I’ve not really ‘done’ a Zentangle before. I’ve dabbled and kind of began drawing one, but begin is as far as it ever got. Words were said, such as: “I can’t quite understand the joy of this…” and …. “.. it’s pretty … but … I’m not sure I’m cut out for it.”. And that’s as far as my venture into this unknown thing got.
So when I was trying to think of something to draw for a daily drawing #InkTober2017 and Zentangling popped into my head, I should have wondered why.
What was I thinking? I know that a Zentangle looks like a quick bit of doodling, but I’m here to tell all those of you who haven’t tried their hand at this form of artwork, that it’s anything but quick. Of course, it would have been a couple of hours shorter had I not began by measuring it out, cutting the right size of paper and got to the drawing of ‘V’ (I’d already drawn and coloured L and O – I didn’t want to lean on any artwork and dirty it, so thought I’d colour it in one letter at a time) … and it was after I began to draw the letter V that a slow dawning realisation came about that although I’d measured out correctly the size of the letters, I’d forgotten to add in the space between the letters which I’d require, so I had to start aaalllll over AGAIN! Grrrr!
To be honest I’m not sure if it’s the planning and sketching out which takes the time, or the then drawing and colouring, but the whole lot adds up to a lot of work. It’s harder than it looks and I now have a new-found respect for anyone who does this as their chosen form of art. Seriously so.
Anyhoo … I didn’t get to post a photo yesterday for Inktober 5th so I’m missing a day, but I’m sure I won’t be expelled for it. So this colourful bit of Zentangled Art is my #InkTober 6th inking.
When I look at it, now that it’s done, I can’t help feeling that maybe this type of Artwork is this modern ages version of Illuminated Manuscript.
I kind of planned it out in pencil before hand, but then added the loops and coils and danglings and curly bits, twirly bits, hearts, dots etc etc, as I inked the words using a Zig Memory System Ink Pen by Kuretake. Everything was drawn out in that pen. From thin to thick lines – all the black you see is that one pen.
All the colour on the other hand comes from ‘Kuretake Clean Color, Real Brush’ Ink Pens. Try as I might I cannot find a better pen than these to colour with ink. They blend so, so beautifully, and with so little effort on my part. And clean up is so easy. If you (for example) use a bright yellow pen against a deep red one and get a dirty brush (nib) you simply do a tiny scribble on a scrap of paper and the pen is clean again. VOILA!
Well … that’s my #InkTober 6th offering which was missing.
Now the observant among you will notice that there was something missing from today. I’ll give the unobservant a clue: Today is Friday.
Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding.
Yup … there was no Friday Post. There is a very good reason for that. A very good reason indeed. And when I think of it I’ll let you know.
No … actually, to be serious. The truth is … [hangs head, looks down at toes and kicks imaginary dirt around with the toe of her shoes] . . . I er, umm … well … it’s like this … . . . . I [cough] … I fell asleep in the chair and when I woke up I went straight to bed and forgot that I had a date with you. I’m sorry. I shall feel guilty for ages about it. Well … for a moment or two anyway. I shall make up for it by inviting you all round for coffee and cakes next week.
Until then …
Have a truly wonderful weekend. May you find something to smile about; find something to do which you enjoy; and …. don’t forget to put your feet up at some stage and just watch what’s going on outside … even if nothing appears to be going on outside. Just keep watching. Something is bound to happen – even if it’s just a bird flying past; a squirrel running up a tree or a cloud floating by.
The second day of InkTober and I decided to go with another floral inky draw, but there was good reason for this.
I decided a couple of months ago that I should make an Art Journal. I had no idea about what I should do to make one, but having had a look around the interweb I realised that there didn’t seem to be really any rules about it, so decided I’d make my art journal my own way. And the reason why I decided to go with another floral inky drawing today – was so that the two facing pages of the art journal would have something in common.
Something that they could talk to each other about when the book was closed and on the shelf. They would whisper to each other about things they knew about and they had a common language in order to do this. … but ssshhhh…. don’t tell – because this is a secret!
So anyhoo – …. this is what I did for day two of InkTober .… Firstly, I roughly pencilled my idea, then I inked the drawing so that it looked like this …
. . . thereby fulfilling the required rules for InkTober … but … as you know, I can’t leave things like that. I have to add a little colour to make things smile. . . and since the first page of my new Art Journal was going to be the Inktober Daisy (from yesterday) . . .
