DIVA CHALLENGE #160 - SPIRAL OUT

This week has been a crunch... not just because I've been busy, but also because my mind has been floating around in the ether a bit more than usual.  (aka - la-la-land)

SO - this week's Diva Challenge # 160 was all about spirals.  I haven't even had a chance to look at anyone's work yet!  I hope I get a chance to do that this weekend.  I did, however, manage to find time to do a piece for the challenge.

here goes nothin...

tangles used: curvaceous, paushalov

Snail Zendala?

Diva Challenge #144

A while back I made the beetle zendala at the left for another Diva Challenge about bugs.  I've always wanted to do more bugs in this manner; a whole collection of them at the same size & using the same colors.  Recently, my mom went & framed for me a whole bunch of pieces that I left with her, including the beetles.  For the past week or so, they have been propped up on a table in my living room where I see them constantly because I haven't decided where to hang them yet.  & I've been staring at the beetles... staring & staring & staring, coming to the conclusion that I WILL make companion pieces so the beetles won't be so lonely. (ha!)  As soon as I saw the word "spiral" in the challenge name, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to make a friend for my current bugs.  Et voila, snail zendala.  I like it.

UGH, no time no time no time no time I HAVE NO TIME!  So many things to do!  I'm building floating bookshelves this weekend.  At least that's the plan.  Which may be subject to change.  It's exciting.

DIVA CHALLENGE # 158 - DUOTANGLE: DIVA DANCE & CRESCENT MOON

Ok... lets see here...

This weeks Diva Challenge #158  is - Duotangle: Diva Dance & Crescent Moon.

I was surprised with how quickly I came up with ideas for this one, & another one (possibly two?) is in the works.  So let's just get down to it, shall we?

Here's numero uno

tangles used:  crescent moon, diva dance (waltz & foxtrot)

I started with 2 big overlapping circles, & the rest of it just sort of flowed from there.  I would be totally happy with this if I had chosen a different red pen - the red 005 micron is really disappointing as far as the color output goes.  Very pale & on the verge of pink - also, looks like a different color all together next to the red that comes out of an 05 micron.  Is anyone else in agreement that Sakura really needs to work on their ink colors?  They all just seem kinda wonky.

et le numero deux

tangles used: crescent moon, diva dance (waltz)

This one started with me just scribbling with markers on a large but narrow piece of paper that was trimmed off of a larger work.  It was 80 DEGREES f yesterday!  The sun was shining, the breeze was soft, & I sat in my office all day with the door open enjoying the fresh air.  It's messy, but I like it that way.  Uhm... & yeah, if you couldn't tell (because it is so messy) it is a sun.  This one was totally fun to do, scribbling away loosely with fat juicy fiery warm colors.

I've been totally blown away by many of the pieces found so far on the linky machine.  You people are AMAZING.  Now I just have to go back & tell each & every one of you Diva Challengers just how rad you are.

 

ZENDALA DARE #93 & THE MISSING CURVY GRIDLOCK!

I'm a few days late out of the gate on this one, but I finally finished with The Bright Owl's Zendala Dare #93 - Snowflake Surprise.

Just from checking out the other posts on the linky machine, I'm going to assume that I'm not the only one who had some.. well... issues with this one.  For me, it was mostly that I AM SO OVER SNOW THAT IF I SEE ONE MORE SNOWFLAKE THIS WINTER I MIGHT DO SOMETHING DRASTIC!!!  Ugh... snowflakes.  BUT, I guess, therein lies the challenge???

I wasn't the only one who looked at the template & scratched my head & thought... how do I fit a 6 pointed snowflake into this 10 pointed mandala?  Well, I finally figured it out.  I went through & nixed a bunch of lines, & came up with this.  Only problem... well... not really enough room to tangle anything... so I added some lines, & called it a day.  & here it is.

tangles used: ...uhhhhhhhh nope

 This weekend I found my missing 2nd go at Diva Challenge #156 - Curvy Gridlock.  I was in an experimental mood, so I decided to use a bunch of different markers on the same piece so I could look at how different/similar they are (how they lay down, saturation, color consistency, other junk like that.)  Then I decided to throw some gouache on it too... just because I've been enjoying using them lately.

tangles used: exis, brax

Lets seeeeeeee... the light blue is obviously the gouache.  The darker grey-blue is a Tria marker, the dark turquoise-ish color is a Prismacolor, & the slightly lighter turquoise-ish color is a sharpie.

Even though I have an almost literal TON of "art/illustration markers," lately I've been enjoying playing with sharpies.  Most recently, I've become fascinated with bleed through.  Particularly in my journal.  I'll draw something on one side of the page & color it with sharpies, then flip it over & use the bleed through pattern for something else. 

OK - so that's it.  I'm having a real bad case of the Monday's today.  It's been a very very Mondayish Monday. 

Comments of any kind are awesome, so please feel free to drop a line & tell me what you think - positive, negative, or otherwise.