Here is my sketchbook page for this week's Zentangle challenges. The Diva asked us to use her tangle, "Somnee". Joey asked us to use Whirlee. I didn't really like the Whirlee tile, but I like how the two tiles link up.
Lastly, I completed this canvas drawing last night. :) The pink background was created using acrylics. The tangles were drawn using the fine point of an Identipen. I filmed myself completing the piece, so you should see the process video up on my Youtube channel sometime this week.
Let's kick it off with a tile I did as a Draw With Me video. I really am growing to love my Tombow markers. Featuring Abeko, a hit of Flukes, and Fe-Ba in the background.
For this week's challenge, Diva (home) and Joey (a star string). I decided to combine them in a tile that features my tangle, Singapore Sling. That's as home-y as I can get. I literally used a tangle that has my home-country's name in it. hahaha If you'd like to learn how to draw it, you can click here.
At the bottom of the page, I did a tile for "Zentangle: Tangled & Journaled, Too!" group on Facebook. They're doing a summer project and even though we don't get a summer break in Singapore, I am following along on the prompts.
Here's another page. It's not complete yet, but I really like how the gemstone turned out. It was done using Tombow markers, too.
And here's one more page, in full black and white.
Last week was a great week. Just yesterday, I had the best birthday that I've had in quite a while. My friends have made me feel very loved by gifting me nice art supplies that I wanted... I had a wonderful lunch with someone who I hope will turn into a sort of mentor in the future... I bought some nice mooncakes in lieu of a chocolate cake because I had a craving for mooncakes. hehehe. And today, I spent some time at the Night Festival with a new friend, and it was wonderful. And of course, I've been busy with artsy things as well.
Let's start things off with a simple Bijou tile, featuring Cadent.
I'm teaching Cadent to my students at the moment. And before this, I had completely forgotten how much I love Cadent. So many possibilities with it! This tile was real fun to do.
My sketchbook page for Diva's ("Ing") and Joey's ("Finish My Tile #2) challenges.
There's Meer wrapped around the border of the top tile; Aquafleur is featured in the Bijou; Cadent is featured in the lower tile; and there is a couple of Springkles on the lower left of the page. I hope that helps if you'd like to find any step-outs to the tangles I've drawn.
I'm down with a slight fever, splitting headache, and a runny nose... So I'm going to keep this post short.
Last week, I introduced "Pog the pig" to my students. He's a ceramic piggy bank I got for $2 and then tangled on with an Identipen. The tangles are starting to wear out a little so I was thinking of using a sealant to seal the ink.
If you know any sealant brands that work well with ceramic, let me know in the comments section below.
Original pig.
I made his eyes bigger so he'll be more cute.
Everyone loves the swirly tail. hehehe
Really simple Zendala on the side.
Here's my submission for Joey's challenge. Featuring Girdy. I added cool shading to it.
And here's my submission for Diva's challenge. Featuring colours of my country's flag- red and white, and one of my own tangles; Singapore Sling. I added some colloured pencils to the background, too.
What's happened in the past week? I've been busy teaching Zentangle classes. My work schedule is a hot mess and every single day starts and ends at very different timings. However, it's been extremely fulfilling, very rewarding, and I am constantly reminded about how lucky I am to be able to do what I love for a living.
I had a workshop at Marina Square on the 18th/19th... Here's a selfies I took whilst waiting for my mum to grab coffee before we set up for the event:
You can view pictures of the actual event (plus what the participants created) by clicking this link.
And because I've been so busy sharing the Zentangle method with others, the time I have to create things has dramatically been reduced. But when there's a will, there's a way.
Cadent-Paradox hybrid thingie with Zonked as the background. You can find out how to draw that Cadent-Pardox tangle by watching this video.
I taught "Featherfall" in one of my classes. Here's what one of my students did.
And I liked that class so much that I created an ATC with Featherfall. I'll be sending it to my godmother who's living half-way round' the world in New York.
She did the pink and black Yuma. I added the "Breathe" typography" and shading with coloured pencils. It's been a while since I last worked with coloured pencils, so this was good fun.
More tiles from Travelling Tangles. The ones featuring Singapore Sling are from Kim Arts. The middle one is completed and only needs shading. The tile on the right is a present for a friend who is currently living in London. It still needs some work, plus shading. :)
And lastly, a page from my sketchbook.
I always start things in my sketchbook and never get around to completing them. But because I've been out of the house a lot these past few weeks, I've managed to complete more drawings in my sketchbook. Drawing on the train is challenging but fun. Here, you see Citrus, Cruffle, Salo, Printemps, and lots of Tipple.
And that's about all I've got for this week. I've been *trying* to participate in weekly Zentangle challenges, but never get around to finishing them in time. However, I think I make up for it by all the other pretty things I do manage to complete. :) I hope you've been inspired. Till' next week. Keep tangling!
