Weekly challenge #107: "New official tangle: Quandary"

Look, ma... no string.

A truly successful stringless tangle is pretty rare for me. That strong, silent little pencil line is as necessary to me as the tangle patterns themselves in keeping the zen/building a decent tangle. I have found that I really need that structure to work within. You know how wild those tangles can get if allowed to run unleashed... they need to be wrangled into some semblance of order, or they'll be chasing squirrels and stealin' ice cream cones in the park. :oD

Weekly Challenge #106: "The Year of the Snake"

I've been missing the weekly challenge lately, but hey, my house is clean and I'm almost caught up on laundry! Laura's Diva challenge this week is to use a serpentine string (or tangles) to mark the arrival of the year of the snake on the Chinese calendar. Couldn't pass that one up! I was born the year of the rabbit. And my husband is a rat. *snicker* (Not really... he's actually very nice.)

This is my first tangle on Strathmore's gray-toned drawing paper. It's not bad... although I wish it was a better shade of gray, my ink didn't bleed and my lines stayed crisp. I still prefer the texture and cushiness of the thicker Fabriano Tiepolo paper (the Zentangle standard), but this was an interesting change. When drawing on white paper, there are only lines and shadows to draw... but with midtone paper, you get to play with the balance between shadows AND highlights. It's a different experience. 

You can click here to find out what your Chinese Zodiac sign is.

(This is just for funsies, folks... entertainment only.)