Diva Challenge 227 - Guest blogger, Lee Darter and 'Circus Life'

Well here is a different challenge! This week's the Diva's guest blogger is Lee Darter, CZT and she has come up with the ingenious idea of using the circus as inspiration. And she picked us some great tangles to put us in the mood.

Tropicana, by Lady Kate Arhens - and if you're reading Kate, hope things are OK with you, sending big hugs - and Cack by Adele Bruno. Two lovely ladies and two lovely tangles as a start. We were then given the option of adding Fescu, Florz or Linq.  I did two this week, though not sure if either are QUITE as circusy as they could be but they were fun to do. It's hot here and just typing is leaving me feeling 'wrung out'. You may notice my heavy shading this week - sweaty hands help the effect!

The first uses Linq and the second, Florz.

This is upside down from the way I drew it, but I like it better this way.
I don't like that my scanner has removed my subtle shading under Florz though....

Bet we have some real fun entries this week. I will be checking them out during the week. Thank you Lee!

Axxx

Diva Challenge 225 - with Katie Crommett CZT and 'Simplicity'

It's funny really, that most people, when they see a tangled tile, assume that it's taken hours and hours of work and is really complicated to do.  I always find it difficult to explain in words that it's not so complicated and many tiles are started and finished well within the hour. So I was pleased to see that this week's guest contributor to the Diva Challenge, Katie Crommett, decided to focus on this aspect of tangling.

She talks about how there is a lot of emphasis these days on simplifying our lives - but the advice is often complex and creates additional work or expense or just stultifies us.

But not Zentangle. I think it is why I love doing it so much. You can just begin anywhere that there's a space for you to sit, with just a pen and a bit of paper (yes, having tiles is better, but it's not an essential when the mood is upon you, is it?) and, breathing out and in, start with that first, always exciting line. Thank you Katie for focusing us on this aspect.

I chose two tangles - possibly the simplest I could think of - Keeko as the border, and a little fat Btljoos - a very simple version too - taking centre stage.
(OK, so my Keeko didn't quite line up, so there's a single Tipple in there too....) And the rest, I left simply white.

And I enjoyed every second of the ten minutes or so that it took me to do.

Diva Challenge and String Thing 100!

Thank you to Jen Crutchfield, guesting  over on the Diva Challenge this week! She suggested we use colour - in fact, she suggested just two or three - in our tangles this week. Like Jen, I am not a great on for colour, never having had artistic inclinations or tendencies before I began tangling. Some people have great experience with colour and it shows in their work - I'm in awe of the effects that some tanglers achieve with colour. I can't do it - I have tried but it doesn't seem to work for me.

However, I have a little technique that I'm quite happy with. I paint a random background, either on paper or a canvas, with some lovely gouache paints that I once bought for my daughter. Then I tangle on top. It's not awfully good for my pens - they get a bit clogged up as I work, but it seems to be only a 'surface' clog and a bit of scribbling on a different surface, and they work fine again. I haven't noticed any lasting damage or problems, in case you wanted to try it yourself.

I was asked recently to a zendala for a friend and she wanted colour, so this week's challenge seemed like the perfect opportunity. I prepared my canvas with a selection of colours - not awfully well represented here by my photo, but they are nice, trust me - and then drew about three concentric circles as a guide for my zendala. The rest is just how the flow took me.

I need some advice though...the canvas was obviously not square so my zendala only 'fits' in the top part. Should I put something else in the bottom part or leave it as it is? And if I put something in the bottom part, what could that be? A smaller zendala...or two...? A 'reflection' of the top part? Some words.....? Any suggestions gratefully received.

And this week also sees Adele Bruno's String Thing challenge reach its 100th anniversary - the Zentennial!! Well done Adele for keeping this lovely challenge going all this time. I love this one as it produces such a variety of tiles, all with the same remit - a string and a selection of tangles.

For this week, Adele came up with a simple but effect string and also a new tangle based on '100' and I enjoyed it so much, I did two.

The first one was done as I watched 'Mad Max - Road to Fury' and I think the rather gothic, steampunk effects somehow penetrated my unconscious as I was drawing.....

And the second one was done as a sort of antidote to the first!

Do check all the entries out when Adele publishes them on her blog early next week.

Thank you for stopping by! Hope you like what you have seen. (Now I can go and see what other lovely tiles have been entered onto the Diva Challenge!)