. . . then some happy colours were called for on this second page . . .
I had wondered whether to paint directly into my new journal (which wasn’t really new at all. It was a book I’d had for a gazillion years but never used, because . . . I didn’t want to spoil it. yeah .. I can hear you laughing from here), or draw and paint onto watercolour paper and stick that into the journal. I decided I’d try drawing and painting directly into the book, to see if it would work ok… and it seemed to. So once I’d snapped the photo above, I then felt free to ‘decorate’ ….
Gesso (white) was applied around the sprig of flowers, and once dry I sprayed some mica sprays, in 3 different colours from Lindy’s Stamp Gang, unfortunately the photographs don’t seem to pick up the mica which is held suspended in the liquid so I tried tipping and turning the book to try a capture the glimmer … this next photograph is probably my best shot. It shows the mica the best on that lower blue flower . . .
. . . Can you see the magical twinkle on the petals there? Teeny tiny littl droplets of gold? Looks like Fairy Dust!
While that was drying I got to work on the Daisy from the first day (yesterday) of the Inktober challenge.
I tore around the edges of the daisy and then fixed it in place. Then carefully applied Gesso all around the page…. and once dry I treated the page to the same mix of Lindy’s Stamp Gang sprays and left them to dry.
Looking at the pages I knew I wasn’t finished with them … there is something calling to me, and I think I know what it is …. but for now, I’ll concentrate on Inktober and the pen and ink drawings … when I’m not making a card or something, naturally!
The items used in the creation of the little sprig of flowers are:
As always, please be assured that I am not employed by either of these companies, nor do I receive any payments in money or products in order to promote any products for the companies concerned, I’m simply sharing what works for me. (Of course, if Kuretake or Lindy’s Stamp Gang want to offer me some products to try, I’d be more than happy to try them and report on my findings. Who am I kidding? They don’t read my blog for goodness sake! lol).
Thank you so much for coming, and before I go . . . may I just take this opportunity of welcoming some new followers to the Cobweborium Emporium blog. I won’t name names but rest assured that I will recognise you if you comment at all, and can promise that you’ll always receive a reply.
Thanks to these new followers WordPress sent me a congratulations a few days ago telling me that I now have over 500 followers. Now considering that I don’t ‘do’ the Facebook thing and I have no family followers (no seriously.. I really don’t. Only three members of my family know I even keep a blog!), I think that 500 people is quite an achievement . So I mentally gave myself both a high-five and ate a cake! ( …. well, it was my unbirthday!)
So a big HELLO to the lovely new people reading. Thank you for clicking to follow and joining us all here.
I wish you all a blessed rest of your Monday. May Tuesday bring you smiles, warmth and a few laughs along the way.
A couple of weeks ago I read about something called Inktober from a fabulously talented fellow blogger. She talked about Inktober and gave a link, [Inktober Link – will open in another web page for you] so I went to have a look.
In 2009, Illustrator Jake Parker set out to refine his inking skills and develop positive drawing habits. That year, for the month of October, he challenged himself to create a drawing every day using only ink-based products. After watching how his technique evolved, Jake decided to dedicate every October to his passion for ink drawing – and “InkTober” was born. Since then, InkTober has grown into a worldwide movement with thousands of artists taking on the challenge every year.
Jake says on his blog that anyone can join in the fun. You don’t have to be a fully paid up member of anything, nor wait to be invited. You just pick up your ink pen and draw! You might not call yourself an artist … but once you pick up your pen and draw … YOU ARE AN ARTIST!
The ‘rules’ are:
You don’t have to do it every day. You can do it daily if you wish, or go the half-marathon route and post every other day, or just post once a week. What ever you decide, just be consistent with it. InkTober is about growing and improving and forming positive habits, so the more you’re consistent the better.
So … now it’s my turn!
I roughly pencilled out my drawing first then using my Kuretake Zig Millenium (005 size) in Pure Black (this pen is recommended for drawing and scrapbooking) I drew a Daisy.
But … me being me, I couldn’t leave it there, and I had to add a little colour so … this is what happened:
The pens used in this drawing/picture are all made by Kuretake, and the colouring pens used are called Clean Colour, Real Brush pens.
