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
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