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! ^_^

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! ^_^

New Tangle: Knightstar (Video!)

I finally managed to make another post! *applause and confetti* ^_^ So, this tangle Knightstar was so named because it kinda looks to me like Knightsbridge got pinched into a bunch of star shapes...I couldn't figure out how to create a nice simple step-by-step on paper, so I decided to try making a video of it. And then I decided to record some actual proper audio over it instead of my usual royalty-free music...

Here it is, in all its dubiously awkward glory ^_^ Please excuse the horrible audio quality. And the fact that I clearly don't know what I'm doing. And the weak attempts at humor. I am so sorry. But I'm too lazy to record it all again.

EDIT: Margaret Bremner (and perhaps some other people I wasn't aware of) mentioned that Knightstar bears an extreme resemblance to Knightspeek, by Donna Lacey, CZT - I do think mine is just different enough in execution and end look to perhaps deserve a separate name, as hers is a single star and mine is constructed from an underlying grid, in individual fragments. Thoughts on this? Either way, thanks to Margaret for bringing this to my attention ^_^

Enjoy and be inspired! ^_^