Weekly Challenge #136

Congratulations to Laura Harms! This week her cumulative blog views crossed the 1,000,000 milestone. I am not surprised, I know that visiting her blog is on my personal "Must DO" list each week. I do not always post a response to the weekly challenge, but I always stop by the see what creative idea she has posted to inspire the Zentangle community. In fact, there are many weeks that I drop by multiple times to see what other Tanglers are doing with the challenge.

This week Laura posted Weekly Challenge #136  asked us to add color to the typically black and white Zentangle designs. I love color and have enjoyed this challenge. I played with it all week from a variety of perspectives. First, I did some of the traditional black on white ZIA then filled the patterns with color. Next, I used colored pens and made each pattern a different color. Finally, I used some watercolor paint in spray bottles to splash color on the white tiles then tangled on top of the color. As I sit here surrounded by the various ZIA that I created this week I think I am most pleased with the watercolor background pieces so those are the ones that I have selected to share with you.

As always, your feedback is welcome. I learn so much from you and appreciate your comments.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Well, well, well...

I really do enjoy being part of the Zentangle community. Everyone generously shares their art and support. Earlier this week I posted one of my first pieces in response to The Diva's challenge #135. You can see that effort here.  I just wasn't happy with how it turned out and asked other tanglers  for advice.  Fellow Zentanglers shared thoughtful feedback. All week I've taken the posted advice and continued to play with the new tangle "Well." My favorite aspect of the Diva's weekly challenge is seeing the unique ways that each tangler approaches the task. For example, check out this post from A Little Lime. She had the idea to randomize placement of the dots as well as use a freehand approach to the pattern. You can see her steps here. This is my ZIA using the random dot technique. I did not use a string, I also let my work bleed off the edges of the tile.

String Theory

Yes, this response to Challenge #129 should have been posted in July. I traveled three times that month, so July is mostly a blur in my memory. Last night I realized that I never shared my tile. I had a lot of fun with this one. I'm learning to let go of the feeling that I have to fill the entire square---this one is almost full, so I obviously need to continue to work toward that goal. . 

While I'm playing catch-up. Here are three pieces that I did in August.

Tanglers, I need your advice

This week I've accepted Challenge # 135 from the Diva and that is to use the new official tangle "Well" that Rick and Maria announced in their September 3, 2013 newsletter. I really like the tangle, but I am just not getting the results that I want and I am hoping that other tanglers out there will kindly give me some advice.

After practicing the strokes for a long time last night I ended up with this tile. As you can see I do okay on the first few steps of "Well", but when it comes to the final step of closing the loops, or making the petals, things just fall apart for me (see top left corner). Can anyone see where I am getting off track?

I do like the look of the 'half-baked version of "Well," but would still like to be able to follow the steps to complete the pattern.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.