The colours used are:
Flesh
Gray Tint
Yellow
Bright Yellow
Mid Green
Pale Green
I bought a full set of these pens after seeing them demonstrated. I’m not a colourist by nature, I’m a painter – and because of that I have a real problem making colourists colouring pens behave in the way I want them to. But … I’m finding these Clean Colour pens to be outstanding. There is no need to use those special blending pens which I’ve found you need to use with some other artists colourist pens. These just know exactly what you want them to do and do it – as if by magic. And clean up is moments.
So … now you know what InkTober is about … how do you fancy joining me on a bit of drawing this month? You don’t have to be Picasso, Dali, or Degas. You just have to be able to pick up and pen and draw anything you want to. Boxes, triangles, trains, fish, mouse, sheep, a flower, … anything.
Please …. come and join me in the journey with a pen. Any journey is way better when you have a friend to hold hands with.
NB– Although I’ve sung the praises of Kuretake pens, please know that I receive nothing by way of a gift or monies or payment of any sort or description. I simply tell you what works for me and what I’m impressed with. I don’t work for Kuretake or represent them in any way. (It might be a dream, wish or even on my bucket list. But it’s only on a post it note pinned to the wall of my brain. lol)
Please consider having a ‘go’ at this. It’s all just a bit of fun and you’re not competing with anyone, and there’s no prize. It’s just a few minutes of fun every day, while you’re having a coffee. Do it. Take a photo and simply post it on your blog!
HAPPY Friday! Don’t you just love Fridays? They have such a happy sound about them. Say it… FRIDAY! When I say it, it sounds like it’s a bottle of fizzy bubbles, which will make a BIG POP sound when it’s opened.
Y’know … I think Friday ought to be re-named – FunDay.
[stands on footstool and takes up her trusty sword in one hand, and puts the other on her hip] … “Let it be known by all those who hear my voice, that from this moment on, Friday will no longer be called Friday, but instead it will be called FunDay. It is now proclaimed, and will be written into history, that on this day, of 9th of March in the year 2017, FunDay began!“.
There. It’s done. Spread the word … from now on, the day after Thursday,but before Saturday is, from this day, to be called —> FUNDAY!
So anyhoo … you and I know why you’re here – it’s to find out all the things I’ve learned this week. So shall we crack on and I’ll educationamalise you in the same way I’ve been educationamalised? Got your coffee? Let’s go then! ….. (this first one I apologise to the boys who probably will roll their eyes … but, I’m a girl. What can I say? [smiles and shrugs])…
I learned this week …. That I absolutely ADORE the new cosmetic brushes which the cosmetic world introduced us to, ‘fairly’ recently(ish). I’ve been seeing these new style cosmetic brushes – thicker, more lush and way more soft, than I’m used to using for a time now, but they seemed like a bit of a ‘new box of tricks’ which I really didn’t need, so I didn’t fall into the trap of buying. Besides… some of them are quite a price too! However, I went into a store near where I live about two weeks ago and they had a special offer section of items which they had left overs of, and, since new stock was about to come in, they’d reduced the old stock items. Amongst everything there was one cosmetic brush. All boxed up and looking like a cloud made out of the softest ‘hair’ known to man. (It’s not ‘real’ hair or fur … but can’t remember what the box said it was). I looked at it, picked it up, put it down, then .. picked it up again. They’d reduced the thing to £2 – an absolute bargain. I uhmed and ahhed, and told myself I was being daft. I didn’t need a brush to apply foundation. (I use cosmetic sponges for goodness sake!). So I did no more … I put it in my basket and bought it. (sigh … a girl can’t resist a great bargain!).
I got home and put it on my dressing table. Every now and again I would pick it up and stroke it over my hand just to feel the softness. It took me ten days before I used it. Oh My Goodness! WHAT A SURPRISE I GOT!! Girls … if you use foundation cream when you put on your cosmetics and don’t currently own one of these brushes, you HAVE to buy yourself a brush to apply your foundation cream. There are no stripes, no streaks, and … it doesn’t dry out half way during application – so no dragging of your skin! The brush gives the perfect look to your ‘finish’. Instead of a flat, solid-looking colour, you get an ‘airbrushed’ finish. Everything is smoother, no signs of over-applying in any area, and no finish lines around your jaw or down your neck.
