Splotch Monster Book Page 3

Zentangle Inspired

As far as I know one of the rules of drawing zentangles is to start with a string. I often don't follow that rule and just start drawing patterns and see where that leads me. This is one of those rare ones that did start with a random string. It was supposed to be just an abstract experiment with different sizes of tangle Groovy. Somehow, I ended up with something that looks like a dog head to me. I didn't even notice it until it was finished. Coincidence or not, I like it.

What do you say? Does it look like anything familiar to you?

Diva's Challenge #68

This week Diva's Challenge is "DuoTangle v.IV: Hybrid/Strircles" and as I mentioned in a previous post, my first attempt to create it ended up a failure since I didn't follow the rules. I chose to work on an atc sized paper, which is only 3.5x2.5" and that's presented an additional challenge. It turned out like this:

I don't know what to think of it. I both like it and don't like it, if that makes any sense.

I am looking forward to seeing what other participants did with this challenge. It's a really good one.

Diva's Challenge #68 - Almost

I love to read fiction. Non fiction and instructions - not so much. That's how I missed the rules of the Diva's Challenge for this week. I made this:

But just as I was going to post it, I gave the text a better look and realized I didn't follow the rules. The rules say only two tangles, nothing else. I thought it meant mix the two tangles into one. Obviously, this is totally out of the question for the challenge. Meh, serves me right for not reading carefully. I'll give it another shot tomorrow.

Regardless of the challenge, though, I do like how it turned out.

Diva's Challenge #66

Diva's Challenge this week is Auras. I worked on a postcard sized paper with pens of various sizes. The whole thing is one big set of auras and then I added smaller auras to certain elements. I think it fits the topic and I am happy with the final result, the look, shading and all.

Cat Fest

I am still playing around with cats. These are the latest four:

Variation #3

Another take on the theme I've been following in the last few days.

Zentangle Inspired

Since I enjoyed making the zentangle inspired creation yesterday so much I made another one today. I used the same tangles with a few omitted. This time I made the pattern elements and surfaces be larger. 

I really like how it turned out. I think I'll make another one tomorrow.

Exploring Totally Tangled

As I mentioned several times before I have recently bought Totally Tangled by Sandi Steen Bartholomew. Pages 6 and 7 offer an example and invite the reader to make a creation in a similar fashion. I did just that. I used all the tangles from the example in the book, plus the cool boss tangle (the pattern that resembles a bunch of sunflower seeds) I learned recently.

This is the result before shading:

and after shading:

Even though  think I overdid the shades, especially on pearls, I am happy with the final result. Having the book to guide me makes a huge difference. Even though I am not new to drawing and painting I am learning a  great deal of new things from Totally Tangled.

A Splotch Monster

I am a big fan of Steve's splotch monsters. A long time ago I tried my hand at making one of those, but without much success. After viewing many of Steve's creations over the last few days I decided to give it another go. What a fun, fun creative exercise. Here's what I got in the end:

 I loved it and already have a couple more splotches drying out for future monsters. I forgot to scan the initial splotch. Will do the next time.

Diva's Challenge #64 - Fortuneteller

This week Diva's Challenge is to work with a given string which is basically the work surface divided into 8 equal triangles all touching in the center. It's easy to get this, just draw horizontal line through the center, vertical line through the center and both diagonals and there you go.

I had a long day so I didn't have the energy to think of and do anything fancy, so I grabbed my copy of Totally Tangled and decided to just practice a few different tangles from the book. I made a few mistakes, but I just went on. As always, point is not to do perfectly, but to enjoy the process of creating something. It turned out like this:

Looking at this I had an idea for a similar but simpler and possibly more effective take on the challenge. So I made this:

The tangle in the background is called buttercup. I really like it. It's from the book. Oh and did I mention that the book is awesome. It really is.

Thanks, Diva, for another wonderful challenge.

Time For Peace

More ATCs, all centered around peace signs.

Flower Power

Peaceful

Peace Is Happiness

ATCs

I am working on creating a few ATCs and still learning and practicing tangles. The latest creations are below.

I Will Catch You:

Learning the Ropes:

Diva's Weekly Challenge

This morning while exploring the world of tangles I ran into I Am the Diva blog and it's Weekly Challenge. The idea behind the challenge is to create something using a given tangle. This was perfect for me as I've been doing exactly what the challenge is made for - exploring and learning to draw various tangles.

The inspiration tangle this time is golven. I incorporated it into a postcard sized abstract. There is no special theme to it. The whole point was for me to try out different patterns and learn. Here it is:

See where it is? Up, the first horizontal thread. I like golven. It's easy to do and relaxing. I'll definitely use it again.

Overall I am happy with this card. I messed up some of the patterns, but managed to transform most of the mistakes into different patterns. The Celtic knot went wrong towards the right side. I didn't find a way to fix it, but I don't mind, it's not that noticeable, and even if it is, meh, I wasn't going for perfect anyway.