Zentangle - Part Two

I don't normally post twice in one week, but this tangle 'stuff' is such fun - here is something to try.

You need to know that I love reading manuals and instructions. Yes, I am one of those who really do read the manual in a new car, read the directions to put things together and save all the manuals for reference later on.  Knowing that, you can imagine me pouring over the zentangle book and intensely viewing the instructional videos.

I have a sketch pad next to me and follow the step by step directions. Sometimes my finished drawing even looks like the picture! One of the things that I discovered is that some of the coolest looking patterns are sooo easy.

Try this: make a grid  - any size - with filled in small circles. Remember, they do NOT have to be PERFECT!

Then draw a curved line from the top circle to the one below it. Think of it as being on the "outside."

Add the next curved line on the 'inside."

Finish up the row - outside then inside . . .

Begin the second row as shown.

And then connect all the remaining rows.
Now turn your paper 90 degrees and begin again. Starting at the upper left corner . . .outside . . . and then inside.

Keep going and VOILA - you have completed the pattern! Cool, huh?

For extra challenge and satisfaction - try shading and a watercolor wash!

Of course, there will be more coming. This is too much fun to stop now! 

What's a Zentangle?

Several months ago I ran into this strange word - "Zentangle." Well, it seems that it is a word that some folks coined that really has to do with 'art doodling.' Remember all those doodles that you did on the side of a page when you are on the phone or supposedly listening to a lecture? You sort of zoned out when you should have been paying attention?

That drawing was a bit of a 'tangle' - the zoning out, I think, adds the 'zen.'

Having seen a few examples of zentangles, I decided to explore it further and discovered a whole new world of YouTube videos and other resources. Apparently, there are 100's of tangle patterns and lots of ways to draw and use them. They also say - get this - there are no mistakes in zentangle! If you mess up on a pattern, just go on and make it into something else. Anybody can do it! Now, that's encouraging, isn't it?

Most of the directions begin with white paper (or a tile) and black ink. I practiced a few patterns with an ink pen and a pencil for shading. And, yes, I found myself 'zoning out' as I was drawing!

  

However, I really missed color, so I tried using watercolor washes on the patterns.

  

Once you begin playing with single patterns, then you have to start using various patterns together!
Here's my first attempt. Obviously, I used different patterns from these two examples.

Lots of squiggles and repetitions - and some watercolor!

Since this little bit of tangle, I have been practicing lots of patterns - more on my next post. Don't want to spoil all the upcoming surprises. Give it a try - remember, you can't do it wrong!

Paint it again, Jo

Last July and August I posted about my process of painting the little boy on the dock with a crab. "The Escapee" See posts - 7/19/13 and 8/7/13.

I had begun with a watercolor underpainting and then played with my pastels. I set it aside because I knew there was something wrong with it and felt stuck. I finally figured out what it was and finished the painting in time for an art show in August.

Well, Fall quickly slipped by and suddenly I was feeling pressure to come up with an idea for my 2014 banner.

For the past several years I've been displaying crabs - some holding various flags, some cartoon-like holding a mug of beer or hanging lanterns in the trees. A friend of mine has nick-named my crabs "Mikey" - I think that's because we display our banners in St Michaels. Every year she asks me, "What is Mikey going to be doing this year?" (If you really are interested you can look at older posts - 5/13/11, 2/27/12, 2/6/13 - but, that seems like a lot of work, doesn't it?)

Back to 2014 - all the banner artwork needs to be 18x18 square format. I was trying to get some 'crabby' ideas and then thought of 'The Escapee." I decided to repaint it in the required size.

It is challenging for me to re-paint something . . . and to change the shape from vertical to square. But, what the heck . . . it was worth a try. I finished this up at the end of December and it is ready to go to the judging the first week of February.

As it turns out - it was fun doing it again. I feel like I really know this little boy now.

Look for "Don't Let 'Im Get Away" (yes, I changed the title) hanging on a pole along Talbot Street sometime in April.

Thought for a New Year

Last September a friend asked me to think about something... she wanted to give her husband a special gift for Christmas. Her husband, Howard, was very fond of a certain reading - would I consider painting something to illustrate it? They were taking a trip for a few weeks and we could talk about it more when they returned.

I asked Susan to send me the reading before they left so I could ponder it...

"Let us see to it that we so hold our cups as that their overflowing may not run to waste, but may drop into other cups, the cups of those that have not so much as we have. 

                                                                                The Shepherd Psalm

                                                                                 

Now, here is a challenge for me. I have not done anything like this before. But, I do love the challenge and I know that is how I learn...so I began to do some sketches. I had different people hold cups and took pictures from several angles. We used different size cups - some with handles, some without. I went on line and looked at a LOT of images from coffee cups to begging bowls.