Not ‘my’ brush, but a piccie of one as near to it as I could find on the interwebby. My brush has a pink handle and the brushy part is slightly fuller.
The brush I bought (I should have taken a photo of it. tsk tsk. sorry!) is a short brush with a short handle, and a huge cloud of soft fluffy fur. You apply a (roughly) penny sized blob of foundation to the back of your hand, and then you softly swirl your brush around and around picking up the foundation on all of the bristles, then using the same swirling motion, apply the foundation cream to your face – taking it over your eyes, around and over your nose and all over your face, up to your hairline and down your neck. Then, take a mirror over to the window and have a really good look at your face. You’ll be surprised at how airbrushed you look. But … you don’t look like you have foundation cream on. You just look a more perfect version of yourself.
I’m so thrilled with this new brush – so much so that I thought I’d tell you about it, just incase you might fancy a try of one of these new brushes too!
Ok… now I’ve bored the boys to pieces and they’re all snoring … (sorry boys) …
I’ve also learned this week … That Samsung (yes, the makers of that unfortunately exploding Galaxy note 7, which people burned their fingers with last year) do things other than phones, computers and TV’s. Would you believe … Samsung is currently making … the Worlds BIGGEST Container Ship … which will have a quarter of a mile carrying space. A QUARTER OF A MILE LONG! That’s four football fields long! It will carry 20,150 shipping containers, – so unloading that little lot isn’t going to be a rushed process!
The Container Ship is going to cost$609 million dollars – (just in case you’re interested in buying one) – and it will be ready, they say, to move loads of freight sometime this year, 2017. However … the huge vessel will be staying in the Pacific, because, at 193 feet wide, it’s too big to fit through the Panama Canal.
Poor thing. It’s not yet even had it’s christening and it’s already suffering exclusion because of its size!
But, Samsung aren’t stopping there … they’ve got a ‘transparent’ truck with TV screens on all sides too.
I can’t help but wonder how many accidents it will cause because people will be watching the TV screen of what’s happening ahead of the truck, and not notice that the truck itself has put its brakes on. Eeeek!
I also learned,via a visit to the doctor’s surgery where I picked up a bit of reading matter, a few things about Mother’s Day ….
I know that countries around the world celebrate their Mother’s Day on different days to ourd, so I might be talking ‘out of season’ for you in your corner of the world, but … Mother’s Day here in the UK, will be celebrated on the 26th of March (this month). It always happens on the fourth Sunday of Lent, and originally it had religious traditions attached to it.
I learned, courtesy of that brochure I picked up at the doctors, that back in the sixteenth century, it was a celebration of the ‘mother church’ and people would return to the church in which they were baptised, or where they attended as a child. Thus families would be reunited. This was known as going ‘a mothering’ or Mothering Sunday. It was commonplace for the Lent fast, which prohibited sweet, rich foods and meat, to be lifted a little and for a Simnel cake to be shared.
Years later, youngsters working as servants were given an annual day off to visit their mothers and would take gifts. This was called ‘Mother’s Day’.
The first official Mother’s Day was organised by Ann Jarvis in 1908, in West Virginia, as a memorial to her mum. By the 1920’s however, Ann had become disillusioned by the commercialism of the day and especially the common use of printed greet cards. Celebrating the day became less popular. It wasn’t until the second World War when soldiers wanted to acknowledge their distant mothers, that the day grew in popularity once more.
So … if you’re in the UK, you have no excuse for forgetting Mother’s Day this year – it’s on the 26th of March!
And finally, in your educationamalisation ….
I learned this week about a fabulous sounding App called Duolingo. It’s an excellent language app which teaches you languages using mini-games, andthey recently added the ability to learn with a friend. Très bien!
So I checked it out! It’s a lovely website, very bright and exceptionally friendly looking. You aren’t made to sit there for hours while you get frustrated because you can’t keep up with the lesson.
You can choose from many languages – Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, oh – and English! (I think there may be more languages, but those are the main ones I remembered). And you can choose how much time each day you feel you can commit to learning – starting from just 5 minutes! 34 hours of Duolingo are equivalent to a half-year (semester) of university-level education. And … it’s totally FREE!
