Yet another Tangled Abstract

It has been a long night tonight, but just not able to sleep. So here I am catching up on my posts. I have a new drawing I just finished this evening that I woud like to share. It is another 18 x 24 inch Abstract tangle...what a shock, right? Well, I just can't seem to get enough of it! And I really love the larger format and mixed media. It is a great way to practice and try some new things. This one is very colorful and called "Dragonfly Summer". I hope you like it! So far it is my favorite...

The pic is just a bit blurry. I will try to retake it and post a new one soon. Please let me know what you think in the comments below. I love constructive critism and honest critiques...just be nice, okay?!!

Don't sit still...you may get tangled!

Here I am, tangling anything that doesn't move. I just finished these just in time for Kiley to wear to her Spring Program at school. The theme was bugs and spring...I think we have that covered! It is hard to see, but there is a snail marching across the toe of the shoe and flowers galore! She absolutely loved them and insisted putting them on at once. So glad to make her smile.

Speaking of tangling anything that doesn't move....I tangled a rock! Yes, that's right, a rock! It had the most interesting lines in it that just screamed for me to do it! I just followed the natural lines and came up with a really cool tree. What can I say, we were camping and I had a few hours to kill! My husband loves it! Below you can see the rock in it's original state. Notice the lines? The second pic is where I outlined the lines of the tree. Also, it has its own natural base! How cool is that?!!

Second St. John's Abstract completed

       I finished my second St. John's abstract tangle last month. I am just now getting around to post it. This one was even more fun and time consuming than the last! As you can see, I was still going by the color wheel for these. This one is done using the colors of red,orange and yellow. The red actually came out a dark pink color that really worked well. Again, this is not an exact replica of St. John's but my version of an abstract. This is the east side of the building where there is a nice block wall edging the buildings ground area. From where I stood looking at the building, there was a tree blocking part of the building right smack in the middle! I obviously omitted it as it blocked too much of it! Too bad, though, it was a real nice looking tree.
       This is an 18x32 size picture done using watercolor pencils, graphic markers and sukura black ink pens. The words "faith, hope, celebrate and create" are written within the border.

My very first tangle drawing...

Hi there! I was going through some of my pictures on the computer and came across this one. This is the very first tangle drawing I did. I was feeling a bit funky when I did this one, but don't take it too seriously. This where I got hooked on tangling. Since then I have been trying to tangle anything that doesn't move!

Which brings us to this next picture...my first pair of tangled shoes! This was so much fun and very addictive. I am currently finishing a pair for my granddaughter, Kiley and have two more pair waiting for me. It doesn't take too long to do these, only a couple of days if you know what you want design wise. I hope to do some slip ons too eventually. I am thinking of doing a pair for my mother-in-law with tree frogs and a pair for my mom with daisies and ladybugs. How cute is that?!!

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter and Good Friday! The drawing above is one I finshed earlier this evening. It is a gift for my Mom for Easter. It is an 11" x 14" and I will be framing this before I give it to her on Sunday. I hope she likes it. The coloring is done using neon gel pens and colored pencils along with the Micron pens for the black. The color you see here is a bit dark, the original looks bright and sunny like a colored easter egg!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend with family and friends. I know that I will especially since my husband will be off work all weekend!!! Hooray!

So being sick off and on throughout the month of March has really put me behind on my blog. I also started an Algebra class that has really given my brain a work out! But it is almost over now and so far I am passing! Yea, me!!! Well, about these drawings I am posting. This is the black and white and the final framed color version of my St. John's Hospital tangled drawings. Most of the patterns here are from Rick and Maria's Zentangle (R) patterns! I absolutely love all their creations, books and Sukura products. Believe me when I say that I have a lot of them!

This is a 18" x 32" Abstract on Strathmore MixedMedia 140 lb. vellum finish paper. The color is done using watercolor pencils and a waterbrush. The black lines are done using Sakura's many Micron pens. This was inspired due to the May 22, 2011 F5 tornado that ripped through our town of Joplin, Missouri. The hospital was completely destroyed and many souls were lost or injured as well as throughout the town. 163 total I believe is the count. So devastating and sad. My Mom was in her apartment building behind St. John's on the second floor. We were so blessed that she and all the other tenants were unharmed, though the building was severly damaged.

This is my first try at using watercolor. I have to say that I really love the pencils and water brush. They are totally portable and easy to use. I can not wait to start my next project with them. I may do a second St. John's Abstract from a different view. This one was done using variations of the colors blue, green and yellow. I think the next one will be on the other side of the color wheel, using red, purple and orange!

Please feel free to comment. I would love to hear your opinions and suggestions (please be kind).

Being sick since last Friday really sucks! Because of it, I haven't been doing much art lately. Just to much going on I guess. But I wanted to submit a new piece that I tried something new with. I am not totally happy with the outcome, but it was a great learning experience. For one thing, I learned that if you want to put a wash of color on your art....don't use PERMANENT markers for the color! Duh!!! I learned that you can put a nice wash of mixed color on your tangle by taking a sheet of plastic (I used my cutting board plastic for this one) that is slightly larger than the paper. Color the sheet with WASHABLE markers here and there where you want the color wash to be. Spritz it lightly with water and place the drawing face down on the sheet. Kinda swish it around if you like to get the color mingling with one another and pull the paper up. You can let the wet color drip down for more color tones and effects if you like or you can spritz the paper and spread the color out more for a lighter tone. Here is my tip: I first tried this with graphic markers not realizing that they are in fact permanent markers which dry very quickly. When I was done coloring the plastic, I realized that all I had accomplished was making a very colorful sheet of plastic!!! The water would not mix with the marker at all!!! Go figure. I then switched to my daughters Crayola washable markers, which worked much better...again...DUH! I think I will practice some more with this technique, trying different effects and darks vs. lights. You can also go in after the paper is dry and add more color with pencils, markers or whatever! (I found this idea in one of my Tangled books called "Time to Tangle with Color" by Marie Browning. This is an awesome book you can get through Amazon!)


This is my Tree house Tangle called "The best Day Ever!" I did this one on a 11" x 14" Bristol paper. I would not recommend this paper if you will be wiping the color any because the coating does come off and the black lines of the tangle do lighten up quite a bit. The next one I do will on a mixed media paper, also so that I can add some watercolor colors as well as some oil pastels. Keep watching for that one! It will turn out great I am sure...yeah right!!!

I finally started to shade and color my tangles. This is first one I have tried. What do you think? I really want to do some larger work, like 9x12 and larger! Going to need to practice some more first though I think.

Zen Art Journaling!

I have discovered Zentangle drawings. They say these are great for meditation. I only know that I have been doing these for about two weeks now and I am addicted!!!! The first one above is one I finished last night and I call it "Sarong". This is a relaxing way to draw that you can take anywhere with you. I took my journal and a couple of pens to the shooting range while my husband tried out a new to him rifle. I just wore my ear protectors!!!!