It has been a while since I last did anything in the way of art so just to get my little grey cells thinking creatively again I got out an old art journal, that I hadn’t filled, and randomly put down some colour for the background across 2 pages. Next, I doodled about with some black lines and filled some areas in. It was way too black so I brightened it up with white dots and just had a play. It isn’t quite zentangle but it was fun to do and a good way to get me back into doing some art.
I did try to make this zentangle pattern random but it is very difficult not to end up making a pattern, not that it would have mattered in the slightest. I shaded in the wide areas rather than the pointy areas just to get a different look. The photo is taken from above and it looks curved because my card wouldn’t lie flat. Instead of black and white I might do this one again in colour next time.
This double page was inspired by microbes and zentangle. It is all so often the tiniest things that matter the most. I love doodling these kind of things. It was created using mainly watercolour pencils, inktense pencils, water soluble graphite and a black Pitt pen.
I caught a little bit of zentangle on a TV show a few weeks back (I think was the lady doing the demo was called Mel) and this was roughly the pattern she was doodling. Mine isn’t quite the same as I have angled my stripes differently and also the shading. The pattern reminds me of these old fashioned sweets you used to get that were kind of pyramidal and stripy – humbugs. I think zentangle lends itself really well to male cards and this one is for Fraser. Happy birthday Fraser!
For this zentangle card I used masking tape to make a white border and didn’t add a black line border around it in order to keep it quite light. I am not sure it worked as you can see the lines at the top going off into nowhere. I got all my Christmas papers and stamps out but ended up doodling this one and not using up any of my stash. I just haven’t got my Christmas mojo this year so I will only be making a few cards. I used a gel glitter pen to add sparkle on the snowy areas – you can see it better bellow.
A little zentangle birthday card from me today. Although it is actually quite a simple card it took ages to do. It is coloured with a mixture of watercolour pencils and copic pens.
Here is a zentangle thank you card I made for Neill (Sole Seafood Restaurant) and Eve for doing a Seafood Master-class in our house. It is a long story which I won’t go into too much detail but the long and the short of it is: a very good friend of ours (Graham) bid on this Master-class in the Big Bam Boogie – Charity Fundraiser for MacMillan Cancer Care and he very kindly shared it with us. Not only did we learn some cool techniques but we had a fabulous meal with great company and they even cleaned up afterwards so my kitchen was left spotless.
Thank you Neill, Eve, Graham and Gen.
Pity I didn’t take any photos of the food.
Inks: Black Pitt pen, Marvy Le Plume watercolour pens, Inktense pencils
Card: white card
Other: white gel pen, glitter pen, aqua lagoon cosmic shimmer mist spray, salt
Another zentangle birthday card, they are great for guys cards and you can make them as intricate and fussy as you like.
I stamped the greeting first then drew in the rectangular border. Masked it then stamped some cogs and some dots. The rest is doodled zentangle.
Inks: Black document ink
Card: black, white,
Stamps: Stampin up Cheers and wishes, Sense of time and Circle of friendship
Other: black Pitt pens, masking tape
This one is for wee Stuart’s birthday. It is a mixture of stamping and zentangle and I added a touch of red too.
Inks: Versamark archival black
Card: black, white, red
Stamps: Inkadinkado Snakeskins and Chandeliers, Cute Companions Patchwork numbers (greeting)
Other: black pen, red pen
By just using black and white with some subtle shading you can make cards out of doodles. I have been flicking through a great little book that I bought for my dad a short while while ago and got some pattern ideas for doodling and with a little practice I am starting to get the hang of it now. My hands can be a bit shaky at times so some lines get a bit of a wobble in them but it is great fun to do. I will get your book back to you soon dad!
Pens: Black Pitt pen, pencil, paper stub
Card: Black and white card
Book: Yoga for the brain A zentangle workout by Sandy Steen Bartholemew