a little lime

This weeks challenge was to create a zentangle/zia without using a string. Love it! Although I very rarely use strings as such, I often draw a couple of directional lines on my blank page to get me going. So, for this challenge, I put the pencil and eraser in a safe and threw away the key so they couldn't weave their wicked wiles and tempt me to use them. Oh, and, when I say safe.........I really mean the box on my desk. lol. My drawing will not surprise you.... I went naturalistic.........there's leaves, feather, mooka :) I started with the front leaf and layered back from there, throwing in a mooka scroll at different intervals to give it a more woven effect. It was fun working without my safety net of a few pencilled lines, and though the balance feels a little out to me, I still like it. I also got to use a couple new colours from my latest tria marker delivery :) The top scroll is not shaded - though I love a bound journal, I have to remember n...

Another spirally design -. I think I'm a little bit addicted. Next time I do one I'll try to remember to take a scan prior to shading - amazing what a difference the shading and heavier linework makes. The idea to organise my patterns this way came straight from Sandy at Tanglebucket - you can find her post on her blog here  - so clever. Love it! I am up to "J" - I tend to go through frenzied stages of drawing the patterns, then take a break for a week or two to do other stuff. I also began working on 4x6 pattern step out index cards (haven't done many) and don't know whether I'll continue with this idea - too much work, so little time. Home today - should be able to play with the challenge! hx

At the half way point. I have been so consumed with drawing another detailed spiral drawing that I almost didn't get this ready - not to mention that John was hogging the computer so I couldn't get on at a reasonable time. Anyway, here is this weeks Monday Moleskine. This one started with the 2 lines down the centre - I probably thought I'd draw on both sides of the lines but this is how it turned out. I think I've cropped a little off the top LHS when scanning, too, as the line isn't really running downhill on the drawing. Looking forward to the challenge tomorrow, and finishing up my spiral drawing :) hx

Erin was on camp this week, so I didn't even have to do the school bus drop off/pick up - this meant extra drawing time! Loved it! Yesterday I played around with a fleur de lys scroll design, lots of shading work on this one to give it nice dimension and roundness. I was definitely over my grey markers by the end of it. Today I wanted to do something a bit different, so I went to my Pinterest board for a bit of inspiration. Two things jumped out at me - Michele Beauchamp's wonderful Spirals and this fantastic image  by Angela Porter that also features spirals - loved the heavy outlining and lines flowing outwards. You can see the influence of both these sources in my drawing. I started with the spiral on the upper left and grew the design from that point adding whatever fitted into the spaces, trying to maintain flowing curves. I also drew out a box on my page before I started to give myself firm borders. I really loved trying something ...

This weeks diva challenge - Zinger. Cute name! Love that it's all curly and organic and so cute!!! This is a pattern I used a few times in some of my earlier drawings as a filler - they're in the gallery if you're interested. I had kind of forgotten about it, so it was exciting to revisit and try to make it more of a focal point. Some of the stuff I came up with: Zinger Daisy : this is my favourite. The Zinger lines are curved in the wrong direction, but I love how it works as a centre for the daisy. Zinger Gumflower: I haven't drawn a gumflower for a while, and I  do love drawing super-sized ones! Unfortunately I sketched this right near the spine on my journal - so the top edge didn't scan correctly, it's cropped and a little dark at the top, but I like the drama of it, anyway. Zingers make perfect little pollen "dots". Mooka & Daisies: Used in the daisy centres, again, but these ones are going in the right directio...

I have 15 minutes before I leave for school, so coffee in hand, I am attempting to express-post! I didn't feel very inspired to draw anything but patterns over the weekend, clearly I was missing a muse. Luckily I found one yesterday whilst I was changing my bed.......yep........the new quilt cover (in shades of green + white, of course) that I bought about 6 months ago and finally opened up now that the warmer weather is here - *love*. My muse for the day. The drawing - loved playing with shades of grey/green for this one. And also adding my best friend - mooka! Playing with colours to get the right mix. I went with the silver green/grey for the back leaf (frosted leaf/warm grey 1) and warmer greens for the front (pastel beige/khaki with touches of moss). Plenty of blender, too. I drew my leave freehand, but when I looked at them afterwards I realised they could easily be broken down and drawn using the same steps as Verdigoh   (an original Zentangle pattern). Ju...

I was not in the mood to draw anything significant this weekend, so I indulged in the mindless pursuit of getting through my patterned tiles -  and made it all the way through to the h's. My little book is looking quite full and I am finding myself stroking it lovingly at odd times, because, you know, uniformly presented, alphabetically organised things just make me happy, happy :) Monday Moleskines: because I felt in the mood to draw one of these today (and also, maybe I'm a little afraid that Mrs Wibbs will spank me if I don't. LOL.), I have decided to continue these till I reach the predetermined *magic* number of 10. I think that's all I've got in me before boring myself silly as I seem to be compelled to doodle flowers and paisley shapes all the time! So, here it is, a nice simple one :) Maybe next week I'll try to start off with a box shape instead of a curved one to see if that alters the direction of the drawing. Challenge day tomorrow - ...