Pencil drawing

A quick sketch (15 minutes) with graphite ... my son at age 17 - in relaxed company.  I loved the photograph of him here! 

Still Taking Leave - but wanted to Share This

 I needed a break from all that is Zentangle and Quilting ... so I picked up my coloured pencils (Prismacolor this time), a bottle of Zest It Pencil Blend and a journal that I had made from Fabriano Artistico Watercolour paper.

I had previously done a watercolour wash on all the pages with different colours and then spattered watercolour paint wash with a brush onto the pages - some I used rock salt as well.  This gave me a fantastic background to do some pencil paintings.

This is the front page ... you have to know that I did not have flowers to copy from ... I copied a line drawing and coloured from the heart, how I recall these flowers to look. So they may not be botanically correct.   That is okay - because it is a journal of my favourite flowers!

 This is a little way into the book ... on the Pink page.

The yellow page ... I love daisys

All of these Pencil Paintings were done with a base of colour, a layer of Zest It Pencil Blend and then more layers of colour. 


I have had a restful weekend doing what I love to do  - draw - with colour!

Okay ... see you all in a week or so.

Cheers
Jane
x

Taking some leave

Hi there ... just writing to let you all know that I am going to be taking some leave from my blogs for a little while.

I hope you have enjoyed my postings and the couple of videos ... keep Tangling!

Jane
x

Video Tutorial - Zest It Pencil Blend with Colour

What you have all been waiting for ... this video shows how I use the Zest It Pencil Blend to blend Prismacolor Pencils, Derwent Inktense Pencils and also a Generals Sketch & Wash graphite pencil.   The video does go for over 10 minutes though.   I also forgot to tell you that you can "sharpen" or "clean" your Paper Stump by using an emery board - the big ones with foam in the middle work well, or just use a piece of sand paper.  It is best to clean them when they are dry.    

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj9YNTatJVA

I couldn't upload the video to my blog ... if the link doesn't work you cut and paste it into your search engine it should take you to my video tutorial  -  I hope you enjoy this video. 

Happy Tangling for now ... Jane x

A Winter Wonderland in Tasmania

 Last week in the Central Highlands of Tasmania we had another snowfall ... this one was much more substantial than the last one we had a few weeks before.  I know to some of you, you see more snow than this during winter - but it is pretty exciting for me as I was well into my twenties before I saw snow.

 A little frozen lake

The back yard!   It was wonderful to wake up in the morning and see all the animal tracks in the snow - mostly wallabies.

Stay tuned for later this week ... a Zest-It Pencil Blend video tutorial ... it takes awhile to upload so I will do it when the house is quiet.

Also thank you to Jacqui of J and T Blackman Ltd who own Zest-It ... Jacqui has listed my blog and website in their How to use Zest-it Pencil Blend with Coloured Pencils section ... here is the link if you want to have a look ...
http://www.zest-it.com/colouredpencils.htm

See you all later this week ... I hope you enjoy my snow pics.

Happy Tangling ... Jane x

Tangle with Crayons & Zest It Pencil Blend

 My finished piece.

 I used Caran de'Ache watersoluable painting crayons and laid down three areas of colour - very lightly.

 I then used the Zest It Pencil Blend on the wide part of a blending stump and blended the individual areas - starting with the lighter yellow first.  Unfortunately my photos do not show the real picture - the blending was quite smooth to look at in person.

 I then drew some of my favourite tangle patterns, including one of my own - "Wiggle" (making it's debut here)

 I then added "bubbles" with my Prismacolor Verithin pencils - I love these as they keep a really nice fine point when sharpened.

 I then coloured in more of the actual tangle patterns  and the finished Tangle is at the very top of this posting .... this took me tops 15 minutes to do and I loved the colour play.  

 I thought I would do a quick visual guide for some of my pencils and how they work with the Zest It.

This one is my General's Sketch & Wash graphite pencil ... I first laid down a very quick graduated area of graphite, then used the Zest It Pencil Blend on the bottom half - the water soluable graphite has some really really good possibilities when shading some of my larger, more complex drawings.

You can see here I have done the same as the graphite but have used some of my colour pencils and crayons.   Click on the image to get a better view.

Now I have worked out how to do quick little videos ... I will work on one over this next weekend on blending with pencils and Zest It.  I can't wait to have an interrupted day of playing with my pens and pencils.

I hope you have enjoyed this rather long post ... see you next week with another video.

Happy Tangling for now ... Jane x

Video for Jane's Tangle Pattern "SPINNER"

This is my tangle pattern "Spinner" ... it is really simple and very useful to add a bit of fun to your Zentangle art.










This is my very first video, so I hope it is okay and you can see how I create this simple pattern "Spinner".
The video was taken on my Olympus All-Weather camera - just a little point and shoot digital - I'm amazed at what it can do.  The only problem is, I don't know how to edit it - so what you see is what you get - I don't think it is too bad though.

I hope you enjoy!

I have some samples I did on the Zest-It Pencil Blend, showing how it works with different types of pencils, also a water soluable graphite pencil.    Check back later this week for that post.

Happy Tangling for now ... Jane x

Tutorial for Blending Coloured Pencil with Zest It

 As promised - here is my tutorial on how to use Zest It to blend with coloured pencil - Zentangle style!

Start with a drawing ... of course I couldn't go past Mooka Pods.   You will see that I have only done the line drawings with the Pigma pen - no patterns inside yet.

 Lay your colour onto the drawing.   I have used Prismacolor Verithin pencils here.

You can see you only need a light covering.

 Next colour - pink

 Add some green into the stems

 Darker green into the stems and the frills on the pods.

None of these have been "blended" yet.

With a paper stump, dip it into the Zest-It and use small circular motions to blend coloured pencil.  Starting from the lighter colours first, then into the darker ones.

See the second pod from the left, I have blended that with a paper stump and some Zest It.  Be sure to add only enough Zest It to dampen your stump, don't have it dripping wet.

The difference in colour is quite pronounced and you can see that the colour is blended quite smoothly.

.

 Next I have done the green frill in the centre of the same pod (second from left)

 I have started the main pod here ... can you see where I have blended so far?

 The purple of the largest pod is now blended.

 Here I have blended all the pods and their green centres as well as all the stems and little mooka pods.

 Next I add in more inkwork with the Pigma Micron pen.

 I decided to colour the "peas" in the pods and have blended them as well.

 Don't forget to sign and date your art.

 Finished piece ... I have laid a light colouring of purple over the background but have not blended it with the Zest It.

This is the Blending Kit I sell in my store - janemonkstudio.com

The kit contains a 125ml bottle of Zest It Pencil Blend, a Micron 01 Pigma pen in black, a double ended paper stump, 5 Zentangle tiles and a kneadable eraser - all for $28.00

You can also use the Zest It Pencil Blend with Derwent Inktense pencils for a wonderful effect, as well as your normal watercolour pencils.

Have fun Tangling some Colour ... Jane x

Added Note:  To those of you who want to purchase Zest It outside Australia ... it is a product from the UK ... this may assist in your finding it online.  And Lori has added a link in the comments to help - thanks Lori.

I would also like to add that if you are a serious pencil artist or want to pursue more detailed pencil work,  you can use the Zest It Pencil Blend to smooth out your under layer of colour pencil and add more details on top when this has dried ... very much like using a liquid marker ... a great way to get colour backgrounds for Zentangle Inspired Art.  I hope this helps and I would love to see your pencil coloured art if you would share it with me here at Jane Monk Studio!   Cheers for now, Jane x