Weekly Challenge #104: String Theory v. XXIII - TanglePatterns String #03"

I'm so glad to get back to the weekly challenge! I took a little time off because I've been busy... then I was having such a good time with the flu that I couldn't be bothered... and once I recovered from that, I went on a sewing/tangling retreat in Missouri. I frequently post Zentangle-related things that are short/small/not really blogworthy on my facebook page, so please feel free to drop in over there to see what I've been doing to avoid the things I *should* be doing.

Now and then the Diva issues a weekly challenge that involves using a particular string, which is the pencil outline that goes down first on the tile and gives a tangle its basic structure. Strings are merely guidelines; they don't have to be followed exactly, but they're essential to the Zentangle method. Drawing a tangle without a string is like trying to balance on a bike that's standing still. With a micron pen balanced on your nose. And a goldfish balanced on that. You get the point.

This week, participants in the challenge are using this string in their tile.

This is a sun I drew last week using Inktense watercolor pencils and a Copic Multiliner on Aquabord. I liked working on Aquabord, but it's really toothy and I'm hoping there is a smoother version of it out there. Gradients and larger fields of color were tricky for me on this. I want to try Tombow watercolor markers on it, but I'm pretty sure it will chew them up. My Multiliner is permanently out of commission, and it was new. I think I mostly liked the Aquabord because it's so... unbendy. Any suggestions? 

Have a good week! 

And also, please... no matter how tempted you are, don't get the flu. There are much better ways to get ice cream.

Weekly Challenge #76: "Home"

The Diva's challenge this week: A home-themed tangle.

I did both an urban and a rural one. I was glad to see a lot of the entries this week were heavy on the whimsy, leaning full-tilt toward Zentangle-inspired art. Woohoo!

My favorite time here in Dallas is when it's (snowing... ha! In Texas! Aren't I hilarious? ...or) dumping buckets of rain, when I don't have anywhere to be but home in my art room or cozied up in my reading chair with my nook and my codependent cat. Whether I want him there or not.

After we get a good hard rain (providing it's not 110 degrees outside), the air smells fresh and clean, the sky gets really blue, and the clouds are all pumped up and puffy. On the *other* end of the sliding scale of happiness, we have the tornado I threw in for fun. I know it's not often you get 'tornado' and 'fun' in the same sentence, but tangling will do that for you.

The hot mess on the lower left represents Reunion Tower. In the summer, you can go up to the observation deck and watch everything shimmer from the heat of the day. That's what the flames are for... because if it's hot enough that things are looking shimmery up there on deck, you're about to discover what a toasted marshmallow feels like.

And for my rural tile, I give you a cactus playing with a beach ball. ;o)