HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!


I was inspired by a pattern I saw on Sue Jacobs' blog and I further embellished it with squiggles and some colored dots to create these whirling tops spinning with fireworks for ringing in the New Year! 








LETTERS, TANGLES AND DANGLES



Tried my hand at some Joanne Fink stylized letters and dangles. Mine is Sakura Micron pen with colored pencil. I really enjoy the dangles and I think they add a lot of sparkle and joy to my work. 

ZENSPIRATION DANGLES

Calligrapher and author of Zenspirations book, Joanne Fink demonstrates her Zentangle-inspired Dangles in this video, and she  teaches some of the creative ways you can embellish your art with dangle designs. Joanne is a master at design and she offers great tips on accenting with colors, creating dangles, adding swirls, as well as techniques for using Sakura Gelly Roll Moonlight Pens, and  Sakura Koi Watercolors. This video is very inspiring. 



THREE POINT CELTIC KNOT




My daily Ink Fiddle emerged as another three-point Celtic knot, and I played with adding some more patterns in this one. I am very pleased with the shiny heart in the middle. It took me a while to figure out how to draw this knot easily, but thanks to You Tube I got a very nice pointer from Patrick Gallagher on How to Draw a Freestyle Celtic Knot. If you are interested in these and want to try your hand at it watch Patrick's video, it is great!

Just a note on the Micron Pigma colored pens, they are very dark, and seem to get lost in a piece that contains black unless it is just a splash. I am going to order the Sakura Gelly Roll Metallics because they are much more vibrant when placed in and about black ink or on black paper. I recently saw a demonstration on these and they are very exciting!


ONE TANGLE AT A TIME
A daily diary of Zentangle


Check out this fabulous 75 page diary for your doodles or Zentangle® patterns. Designed by Karen Izzi PhD, CZT it is just the right size to journal your favorite patterns, tangles, and doodles at home or on the go. Mine is on order! Love it! 



Celtic Knot or Not?


I am a person who loves challenges, and as I ramble around on the web looking at this artwork and that artwork I kept running into these fabulous Celtic knots, intricate in design and seemingly impossible to do without a very steady hand, an eye for spatial relationships, and a lot of patience, and then I happened upon a video on how to draw a Celtic knot EASILY, and that one word jumped off the page at me and off I went to try my hand at it. Now my knot is not as I had intended, but still it has an attraction to it, and I see many more Celtic knots in my future. It is fun and very rewarding! Oh, and it is the perfect accompaniment to an Ink Fiddle!

Here is the link to a video that can help you draw one with ease: How to Draw a Celtic Knot Real Easy




EDDIE THE FRENCH POODLE



So this is my friend's French Poodle. I was challenged to draw him in Ink Fiddle style and here he is! I just got some colored Sakura Micron pens so decided to splash a little in here around Eddie. I think he came out great for the most part, but as with most things in this process I can always see things I would change if I did it again. 



MY CHRISTMAS MANDALA



Hope you all had a blessed Christmas!


Happy Robin!

My wonderful husband got me a new set of Microns today that includes colors! I am so excited! This is today's Ink Fiddle, what do you think? Patterns are starting to be more fluid now. I had a lot of fun with this one, leaving a simple Robin in the center, which is me of course! 




My first mandala attempt. I cut a snowflake out of paper and used it for a template. The size is 4 x 4.5. Staying small for now while I learn patterns and get familiar with shading. Things are progressing right along for now. I need new Microns already, so off to Amazon I go!


CAT




Admittedly I did not spend an inordinate amount of time on today's Ink Fiddle, though I did connect with it in the small amount of time I had to do it. I drew the string first, then I put in a cat nose, eyes, and mouth and then doodled all around it in the dimmest light imaginable, haha. 



OH STARRY NIGHT


Vicki Garcia in California made this adorable Christmas ornament star. I love the homespun style she instills into her work, and I look forward to seeing more of it! 


A FEELING OF SUMMER....



This is a submission by an artist friend, Vicki Garcia. I love it! When I look at it I get the feeling of summer time, crisp summer fabrics, tiny flower designs, the smell of fresh laundered cotton dresses, the love of family, and children. Thank you so much Vicki! It is wonderful!


An Ink Fiddle of My Beloved Pooch



Good morning, not much time to chat today. I had to do something for my post today, so I quickly fiddled out this Ink Fiddle of Chris, my Miniature American Eskimo....I like it and may work on some more of these. Ok, have to run, have a great day!





A VERY SWEET AND TANGLED BOY!

By Wendy Kelly


I am so happy to be able to post the work of a dear friend out in California. She has two beautiful Chinese Crested dogs, Gatsby and Guinness. The dog above is Gatsby, and he is looking sharp in his pastel colors and a tad bit of "tangle" influence from Zentangle® mixed with an abundance of creativity from Wendy. 

Thank you for submitting your art to Ink Fiddles Wendy! I hope to see more from you in the future. 





MY OWN PATTERNS! YA-HOO!





I woke up this morning and went about my normal routine, hair, teeth, coffee, and then walking the dog, and as I went about my morning ritual I was pondering what kind of patterns I would use in my Ink Fiddle of the day. As I have mentioned before I have read and studied the works of others, but today I wanted to do something all my own. So as I walked the dog I referred back to knowledge I already have that everything in nature has repeating patterns and unique shapes, and so I looked with a discerning eye at my surroundings and this is what I came up with. The end result gives me a feeling of the South Pacific, as in tribal masks, beautiful flowers, things made of wood. In actuality the scary masks came from the shapes in my dogs NOSE! The flowers are  self-explanatory, as are the hearts holding the flowers, and the bottom right corner is taken from the knots in the wood on the dock where I live. Then I just added some filler shapes. This was fun, and tomorrow I will look for more repeat patterns in nature to emulate! 

HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY!

Please join me in creating interesting Ink Fiddles all of your own or try your hand at Zentangle®. I think you will quickly become HOOKED on INK! It is a meditation, relaxing, and it is nurturing for your brain. My quest is to find others who want to share, learn, and grow with me as I travel the black ink road! 



 
 

Happy Holidays!!!

 
 


This is my colored pencil experiment. I get a holiday feel when I look at it. I prefer the vibrant color that you get with paint, so will try that next.

INKING MY WAY ALONG.....



I think I have finally come out of my shell. There are loads and loads of Zentangle® websites out there in which to peruse the genius of Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, as well as a plethora of other repetitive pattern artists to study such as Mehndi, and doodle style free-form artists. My brain is swimming with the creativity that abounds on the internet in this realm of  "Yoga for Your Brain"! Soon I am going to try Linda Farmer's Zentangle® pattern challenges on Tangle Patterns. Her blog is extensive and very educational! Today I am posting my attempt at the Aura Knot, which is a Zentangle pattern name. I watched Maria and Rick do it on video last night and it is fun, easy, extremely variable, and the results are very cool, especially once you apply shading. Here it is, tell me what you think! I am also reposting my Ink Fiddle of yesterday as I have added some shading and I colored in the blank spaces on one side to create a different look. I really like it! In fact I am going to frame this one. I am looking for doodlers of all kinds  to join me on my journey, and submit any kind of Zentangle®, doodle art, Mehndi, mandala, or any kind of repetitive pattern art  to Robin at chezrobin@gmail.com. I look forward to seeing what YOUR results are! Ciao!


Tangled up in Ink

DOODLING IS AN ART FORM!!!

I think most everyone has picked up a pen or pencil and drawn random, mindless doodles. We do it while talking on the phone or while in deep thought about something, and we are not concentrating on it or paying attention to where it's going or even what the end result will be. Well this is art my friend! I call it Ink Fiddles and it is a wonderful, enthralling, meditation that leaves a lasting impression on paper that is beautiful, and sometimes mystical, but most certainly always worthy of journaling, framing,  and showcasing. 


In this blog I am going to be posting a lot of works by various artists, as well as links to websites that will assist you with the best tools to use, learning new patterns and techniques, as well as the best ways to display your fiddling adventures. Get ready to be amazed!


If your inner artist is tugging at your soul to wake up your creative spirit, then join me in this quest to explore, learn, and create Ink Fiddles. 



Eye Know ~ Artist Unknown









Fiddling Away!





Today I decided to cut up my Bristol Board paper into 4 x 4 squares. I used my two Micron Pens .01 and .05. The two side triangles are influenced by Zentangle®, and the top and bottom patterns are my own, as well as the heart and flower in the middle. I like the more organized flavor of today's Ink Fiddle, and the Bristol Board along with the Micron pens provided a much more controlled and relaxing Ink Fiddle session. I am looking forward to some contributing artists to add to this journey! Please come and share whether it is old hat to you or you are just starting out. Everyone is welcome! 


An Ink Fiddle a Day


The Start of an Ink Fiddling Journey


This Ink Fiddle was created on the blank space of a page in a magazine around this quote:

Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go. 
~ Mother Teresa 

Okay, so it's crude, a little messy, a bit disorganized, but it is a start! Since I was experimenting I didn't use my good Micron pens, I used a Precise Roller Ball pen. 

This is what I have learned: This type of art is a meditation. Your mind wanders and floats as you draw lines and shapes. There is no stress because there is no plan. It meanders along until it gets to the end, and only "it" knows where the end is. This is going to be a wonderful journey. 



Christmas Collection - LeeAnn's Zentangle-ing Fun

Metallic Pens on Black Paper


Artist Unknown





Flying Fans - Black and white Zentangle by myslewis, Sharla Hicks  
Courtesy of ZenTangle & Doodles by Kay Seefeldt





Hippie Art by Singleton

I love the use of patterns in the Hippie Art series by Singleton. There are more examples at

Tangelation combined with color. 


Added a touch of metallic green for sparkle
Betweed, Printemps, Leaves, Beadz and more...

Daniele O'Brien takes you along on her exploration of Zentangle, and other doodle art, and provides instruction on how to create patterns that she uses in her illustrations. I could ramble from page to page in her blog for days! 




MERRY TANGLED CHRISTMAS!



I have a wonderful group of friends on Facebook and we affectionately call ourselves Cupcakes, as our personalities are all synonymous with the sweet little cake we all love. We are situated all over the country and very few of us have ever met the others, however, we consider ourselves sisters and we share special things throughout the year. One day Vicki Garcia had mentioned her discovery of Zentangle® and we all fell in love with it, as well as other doodle art. So she and another Cupcake, Wendy Kelly, got together one afternoon out in sunny California and created these fabulous Zentangle® Christmas cards and little ornaments. When you open the card there is a simplistic little line patterned tree that is as sweet as the Cupcakes that drew them. What a beautiful surprise! I find more often than not that it is the little things in life that mean the most. Thank you California Cupcakes! 

Patterns to Tangle by.....




Cindy Angel is an accomplished repeat pattern artist who incorporates Line Art Patterns she designed to use in Line-weaving, Zentangling, Doodles, and/or line-art pieces.On her website, The Rainbow Elephant she shows you patterns as well as instructional videos using the patterns. She also showcases her own art and note card series that she has created using those patterns washed with vivid colors to create unique and eye-catching art. Visit her! She is inspirational. You will find her pattern list here.