Starry Night gif

The very famous "Starry Night" by Vincent Van Gogh in gif (moving image) format.

  This really cool gif is credited from http://theblakex.tumblr.com/. I hope you like it as much as I do. :)

Recommended Artist: Charles J. Dwyer

  You can view more information regarding the artist via this link.

Painting of the Day: Fulgens Prism

  "Fulgens Prism" by Christopher Marley. 20" by 24"

  Christopher Marley creates gorgeous art pieces using various beetles, butterflies, shells, and various other animals. I'm mildly concerned as to where he gets his supply of insects and animals from, because I've read that selling dead animal parts to artists has become a very lucrative business in recent years. The demand has been so great that certain species have become endangered or extinct...

  That aside, though, the works that Christopher Marley creates are exquisite, and you can see more of his works via this link.

Painting of the Day: Untitled

by Curious Ruby

View her website via this link.

Recommended Artist: Mark Lovejoy

  Mark Lovejoy creates richly textured images of mixed paint. He works from his studio in Alpine, Texas and is somewhat secretive about his process. However, the works aren’t just photographs of mixed paint. He mixes resins, oils, diluents, waxes, and drying agents to create the gloppy textures depicted in his works and then portions are photographed, reworked, and reshot. The results are the rainbow-y images that you see above.

You can view more of his works via this link.

Recent Sketches By Stephanie Jennifer (a.k.a. Me)

I haven't settled on a title for this yet.
"River of Colours"?
"Swirls of Memory"?
"50 Shades of Colours"..? (Hahaha)

I think I've gotten pretty decent at drawing flowers.
I used to be horrible at drawing them. They always looked lifeless.
And I would refuse to draw them. Lately though, I've been challenging myself to start drawing things I don't draw well, and the hard work has paid off.

Random swirly lines.

Another trophy piece to my Travelling Postcard Series.

Feather sketch.
You can even see my pencil outlines to the piece in this picture.

"Unicorns, I love them.. Unicorns, I love them... Uni-uni-unicorns... I lo-ove them."
This was done with Derwent Line Maker (as are most of my ink pieces) and a silver Pentel pen.

Rainbow umbrella done with Polychromos coloured pencils.
The colours in the picture seem a little too warm in the picture (the paper is actually bleached white in real life) but I liked the warmth, so I kept it as such.

Pretty birp.
(Purposeful typo)

  If you'd like to see what other works I've done, you can visit my website via this link.
 
  The second half of this year is going to be a whirlwind of events... I'm going to go to New York to spend 10 days with my godmother... And then I'll be going to Providence for the Certified Zentangle™Teacher course... And then I'd be having my very first art exhibition after that...

  The kids I teach are lovely. I learn to appreciate the little joys in life from them. I get to see that pure wonder for learning that all kids have. I try my best to be the teacher I've always wanted to have when I was a kiddo. I learn from my own faults; learn to be better as a teacher, as a student, and as a human... And to think that just three years ago, I would have never thought that I'd be in the education industry... Yet here I am, and now it's all that I want to do.

  I'm getting my body of art works ready for the exhibition. I know I want it to happen in August. I'll turn 20 years old, then... Sometimes, when I'm laying in bed at night thinking of everything and nothing in particular, I reflect upon the fact that I'm so very very blessed. To have a roof over my head, to have warm food on the table every day (unless we're eating sushi), to feel safe in my home. To have found my passion at such a young age and be able to pursue it with my mother's full approval and support. To be working towards the future that I want to live step-by-step.

  I'm so so blessed. I remind myself of that every day. Perhaps that's why I strive to help others so often. In any case, I can't wait to see what the rest of 2015 has in store for me. :)

Book Review: Juxtapoz Hyppereal

  My newest flip-through video. This time it's "Juxtapoz Hyperreal" and it was a delight to look through. Even though all the works in the book were done in a hyperrealistic style, there was a very good range of subjects, colour palettes, and personal tastes. I really enjoyed the book a lot.

  Which book would you like me to flip-through next? Let me know in the comments section below.


  I'm think of starting to review children's books some time in the future. I also am thinking of starting to post illustrations... We'll see how it runs. Till' then, enjoy the video!

Recommended Artist: Robert Farkas

Look! I even have one of his designs as a shirt.

  Robert Farkas is a brilliant designer. Threadless is an awesome t-shirt print shop, and you can get the same shirt that I have, or many other designs right here via Threadless.com. (No, I am not affiliated with Threadless. I just love so many shirts printed by them... I proabably have nine shirts from them already...)

  If you're interested, you can also view more of Robert Farkas' designs via his website.

Painting of the Day: Dandelion

"Dandelion" by Mona Caron is a mural painted in San Francisco. The artist took progress pictures of her art piece and then made the pictures into a beautiful gif.

Quoted from her website:

"They may be tiny but they break through concrete. They are everywhere and yet unseen. And the more they get stepped on, the stronger they grow back. 

This is a series of paintings of urban weeds, some of them on-site animations, created as a tribute to the resilience of all those beings who no one made room for, were not part of the plan, and yet keep coming back, pushing through and rising up.

I look for weeds in the city streets near a wall I'm about to paint. When I find a particularly heroic one growing through the pavement, I paint it big, at a scale inversely proportional to the attention and regard it gets."

  You can view more of her works via her website.

Book Review: 500 Tangled Artworks

"500 Tangled Artworks: A Showcase of Inspired Illustrated Designs" by Bec Krahula

  The book is not meant for people new to Zentangle as it does not show how to create each tangle. In the introductory chapter, the book briefly touches upon what Zentangle is and also tells readers how to start tangling. It is in no way a how-to tangle book but more of a showcase of what other artists have done with Zentangle. The book itself is of a good print, and I like the feel of the paper used for the book. However, the pictures within the book leave much more to be wanted. For example, some tiles were badly lit and the white of the paper looked grey in the photos (page 34,, for example). Or even worse, some seem to have been taken in a dark room and lit by the light of a table lamp resulting in greenish and pinkish hues (page 43, for example). Some might complain that the pictures within the book are too small, and I have to agree that details do get lost due to the fact that some pictures were printed too small.

• Chapter One shows actual Zentangle tiles.

• Chapter Two shows Zentangles done on larger paper.

• Chapter Three shows Zentangle-Inspired Artworks (ZIAs). You'll start to see colours in the art works from hereon.

• Chapter Four shows mixed-media ZIAs. Much more colours involved in the art works contained in this chapter.

• Chapter Five shows fiber and textile ZIAs.

• Chapter Six shows ZIAs in sculptures.

  Finally, the book ends with a directory of all the artists showcased within the book, and also where within the book they're featured. It's nice that every picture is numbered and that they have the artist's name under each picture for easy reference.

  All in all, 500 Tangled Artworks delivers what it says it would- it shows you 500 artworks with zentangles, and it does make for a nice coffeetable book, but this is definitely not a how-to book and there are much better zentangle books in the market.