More Zentangles – Or Zendalas

I must be needing to spend more “zen” time because I have been doing more and more of these Zentangles.  I have joined in on a swap in a Yahoo group I am a member of where those who are participating will send two Zentangles done in a circle format (the size of a CD) to the leader who will then mix them up, and we will each get 2 of these from other people.  I love doing them, and the circle format, or mandala, is an interesting shape to fill in.  Also, these are to be in color.  It’s a great way to play with color combinations and shapes and textures.

I have been having fun using my Sharpie and Pitt pens doing these.  It is very relaxing and clears my mind of other stray thoughts.  I really often have no idea when I start what I will end up with.  I just start drawing lines and selecting which colors I want to work with, and off I go!  These all have taken 3 to 4 hours each to create, though I am totally unaware of time passing as I work on them!  Great for those times when I am feeling blocked and indecisive, which has been a lot lately!

 

I don’t know which two I will send in, or if I will do two completely new ones for the swap.  I still have time to decide.  In the meanwhile I am enjoying doing them.  I have other projects that I have committed to.  However, these are a great way to just get in some creative time without having to “think” too hard about what to do.

What gets you into a zen mood and feeling? 

Creatively Yours In Spirit

Arlene

Technorati Tags: Pitt pens,Sharpie pens,drawing,doodling,zentangle,mandalas,zendalas,creativity,relaxation

Zentangle My Heart

I took my son to have a procedure done in an outpatient surgical center, so I had to wait for a couple of hours until he was finished and ready to come out of the anesthesia.  I would have ordinarily brought a book to read, but I am in between books right now.  Instead I took my sketchbook and some pens, and ended up doing the above Zentangle.  Since it is almost Valentine’s Day, a heart-shaped one emerged.   

Do you know what a Zentangle is?  it is a kind of structured doodling art form – using repeated shapes and patterns in a deliberate way.  It is a great way to help unleash your creativity, and let your mind wander.  In fact, it is a fabulous way to get out of your left-brain, analytical thinking mode, and just let your creativity take over.  Here is a good site to learn more about them:  http://www.zentangle.com/about-what-is--1.php

These are fun, and it kept me busy the whole time I was there.  Waiting went so quickly.  Doing them in color is also nice.  It gives me the opportunity to try out different patterns and color combinations too. What do you think?

I just joined a swap in a Yahoo group I am in, where we will each make and swap two Zentangles in a circle shape – a mandala style Zentangle.  I have also heard them called Zendalas.  It should be great because in this group are some amazing artists so I am looking forward to seeing what the other participants will come up with.  I am also doing my Drawing From the Right Side of the Brain exercises with the group.  More on those later - I have to do the next exercise first. 

Creatively Yours in Spirit,

Arlene

Technorati Tags: zentangle,Valentine's Day,heart,art,Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

Drawing and Playing with Colors

A quick post and update in the life of a scattered artist. I can’t believe the month of January is done already.  What happened?  Seems like I blinked and it was gone. It’s almost Valentine’s Day, for goodness sake!

I have been doing some artwork, but just not blogging about it.  I set myself a new project of working through the Betty Edwards book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, and have completed some of the initial drawings in the book. Here are some of my drawings that I’d like to share with you.  These are just pencil drawings.  The first two are pre-drawings, and the first one was done from looking at my image in the mirror.

Pre-Drawing: Self Portrait

Pre-Drawing: My Left Hand

Next is one done upside down from the source image, which was to get us to switch over to our right (artistic, creative) side of our brains. 

Upside Down Drawing

These next two drawings were using a viewfinder with a plastic insert that had a grid drawn on it (2 x 2 cells) and done mostly with one eye shut.  This technique really helped me to “see” differently – i.e. just see the shapes in two dimensions without having to identify what I was drawing, and to know where to place the shapes.  It was great!

 

Viewfinder Drawing – My Left Hand

Viewfinder Drawing – My Shoe

I know – not very unique drawings but certainly good practice.

Other than these drawings I have been playing with some ATC’s and acrylic paintings.

 

    Flower Abstract

Acrylic Abstract

Some ATC’s I have created lately:

  

 

Various ATC’s

The above ATC’s were done with mixed media:  paint, gel pens, permanent markers, collage materials (magazine images, ribbon, glitter, sequins, paper punches, even some origami papers), India ink in a pen, etc. I just played and had fun with them.

That’s about all.  Next time I want to show you some painted glass plates I created for Christmas gifts for my family.  I didn’t want to put them in before the holiday in case any of my family decided to read my blog.  Enough for today though. 

Until next time – Creatively Yours In Spirit

Arlene

Technorati Tags: acrylic painting,mixed media,ATC,collage,watercolor painting,creativity,drawing,Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain