PHYLLIS WITH TWO I'S - EYES!

Meet Phillis!

 

My son-in-law requested a sign for the front of his Russian tortoise's new home located in the "tortoise habitat" of their yard.  Phillis, spelled with two i's, because Phillis has two ;-), is a very lucky girl.  You can't believe the splendor!

That said, the request was made for natural colors so I started with a latte colored, handmade pastel paper.  It presented some challenges because of the softness and texture but in the end I enjoyed working with it.  I used mostly an 05 Micron pen for the tangle patterns and an 08 for all of the outlining. This is by far the largest  piece I've completed using tangle patterns; the outlining and letters alone took seven hours.The piece finished up at 16 inches square or there about and I finished the edges with a deckle edge pair of scissors.  Phillis (the picture) is at Staples as this is being posted, waiting for lamination.  I thought about all kinds of different all-weather coatings and finally ended up with lamination.  The finished piece will be adhered to plywood, sealed and hung on the new house. 

I had an enormous amount of fun working on this and it's spawned a whirlwind of nature images in my head.  I best go feed the beasties!

Thanks for stopping by!

LIMITED COLOR CELTIC #31

 

 

 

I posted this same Celtic knot last week which had Copic alcohol pens applied to the entire piece.  This week I wanted to try the same knot with a limited amount of color to see what the results would be. 

 

I used a cobalt turquoise #153 Faber-Castell PITT pen for the blue which turned out to be a good choice.  The reason being when I shaded with my Copics, the blue did not move at all when the alcohol pens were applied on top.  Had I used Copics for the blue I probably would have had issues adding the shading in grey.

 

The shading was done with Copics W0, W1, W3 and some W5.

 

 

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CELTIC CHALLENGE #31

 

 

The above Celtic knot is offered up in answer to Judy West's Celtic Knot Challenge #31.  I'm not submitting this piece because it does not comply with the parameters of the challenge in that each and every section had to contain a different tangle pattern.  I just couldn't bring myself to put 36 patterns in this one piece, I have no courage.  So I used a wee 6 tangle patterns and some color and this is what I got.

 

The piece measures 8 x 8 inches, was drawn on X-Press It card stock for alcohol pens and I used my Copic markers for the color application.  Then things sort of went sideways when I decided to use a graphite pencil to shade the intersections of the tangles instead of just sticking with my Copics.  Don't know what I was thinking but lesson learned.

 

I still had fun with this technique, I'd never tried a Celtic knot combined with tangle patterns and it's the first time I've combined my Copics with tangling.  All in all I'm glad I tried it.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!



Tangled With Color

I've been caught up in Zentangle (a registered trademark) and tangling for the last two months or so and am absolutely enjoying every minute I spend on it.  The world goes away and I love getting lost in the art.

If you're unfamiliar with Zentangle, Google it and you'll be amazed at the sites and blogs devoted to this unique art form.  There's some really beautiful work being made out there.

I decided to start experimenting with color and have started a couple of larger Zentangle inspired pieces which are still works in progress.  I've been using watercolor pencils and Copic markers up 'till now and applying the color and shading to the completed line art.  However, I was inspired by Rosemary Hill, a Certified Zentangle Teacher, to use a different method and the three test pieces are shown below.



 

This first and the following two pieces are 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inch square tiles on Tiepolo  paper.

 

I added splotches of Tim Holtz Distress Stain, misted with water and tilted the tile to let the color run where it would until I was satisfied.  A light selective blotting with a paper towel and then drying with a heat tool provided a good start.

I didn't draw a string but let the segments of color determine where I would place the individual patterns and even what choice of patterns I made.

 

 

This turned out to be a lot of fun, I'm definitely going to be playing with this more!

 

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If you live on the north coast or plan on being in the area Saturday, August 3rd, our local art store, Dots N Doodles Art Supply will be hosting Rosemary Hill with two, two hour Zentangle classes, Zetangle1 and Zentangle 2.  It's going to be a full afternoon well worth the time.  The response to the classes had been exceptional and there aren't many spots left so if you're interested, give the site and their blog a look-see and then give them a call or a fast email.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Trisha

 



 

A Peacock and A Poem

 

(Double click on any picture for detail)

 

I need therapy.  That's what this is all about.  I tend to create  in very structured ways and I'm hoping art journaling will help me fix that.  So with a new Ranger Industries Dylusions Art Journal designed by Dyan Reaveley and tons of ink, this is my first attempt, officially that is.  I attempted a start in another journal and ended up using it to test new products, which is all good but the journal size didn't seem right, etc., etc.  So as I said, this one is official!

 

 

Tim Holtz Distress Inks were used on the naked background with some ghosting technique and The Crafter's Workshop large peacock feather stencil.  By the way you can find a great selection of TCW stencils at Dots N Doodles Art Supply in Astoria, OR if you live in my area or are ever visiting the Oregon Coast.

 

Next step was more stencils and more Distress Ink used in a misting bottle and mixed with water for the pebbles in the bottom left hand corner and a few of the peacock feathers.  Then I sponge applied full strength ink through the small peacock stencil to create a flow of feathers across the bottom of the two page spread and up the right side to connect to the bottom of the peacock.  The peacock was roughly inked in with a water brush and reinker.

 

A little stamping with archival ink across the top filled things in a bit.  The poem is The Invitation by Oriah, I didn't have room for the whole thing, it's long, so I used the parts I like the most and  a white Marvy Le Plume opaque pen to get it down on paper.  Love white lettering but it's so difficult to find the perfect pen.  They tend to clot, skip, and not cover well.  I must own six or seven and have to struggle every time I use one.  This attempt came out pretty much the way I envisioned so I shouldn't complain too much about white pens!

 

So there it is, I had fun and I'm ready to get all inky again very, very soon.

 

Thanks for stopping by!