DIVA CHALLENGE #157 - UMT - CHARLIE

GOOD GRIEF!

Get it... Charlie... Brown...

Alright, now that that's outta my system...

This week's Diva Challenge #157 is a "Use My Tangle" challenge using Erin (The Bright Owl) Olson's original tangle Charlie.

I'll admit, I haven't used this one before... but it's quickly become addicting.

I had an idea for how I wanted to use it almost right away.  Laying it out & drawing it the way I wanted didn't happen nearly as quickly.  I'm going to say right now that I consider this an unfinished piece - that being said, I have completed 3 versions while trying to figure out how to finish it off.

This is my original, uncolored waiting to be finished but I can't make a definite decision & it's driving me bananas version:

tangles used: charlie, zigahzigah

I think it looks pretty neat as just plain lines, but it doesn't feel finished.  I've paired Charlie up with a tangle by Neil Burley called zigahzigah.  It's basically a twist on a chevron pattern.  & I love chevrons.  There are so many different ways to shape chevrons & so many different variations, & so many ways to change the look of them with color.  Chevrons are a recurring pattern in my home.

I did have to make a change to how Charlie is drawn to  make this look right.  Basically, I created an imaginary center line down the middle to give it some symmetry.  I tried to make the diamonds down the center roughly exact on each side of the line.  The outside ones are a mirrored reflection of each other, & though they still have that imaginary center line running through it, I didn't feel the need to make the diamonds the same on both sides.
If that makes any sense...

I was so terrified I was going to mess up my original drawing that I not only made copies of it, but I scanned it as well as traced it so that I could try to figure out the fill.  2 of them are done in blues & oranges.  These are the main colors in my living room, & I was hoping to end up with something I could frame & put on the wall in a particular space that is lacking something.  One is in watercolor, the other in colored pencil.  The third one was done with markers in a sort of grey scale.  I had a boo-boo where the warm grey marker I was using decided it wanted to be streaky, so I attempted to cover it up with colored pencil & a burnisher.  It created this really strange effect - I think it gives it a worn/weathered look.

watercolor

colored pencil

marker

 

Because I've been playing with this for 3 days straight & last night started dreaming about it, I've decided to put it aside for a while & come back to it.  That's a pretty dangerous decision, most things I put aside & don't finish remain that way FOREVER! (Example - I have a second piece I did for last week's curvy gridlock challenge that just needs to have the color/fill done, but I can't find it!!!)

What I'd really like is some feedback on this... how should I finish it off?  Any ideas?

I'd like this to end up being the first piece of my own work that I hang in my home - I really am enamored with these 2 patterns mixed together.

Ideas, comments, criticism, smiles, 'you shoulda done this' -es or 'you shouldn't have done that' s are not only welcome, but thoroughly encouraged.

Now I've gotta get on this week's zendala dare... time to make some snowflakes.

Zentangle Inspired Sun for Mommala

Forgot to scan this one before I gave it to my mom - & almost forgot to even take a picture!  That being said, this photo was taken on the steering wheel of my jeep in the parking lot at the marina.