OK… enough learning. You’re here for the jokes so let’s get our chuckle muscles ready …. On your marks. Get set. GO!….
How do you turn a duck into a soul singer? — Put it in the oven until it’s Bill Withers
My friend drowned in a bowl of muesli. — A strong currant pulled him in.
What’s pink and fluffy? — Pink fluff.
What’s blue and fluffy?— Pink fluff holding it’s breath.
I used to have a problem where I couldn’t stop naming classic American sitcoms, but I’m over it now. Ahh, Happy Days.
I was walking the dogs when all of a sudden they vanished into thin air. Not sure where they went, but I’ve got some leads.
Bought a litre of Tipp-Ex yesterday.Huge mistake.
What did the buffalo say to his son as he left for college? Bison.
Why didn’t the melons run off to get married?Because they cantaloupe.
My friend asked me if I could please stop singing ‘Wonderwall’.I said maybe.
I’ve started a business building yachts in my attic.Sails are going through the roof.
AND finally . . .
Did you know that owls can’t breed in the rain?It’s too wet to woo.
I hope you’ve got a grin out of one or more of those. I love funnies. I think I may have the best worked out chuckle muscle ever! The rest of my body is totally rubbish, but my chuckle muscle … ah… that’s one to be proud of. 😀
Thank you so much for coming and having a coffee with me. I’ve so enjoyed your company and really appreciate you coming.
My apologies to regular readers for being quiet this week. I had to take my elderly cat on her final trip to the vet. She was 22 years old and the most wonderful squeaky voiced little thing. I loved her dearly. It was a terrible few days and I spent them feeling miserable, shedding a few tears and missing her. The oddest thing is that I keep ‘hearing’ her. I was in the craft room and swear I heard her just outside the door. I heard her in the house too. Mr. Cobs said it was one of our other cats, (we have two other cats) but it really did sound like her.
I had a play in my craft room mid week, and made a few things – but none of them were finished or at a point where I could photograph them, so I’ll share them with you next week. Oh … and I realised today that we haven’t had a Give-Away for aaages. So perhaps next week we could do one of those again! (In case anyone is interested!)
May you have a truly lovely weekend. May peace reside over your home, love find its way to your heart and a smile be ever ready to show itself upon your face.
Sending you oodles of the squishy stuff, with a squidge or two hidden in there as well.
I had so much fun making the Brush Art (‘Art Work’) (link will open in another tab) which I made last week and couldn’t wait to make another, and, as luck would have it … when looking for something else in his shed, Mr. Cobs found a pasting brush which he’d never used and asked me if I wanted it for anything. DID I EVER!
I couldn’t wait to get to work on it. I already had a plan, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I had some tiny wee sheep knocking about my craft room, and an urge to play with paints. That pasting brush didn’t have to wait long. Within a few hours the brush handle had been sanded (thank you Mr. Cobs) and I was getting my paints out. Although it took me a few days to actually complete (drying time/setting time/working time etc etc) I love the end result.
I’ve taken a couple of photos so that you can get a better idea of it from each side….
The hedging at either end of the field – I made by needle felting, using wool tops from my felting stash. I needle felted the hedging, the tree tops and the ‘babbling brook’ running between the bottom of the field and top of the bristles on the brush.
The ‘babbling brook’ is more loosely needle felted, in three blue colours of wool tops – so that I could get that ‘look’ of moving water.
I’m having so much fun with the making of these brushes. I realised, while making this one, why I was enjoying myself so much. I LOVE miniature. I’ve always like to make and work with miniature things. Things with detail. I haven’t really been able to since we moved house, as there was still so much of my ‘stuff’ packed in boxes or just not enough room to get everything out and find a place for it. But it’s slowly coming together and that’s brilliant.
Would you believe it ... I already have a plan for making another one! Aw .. I’ll try not to bombard you with them … but when it comes to crafty fun – a gals gotta do what a gals gotta do. 🙂
So anyway ….
It’s Monday again. Someone stole one of my days over the weekend. It went from Saturday to Monday. Somewhere along the way I’ve lost Sunday. If you find it, let me know will you, and I’ll go and pick it up and bring it back.
Did you do anything fun over the weekend? Go anywhere? Make anything?
Do tell, share, confess your sins.YES.. CONFESS!Aww – now this could be good . . .