I finally figured out that I needed to use the words of the Psalm along with images - so, how would I do that? I do not have a talent for calligraphy...  Did you know that you can put watercolor paper through your printer??? Yes! That works.

I worked on spacing the phrases in different ways - I knew I did not want all the words together.

So, in October when Susan got back from their trip, she and I began emailing sketches back and forth. How many cups? How to position them? What colors? She gave me artistic license... and it was finished. I gave it to her to be framed.

Now, the funny thing about all this is that in the mean time (while we were being so sneaky secretive about all this) Howard is sharing the psalm with various groups - House Church, our cathedral congregation....and probably others that we didn't even know about. The psalm kept popping up. Susan and I worked very hard biting our tongues, giving each other knowing looks...working at not giving away the surprise.

Christmas morning Howard opened his gift ... of course, he loved it. Who couldn't treasure such a gift of love?  Thanks Susan, for letting me share in your present.

Sorry, it's not the best photo, but the sentiments of the psalm are a wonderful way to begin 2014. Happy New Year!

The second day of Christmas

You all know the saying, "It feels like the day after Christmas." Well, today I am working on changing that feeling of 'slump-ness' to one of joy.

No, I am NOT rushing out to capture the bargains offered in every store - not that kind of joy. I'm working on snuggling in to that warm, cozy feeling of having connected with family and friends. I am still listening to Christmas music and anticipating seeing more family this coming weekend on the 4th day of Christmas.

We will have guests for New Years on the 7th and 8th days of Christmas - we do not expect swans a-swimming or maids a-milking this year.

I do expect to carry this warm Christmas spirit with me and treasure this season. And on that note, I post our Christmas card on this 2nd day of Christmas.

I painted this watercolor a few years ago when I was experimenting with painting trees using a natural sponge. Dipping the damp sponge in a puddle of color and dapping it on the paper was lots of fun and I think creates a great tree!

May we all carry the spirit of this season through the year - not just until we get to those 12 drummers drumming!

The other one...

Last week I posted one of the paintings I had been commissioned to do. After I finished it, I found out more about the children I have been painting.  It turns out that they are not grandchildren, but are actually great-grandchildren! I think that makes it even more special.

This week I finished the other painting and took them both to show the proud great-grandmother.

The original photograph for this painting showed Abby in a field of sunflowers. She was looking up, but not actually at a flower and the flowers were a little farther away. The wonderful thing about painting is that I can move things around where I think they look best. I guess digital photo experts can do that, too. But, painters frequently 'improve' a scene by choosing what to include (and what to leave out!)

So, I moved the largest sunflower up a bit and closer to her. Here is the underpainting:

I couldn't wait to get started so I began with Abby... I did a little work on the flower and left the soft watercolor area in the center alone for awhile.

I knew I needed something to connect Abby with the flower, so I began suggesting some leaves and tried just to play with the color.

It still looks very sketchy so I began adding more definition to the leaves and some smaller, undefined flowers above her head. I really didn't want your eye to go away from the two foci, but they need to be connected somehow.

Well, I felt like I was getting closer, so I took it to class and asked for a consultation. Many helpful suggestions - including "add some darks; more definition on the flowers in the distance; work on the line that defines her head, neck and shoulders..."

Voila! I love consultations! They get me out of my head and allow me to see with other eyes. I think this works now and Abby's great-grandmother says, "Frame them!"

She will be surprising the family with the paintings, but told me I could post them beforehand.  So, shhh, if you know these children, don't give the secret away.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

You Never Know...

It's been a busy Fall. Not only have I been painting for the SMAL library exhibits, but I have also been asked to paint three paintings for others ...and get paid to do it! Now, this is new for me. It NEVER occurred to me when I began painting for pleasure about 10 years ago, that someday, I would be painting ...and getting paid.

Interestingly, whenever I have sold a painting it has always seemed like a fluke - a surprise that someone would actually want to hang one of my paintings on their wall. I have painted a lot of grandchildren paintings and it's been fun to give them to their families...after I have used them in exhibits.

And that brings me to what happened in September. My husband, George, was giving a book talk (he has recently published a book of essays on the Chesapeake Bay). After his talk one of the attendees came up to me and said she had seen my paintings on display at the St MIchaels Library and she would like to send me some pictures of her grandchildren. Would I take a look at them and see if I could paint them for her!

She emailed the pictures to me ...and I sat with them...  I wondered if I really could do this. I have heard friends talk about how hard commissions can be - it's sometimes very difficult to capture what people think they want.

I finally got to work on them and today I finished the first one. I emailed the image to the grandmother and am waiting to hear how she likes it...

This is the watercolor underpainting

This is the finished painting

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she likes it as much as I do... you never know!