Last October I had the pleasure of visiting Karen of the Lockhart Stamp Company at her home in the Sonoma Valley. Karen is a wonderful hostess and we had a MARVELOUS time seeing the sights, eating good food and talking trends. Thank you once again for such a wonderful reprieve Karen!
One of the topics of conversation during that visit was the art of Zentangle. I really had not heard of it before. When Karen first showed me a picture of a project created with Zentangles the first thing that came to mind was that it appeared to look a lot like Henna - I love the look of Henna and was immediately intrigued.
As soon as the Perfect series was released I began to play with the pears, even taking them with me on our college tour trip. Karen's newsletter inspired me to pick up the pieces and get that project completed :-D I hope you enjoy my little tangled take on these fab pears.
It is my love of Moroccon patterns that has inspired today's project. I hope you can see the little influences I tried to bring to this tiny work of art. Many of the patterns I utilized on these pears are inspired by Henna art. As well I looked through the series of Zentangle books that we carry. Each book contains a wide variety of patterns and specific step-by-step directions for completing each unique design. If you have never "tangled" before I highly recommend getting a book to see how it is done and try your hand. I kid you not when I assure you that everyone can do this!
Other design references are brought about through the use of Tim's newest Mini Cabinet Card die, which to me resembled a Moroccon window, and the Argyle punch, meant to imitate some of the beautiful tile patterns.
To add color I first used a Copic Marker and then added highlights with a very sharp Prismacolor Color Pencil.
I would like to begin by telling you that I am NOT a certified Zentangle teacher. If you are interested in learning more about this art form you can either purchase the books or go to the Zentangle site and find a 'certified Zentangle teacher' in your area to take classes from.
The tips I am going to share are things that I have done that seem to work well for me.
As I work I continually rotate my image - this allows me to look at it from different vantage points and decide what might "fit" with the natural lines in the stamped image. For example I began by using the little line around the stem of the pear as my jumping off point.
With Karen's images I highly recommend the Copic Multiliner in both the .05 and .03 tip size. You can purchase these in two different ways - sets or individually. I prefer the individual pens because then I can simply add ink rather than throwing out my pen when the ink is gone.
I like to begin with the .05 size to add the initial details. I apologize for the blur in my photos - I didn't realize I had it on such a tight focus and therefore it blurred out the front edges. I am hoping that you can see how I "beefed up" the lines of the stamp. With so much detail I still wanted the pear shape to stand out.
Continue to build around the patterns you add.
As a beginner I like to work on my entire image at one time, adding tidbits that are unique and yet coordinated to then balance the images.
Once I have all the main patterns I then use the .03 (which is ubber fine) to add additional details.
I LOVED how the new Dutch Mustard Soup patterned paper worked so perfectly with this Henna inspired piece.
I have another project that I am working on that I am super excited about and hope it will be completed soon so that I can share it with you. For now I want to suggest that you can take any of the more "open" style stamps such as the pears, apples, one of the aprons
or the slippers
and give it a try.
So my question for you today is have you tried the Zentangle art form? We would love to hear your thoughts!
stamps: Lockhart Stamp Company Perfect Pears
ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Multiliner .05 and .03
paper: Neenah Solar White, Memory Box Parsley Cardstock, Echo Park For the Record, Jillibean Soup Dutch Mustard
accessories: Tim Holtz Movers & Shapers Mini Cabinet Card Die, EK Argyle Large Edger Punch
