Tangled Christmas Ornaments

I've been playing around with zentangled Christmas ornaments after seeing a picture of 6 ornaments and from zentangle.blogspot.com.  I didn't like any in my first batch, not happy with the symmetry or dimensions.  I finally drew one that I liked, so spent time coloring it.  I was pleased with the result, so the first was followed by two more, all of which I will be laminating to a piece of color coordinating paper, punching a small hole in the top, and finishing off with a piece of ribbon.  My husband asked me tonight what I was going to do with these ornaments ... and, as is often the reply with my doodles, I'm not sure.  I recently promised myself when I finished a tangle that I really liked, I would buy a nice frame and find someplace to hang it, instead of putting everything in a box. But framing doesn't seem to apply here.  Any suggestion?

One idea I had was to include ornaments with Christmas cards I send to the special people in my life. I have started sharing my journey publicly, so seems like I should be able to start sharing my doodles with the people I care about!

A Bolder Celtic Knot

I have been enjoying incorporating celtic knots into my art so much, I opened a new Pinterest board just for examples.  I recently found an article called Get It Scrapped, by Debbie Hodge, that gave step by step directions for the following tangle.  Her directions were clear and easy to follow, which made the process pleasing.  I embellished the celtic knot with some of my favorite patterns and some new ones I'd been wanting to try.  I spent a lot of time working on shading techniques on this tangle with my Faber-Castle colored pencils and am pleased with the gradient effects and shading, but don't like all the patterns I chose. I am planning to do this celtic knot again with some different patterns.  I'm still not quite sure what to do with the background, leave it white or add a color.  Any suggestions?

Interesting Orbs

I took a break from celtic knots to do this curving tangle after being inspired by a tangle I found on Pinterest called Tangles in the Desert.  I liked the curving orbs and thought they would make a good canvas for me to practice my Faber-Castle shading techniques.  The photo below didn't capture the depth of color in the original artwork.

My Next Celtic Knot

I spent quite some time searching celtic knots on Pinterest and on the internet, finding many difficult to draw.  I was not pleased with many of my initial attempts at a larger celtic knots, finding keeping my drawings symmetrical to be difficult.  I finally stumbled on this celtic knot shape when I was searching Pinterest for inspiration in a tangle by GwennieJo and was able to duplicate it satisfyingly. I had a lot of fun coloring this one, though I'm not yet pleased with my attempts to shade over color.

Discovering Celtic Knots

After completing the mandala, I saw a Celtic knot on Pinterest.  I thought it would be a unique way to tangle inside an organized shape.  I like symmetry, so found the knot shapes very pleasing.  Here is one of my first attempts.

Mendala

After my many experimental coloring and shading of flowers with my new Faber-Castell colored pencils, I was inspired to start drawing mandalas.  This is the last and most complicated mandala  I drew.  After avoiding this mandala for awhile, with no desire to finish it by adding shading, I moved on to other projects.

Beginnings with Faber-Castell Colored Pencils

I've been working with the Faber-Castell colored pencils I received for Christmas.  They are so much more versatile than other colored pencils.  There are so many ways to use them and, after much experimentation, I am focusing on using blending stumps dipped in paint thinner.  This method gives a smooth color that I find pleasing.  Here are a few of my early attempts.