Have you noticed the colouring books everywhere? They are in book stores, at the grocery checkout, even discount stores. Colouring is a pastime that appeals to many — a way to focus on making something beautiful while being calming.
Here is a colouring page that I am working on. I began with an inexpensive drawing pad. 12 x 18 inches. I purchased this size because it was the best paper quality available at the local pharmacy and I had not brought my preferred mixed media or watercolour paper home for the long weekend.
I established a string, or areas that I would place pattern inside of. Then I created the central ‘knot’ and the three knots that sit behind. Then a border of ‘flowers’ and leafy vines. The flowers were created using a blend of two patterns, (a) Cadent and (b) Fengle, both Original Zentangle® patterns. Rather than using a solid line I used a dotted line or stippling to vary the line quality. The vine was first penciled in so I could keep track of the over and under twisting. Then using Poke Root, another original Zentangle® pattern, I inked in the vine with a Micron 005. A thinner weight than the 08 center knot or 01 background knots.
The farther I worked around the ring of vines the less I liked it. Despite my better judgment to stop there and call it a loss I pressed on, interested to see if I could salvage the whole.
Next up was the pointy areas and a pattern similar to Twing (Original Zentangle Pattern) with one central orb instead of many and surrounded by cross hatching or lines going in two directions. The more shallow points needed something more organic to repeat the idea of the vine. Inspired by quilted feathers and scrolls I laid down a thick line for the spine and a thinner line as a leaf or plume. Bales or the first part of Fife fill the area between the two boarders embellished with curving auras and perfs (lines and dots).
I still was not happy; the vine border was too weak and the central knot was too bossy. It occurred to me that something behind all the knots might be helpful, but that too much might be distracting from the knots or get confused with the knots. A broken line! I used the tangle Drupe with a broken line and finished the center.
Next question — Was this complete? Did it need something on the outside? I chose an overall pattern, Courant done in a 005 with lines fairly evenly spaced while not being too close so that it might fall into the background and not distract from the main attraction.
Up next is scanning, reducing and printing out so that I can colour and shade in a variety of ways. Oh and to give as an example page to my February 6th class, Make Your Own Colouring Page with Zentangle®. We will be learning the process of creating a page like this on a smaller scale. More like the one I made for a Thank You card. I hope you will join me!
Register here.
