Zentangles

Boy was I disappointed this Monday when I read that Joey was no longer going the post challenges. But after 222, I understand. I tried to post my thanks to her on her website, but for some reason I am unable to post to any Blogger site. So, Joey, if you read this, thanks for

Joey’s Weekly Tangle Challenge #222 The Challenge: Finish my tile. Start with the pattern Maryhill. Make it front and center. Maryhill begged to be a mandala, so I obliged. The outer ring represents real growth for me as an artist. I have never been able to successfully achieve the effect before.

Joey’s Weekly Tangle Challenge #217 The Challenge: Finish my tile. Start with the pattern Cadent. Make it front and center. This is a plain very traditional Zentangle. But, I am always experimenting. This time I used a page from an old book written in what I assume is Latin as a background and gave the image a

I drew this piece using Inkscape; then added special effects using Photoshop.  I drew it using a black stroke and fill. I then added a gold outer glow and a black shadow. I created the background by blurring a lot of colors together and then giving them a pattern overlay.

You can never go wrong with a mandala. This one uses the patterns: Retro, Jaxs, Abeko, and Disco.

Some design elements, such as the hexagon, are magical. This post uses the tangle Puf and creates several patterns all based on the hexagon.

I was really surprised and pleased by this result. As I was developing the tile, I felt like it just was not working, but something kept telling me to persevere. So I did, and I love the chalky stone-like result.

There are so many things to experiment with. So, for this tile, I thought, why not color? And, I allowed myself to go over the top. The tile uses a simple design, accentuated by the use of bright neon colors.

I am never completely satisfied with my work, but the two tiles presented in this post come close. The second one uses a pattern, named Japanese Fans, which I borrowed from blackwork embroidery. You will want to add it to your collection.

With this tile I experimented with using a gradient background combined with shadows to create an iridescent effect. Notice the pattern that runs through the middle — it is one that I created named Latain.