Wednesday, August 17, 2016

New Tangle/Reticulum: Dreamcatcher

I'm really excited about this one! ^_^

It started with a Traveling Tangles Project with Sabrina Kirjavainen all the way over in Finland, on nail polish - the shape I finished with reminded me of a dreamcatcher.

Tangles used: Sabrina - Sanibelle, Me - Tipple, Locar, Shattuck, Zinger
So I decided to play with a pattern reminiscent of those in traditional dreamcatchers.

Here's my first effort, with a six-sided shape that I treated as a regular expanding-flower pattern and filled a la Suzanne McNeill's Bloom.

Tangles used: Dreamcatcher, Bloom
Second, I tried an 8-sided shape - this worked out best in my opinion and so in the stepout below it's what I start with. I also realized at this point it could work as a reticulum just as well as a filler or floral pattern, and decided to try filling it with Bales.

Tangles used: Dreamcatcher, Bales
Then, of course, I had to try fitting in my own Knightstar - it got really tiny and confusing near the center but I still like the end result. This one started with a four-sided shape.

Tangles used: Dreamcatcher, Knightstar
By this point, I was hooked - Dreamcatcher wormed its way into my second TTP with Sabrina...

Tangles used: Sabrina - Staura, Angeleafe, Tipple Me - Tipple, Shattuck, Springkle, Flux, Angeleaf, Dreamcatcher, Zinger
...Got into my watercolor pencils and turned all blue...

Tangles used: Dreamcatcher, Knighstar, Brax
...And jumped from a white tile to a black ATC! ^_^

Tangles used: Dreamcatcher, Yincut
Here's the stepout. Hopefully it all makes sense. It takes some practice to get it to look all nice and even (and, as you can probably tell, I certainly still need some ^_^) but it's pretty forgiving if used as a reticulum - the dense patterning, especially near the center, disguises wobbly or uneven lines ^_^

...Of course, if you're not a perfectionist like me, I guess that doesn't really matter. ^_^


Enjoy and be inspired! ^_^

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Life is annoying.

Always getting in the way of things I want to do...except not really. I've still been drawing and posting on Mosaic (DanielLamotheCZT24 if you're on the app and want to appreciate me ^_^), but blogging has been...rather neglected amidst tangling, studying for my upcoming PSAT, and volunteering at the library. So here's the last two Diva Challenges for you! ^_^

I was soooooo excited when I saw Laura had chosen my Knightstar as the UMT for August - so excited I didn't get around to actually doing a piece for it until Sunday. Funny how things work, isn't it? Here's my Zendala.
Tangles used: Knightstar, Pop-Cloud, Bales, Arc Flower
It was awesome to look at all the challenge responses and see how everyone used Knightstar - I was a bit surprised at all the people talking about what a challenge it was until I sat down to do it one of my myriad sketchbooks and ended up with a horrible abomination...^_^ Of particular interest was Stephanie Jennifer's alternate stepout, which I ended up using on this tile. It lacks the cool factor of "I'm using straight lines to make curves" but gives an overall similar effect and is easier to keep even.

And here's my duotangle of Auraknot and Meer, done in another one of my sketchbooks - I think I have at least 20 sketchbooks/sketchpads in my possession at the moment, although I'm planning to give away a bunch of the ones I don't use. This was super fun and simple, especially the shading. ^_^

Tangles used: Auraknot, Meer (duh)
Enjoy and be inspired! ^_^