Step inside this wee box and confess all your sins.
Have you spent too much money on craft items?
Have you coveted your neighbours assnooo that really doesn’t sound good in today’s world. Try again ….
Coveted your neighbours servant? Nah, no one has servants now. (do they?)
Have you coveted anything belonging to your neighbour?
Or is there perhaps something more juicy, pressing down upon you which you wish to confess? It will be just between you and me (and a select handful of other bloggers, who have all be sworn to secrecy), and we will naturally all forgive you for eating those toffee sweets; buying yourself something clothing related and hiding it at the back of your wardrobe; (an old friend would do this very thing. When she eventually got the item of clothing out to wear, her husband would comment on it and ask if the thing was new, and she would always say: “I’ve had this for ages! See, you never take any notice!”).
Well anyway ... while you’re plucking up the courage to confess, I shall say… that’s me done and dusted. I really enjoyed making this bit of artwork and so hope you like too. Please let me know what you think. You know how I love to chat. 🙂
It’s lovely to see you here. Would you like another coffee? Biscuits? Toast?
Sending oodles of squidges from my corner to yours . . .
I’ve had this project in my mind for months and months. Well, I say ‘this project’ … it wasn’t necessarily THIS project, more an idea for a project of this sort which came to me when sitting in my craftroom one day. Dearest one, Mr. Cobs, had left a used paintbrush in my craftroom, on a bit of paper. He’d been painting the tongue and groove wainscoting in the bathroom a fabulous shade of blue and this paintbrush signalled the end of the project. I picked up the brush and admired it. I loved the blue – so seaside looking. Very what I call ‘Martha Stewart blue’ – only a little lighter.
I looked at that paintbrush for what seemed like ages, and felt an idea forming in my brain. Ooooh… I liked it!But . . . I didn’t actually do anything about it. Every now and again I’d turn the idea over inside my head but never actually begin it. That was until last week, when suddenly everything came together. It was like: The moon was in the seventh house, and Jupiter aligned with Mars, then peace will guide the planets and love will steer the stars! The idea exploded and I decided that this weekend (just gone) I was going to make it happen.
The colours in this photograph are, I would say, pretty true to what the colours are in real life
I’d had the little men for months,just waiting for me to get my act together, and I did, and it’s now here. I’ve given it a name…. ‘Art Work’.The reason is in the title. The men are at work, and the whole thing is a piece of my art so: Art plus Work = Art Work. 🙂
I used the flash on the camera for this photo so the colours aren’t quite so ‘true’
So that you can see it from slightly different angles I’ve taken a few photos which kind of look like they’re the same … but they’re not. I moved the camera each time so that you could get a ‘feel’ for the depth of the piece, and also how the colours work their way up the brush.
You might not believe this but this brush actually began life over the weekend as a brandnew 2″ wide brush.
The fabulous men are, for me, what makes this ‘come alive’. One man has a hammer and is making holes in the metal part of the brush – cheeky monkey! The man in the middle is trying to drill through the surface on which they’re all standing – how dare he try to wreck my art piece! And finally … the man on the left (as you look at the photos) is trying to peep into the hole which he’s standing by. I think he’s the one that tickles me the most. You can actually see how he’s leaning in and shielding his eyes while he peeps. He looks like he’s a little scared to put his head too close in case something pops out of that hole and bites him! Eeeek!
taken using the flash on the camera and lit by bright lamps either side of the Art Work – hence the dazzling brightness (sorry about that)
I loved making this and can’t wait to make more. Me thinks a trip to the local DIY store is on the list, to buy paint brushes!
Mr. Cobs and I came up with lots of fun ideas for many other Works of (paint brush) Arts, and we had quite a giggle together doing so. I don’t think it will be long before I’m back with another bit of this style of art.
Well, that’s my bit of Show and Tell for this Mondays session at school. What about you? What have you been up to this weekend, my friends? Been anywhere? Done anything which made you happy?
Whatever you did …. I hope your weekend was peaceful and up-lifting, and that you feel re-charged and ready to take on whatever this new week presents you with. May you have a wonderful week, and if it’s not, you tell me and then you and I shall form a very small gang and beat the ‘you know what’ out of whatever it is which has caused you strife. We may be small but we be MIGHTY!
The Art of Cobwebs 