it's own.

Now, when I look at it, I think it looks like pie,(with maybe mint leaves on top??) which makes me wonder if my subconscious is telling me I'm hungry and should put away the pens and go make dinner! LOL


Either way I do like this one. I used a BUNCH of new patterns in it, so I see lots of areas to improve on, but either way, I  like it.

Just go with it

This one lacks the focus.I just kind of sat and played with it, I didn't make sure it had the same crispness and it was just fun. I struggle with Mooka... I really do, but I like the way the center turned out and I had fun with the bubbles!

Bright Owl Dare- #92 Must use Paradox

Paradox is one of the first tangles I ever learned.. and its' one I really enjoy but actually find challenging.
Instead of printing this one out, I copied it into my sketchbook, no rulers, no straight edges, so I expect that it will have a "softer" feel than many.
(This is a terrible picture but since it was just my "before" I didn't bother to mess with it too much.

I'm not a fan of the paper in this new sketchbook.. so I may need a new one and this one can go to the kids but I'll keep it anyway. I think I'd have liked the overall final product if my pencil hadn't been so smeary on the paper. Quality tools matter!

Parts of this came together so easily but others I really struggled with. My original plan was to use Paradox in the star shapes and when I tried it, it looked... well, just wrong. So that turned into something else then I realized I hadn't used it and tried something different. I think I like it but it's not my favorite, I'll try some of these pieces again in the future though!

Not too bad for a lunchtime project right?

Bright Owl Zentangle Dares

Erin over at The Bright Owl posts weekly dares. Again, I'm jumping in in the middle, but these will be great inspiration for me so I'm determined to do them all. I'm going to jump in and then "backfill" as time allows.


She has them set up where you can transfer the pattern to a tile, print it on a paper or I just use my favorite method which is lightbox it into my sketchbook.


I may actually print her templates though for fast and easy tangling when I need some art inspired zen. :)


She does a great job, there are a lot of amazing artists over there and I could spend all day lost looking at the work everyone else has done, but instead... I'm going to go work on last weeks dare, because she did not post one this week and if I get this done, I'll be "Live" with the rest of the group by next week!


I hope you are enjoying following along with my online sketch book.

Weekly Challenge - 155 White space

So I like to practice these, and I like to think outside my own boundaries so I found 2 blogs that do challenges and zentangle dares.


I'm going to post them here to see what I can do with them. Plus it will encourage me in my "Do something creative" daily (or at the very least weekly) commitment to me.


So with that, I give you my result for Challenge 155 (nothing like jumping in in the middle huh?) from I am the diva which is also my first one I've done from that site. :) I like it. I'm thinking new profile picture!
The challenge was to incorporate white space. I might have broken the rules by outlining it... but I thought it needed it.

And 2 more...

A different feel

Vday Tangle

Projects for 2014

I made a commitment to myself to spend more time creating and less time worrying.
My goal is 3-4 larger pieces a week or a small one per day.


Here are the first 3 from this year.