Another week has zoomed by so quickly. I've been so busy with classes for the past week. It has been gloriously fun. I learnt to use Luv-a as a border from a student of mine; I'm back to reviewing art materials and have a review about Milan erasers to be posted this week; I'm filming more tutorials and speed-drawing videos; and as always, I'm creating wonderful art pieces, too. Have a look at what I've done for the week...
If you'd like to see a video of me drawing the background of this postcard, you can view the video via this link.
I did a tile with "Onion Drops", paired with "Printemps" as a filler.
I had taught a class how to draw "Arukas" so that they could place Zengems in the middle of the circles. A student then asked how she could use "Arukas" with other tangles. I did this tile to show her. Featuring "Bornaro" and "African Artist" as well.
Now onto some challenge submissions for this week. Starting with Joey's Challenge. We had to use String String 121 and pair it with the tangle "Pais".
My submission for Diva's Challenge. I used the shape of "Singapore Sling" and added "Cadent" in it with a cute little "Luv-a" border. "Singapore Sling" is my tangleation of "Auraknot". You can see the step-outs for it by clicking this link.
My mum's tile for Diva's Challenge. "Mooka" with "Verve" inside it, and some "Tipple" details.
I'm so close to finishing my tangle-a-day calendar for the month. Get a printable template of the February 2016 Calendar for free by clicking this link. If you'd like the January 2016 one, you can have it too by clicking here. I hope you like them~
Lastly, a commission piece that I did. The client said that the border looked a little too empty. Solution? Draw "Diva Dance" on the frame and matting board, of course. ^-^
Thank you for looking. Leave a comment letting me know what your favourite tangle pattern is. I want new ideas for my February calendar page.
I was in the Certified Zentangle Teachers (CZT) Seminar 21, and it was there that I learnt how to draw "Auraknot". I loved how simple it was to create, even though it looked so beautifully complex. However, to me, Auraknot felt a little.... harsh. I wanted to make it look softer, more feminine. "Perhaps I should round out the point-y parts," I thought to myself. It was then that I created "Singapore Sling". I didn't come up with its name, by the way. I showed the tangle to Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, and much later, they emailed me saying that, amongst themselves, they would refer to the tangle as "Singapore Sling" as I lived in Singapore and the tangle resembled a sling. I found the name delightful and have stuck with it since then.
If you already know how to draw Auraknot, this will be a breeze. The main difference is that the lines inside the Auraknot are tapered (you'll understand what I mean when you look at the step-outs), and that instead of starting with a point-y shape, you draw a flower shape, instead.
Here are the step-outs:
To see this in a larger format, you can right click > open in a new tab
Or if you're on mobile, you should press and hold the picture. A little menu should pop up to allow you to open the picture in a new tab.
Instructions in more details:
First draw your basic outline. Kind of like a flower. It can have as many "petals" as you like.
Draw a line.
Aura that line. Make sure you taper the ends. ("What does that mean?" You might want to have a look at the picture below to get what I mean.)
Turn your tile. Draw another line.
Aura that line. Remember: tapered ends.
Turn tile. Aura line.
Turn tile again. Aura line again.
You know what to do.
You've completed one round around the original flower shape that you drew. Now you can go another round. I usually go two or three rounds in total. Then it starts getting too crowded in the flower shape...
Now, what do I mean by "taper the ends"....
You can also see how different Auraknot and Singapore Sling actually are.
The concepts behind how to draw them are very similar, though.
Here's what my mother, Joni, and I have created using Singapore Sling:
Singapore Sling with jewels.
Done by Joni. She likes to add perfs around her Singapore Slings.
Here's Singapore Sling with Nipa.
Here's one done on a black tile with some glitter Tipple and soapstone highlights.
Tiny Singapore Sling on a regular Zentangle tile...
And for contrast, a beautiful and huge Singapore Sling done on a postcard-sized paper.
Paired with colourful Tipple (we love using Tipple around here), and some gold accents.
I also continued to explore in my sketchbook the various things I could do with Singapore Sling...
Varying the shapes, how the lines overlap, the number of points you draw...
These all change the outcome of how your Auraknot/Singapore Sling will turn out. Explore options for yourself!
And as a throwback, this is the drawing that sparked my intrigue in how different Auraknot and Singapore Sling could look if I tried drawing it in different ways. (Yes, you can even add perfs or beads INSIDE Singapore Sling!)
Last but definitely not least, here's a tile in which I drew something that was an Auraknot-Singapore Sling hybrid. I loved the tile then, and I still love it now. ^-^
Also see my "Mooka, and then some..." post where I show you my way of drawing Mooka and the many things you can do with it. You can find it by clicking right here.
Update: I made a video of me drawing Singapore Sling.
I hope you found this post inspirational. Will you be trying out Singapore Sling? I'd love to see what you do with it. Keep tangling~
