Zentangle Bottles

This Picture came about after reading the book 

*'Colored Pencil Painting Bible' by Alyona Nickelsen

.....instead of doing the sensible thing and trying all the amazing projects in the book i wandered off and did my own thing, as usual, but the book is fabulous and i will do the prjects at some point as they are amazing. I was inspired to share this picture in a blog after Hochanda featured the Derwent colour soft pencils and where i used a blending pencil and solution, the pen they had on their shows probably does the work of both these...

Ingredients

* Smooth White Card

* Derwent coloursoft.....you could also use Polychromos and Lyra pencils

* No 3 & 8 Zentangle Pens

* Graphite Pencil

Blending Pencil

Blending Solution

Paintbrush

Kitchen Towel

* = Items purchased from Hochanda

How To

1. Find a selection of interesting bottle pictures....i used the internet but you could look through books, I chose 3 in different colours that were of similar size. print 2 copies.....

2. Cheat.....use one of the copies to trace the bottles outline onto the Card, including the areas that are to be white and dark...

3. Colour in all the areas that are white and the Darkest shaded areas using a dk blue, its best to start with the bottle that is the furthest away and work forward..i got a little carried away and started on the foremost bottle first. Keep a peice of tissue or copy paper under your hand to prevent smudging of your work.

4. Work the tangle at the same time to ensure they flow cleanly...any area that will be inside/behind a bottle is shaded with pencil rather than the No8 Zentangle pen

5. Once the tangles are laid in and all 3 bottles have their light and dark shading, its time to add colour. Starting with the blue, then the red and green, always colouring into the overlap bottle. Work in shadow around the front bottle.

6. Layer the colour and blend with the pencil and smooth out with the solution...you will also find that you can clean back the white areas and brighten them by wiping them gently with solution and then with kitchen paper. Use a touch of black to add the very darkest highlights.

7. Work in the remaining areas of Zentangle and if necessary, sharpen the light and dark areas on the bottles....Darken the shadows on the green bottle. Dont forget to sign your work and date it....

Afterthought...if you are wondering why i chose a thick smooth card to work on.....it was mostly because its great to tangle on and i was curious to see how the blending worked on something other than art paper...it was great to work on smooth....

Eye Tangle

The Finished 'Eye'

Because .....well no reason really and please note, i use a mix of official Zentangles and Unofficial Tangles.

Ingredients

* No1 and 8 Micron Pens

* White Sakura Souffle Gel Pen

* PolyChromo Pencils - 3 Shades of Blue

* Graphite Pencil

* Tortillion, one for the Graphite Pencil and a separate one for the Blues

* = Items purchased from Hochanda

How To

1. Decide on your picture and create your string.....now in this case, my 'string' is a rough pencil sketch of the idea

2. Draw in a tight spiral where the pupil is and slowly open it out as you spin through the Iris, weaving over and under the 'sparks'.....Use Micron Pen No1 and dont worry if it looks a bit shaky

 3. Using a ruler and the No1 Micron Draw in the 'sparks., remebering to weave as you go...again dont worry if you get the weave slightly wrong...it adds character

4.All the Tangles have names but i am totally rubbish at remembering them so apologies. Draw in the final Sparks making it look as if they weave in and out of punched holes

5.Alternate light and dark blocks around the spiral, making the dark blocks slightly larger than the spiral edges....end in some quirky dots strung together....Micron Pen No8 is your friend for colouring large areas as it had a thicker nib.

6. Time to Colour the sparks with 3 differing shades of blue polychromo (could use any or many but i felt like blue) Pencils and use a Tortillion to blend the colour in each spark. I also used the graphite pencil to add shading around the sparks and blended it out with a Tortillion

7. Working slowly Shade in the spiral and add white highlights with the souffle pen

8. Fill In the edges where the eyelids would go with zig-zag and square tangles of choice (as a contrast to the round of the spiral) Add some shading for depth.

9. Dont Forget to sign and Date your work.

A Helpful Tangle website, which is packed full of tips and tangles