A 2 Day Weekend Zentangle Workshop

 A new group of tanglers is born!

On the weekend I was in Hobart (Tasmania) teaching my 2 Day Zentangle Workshop ... what a great weekend.

This is a Zentangle Pre-Strung Ensemble ..the string lines are already done and each person has taken one tile and independently tangled it ... the results when they are brought back together are stunning.

Remember that some of the people who have completed these have NEVER tangled before ... some even said they "COULDN'T DRAW" -  I know, incredulous!

 These are the tangles from the first day ... oh so cool.

 All engrossed in their own Art ... Tangling away.

The youngest member of the group was Rachel ... she has been really creative and has done some lovely tangles .. I love how she has added colour to her piece ... she gave me permission to put it up on my blog ... well done Rachel, I would love to see more of your work.


Thank you to everyone who participated and to Moira who graciously provided her home as a workshop venue ... it was lovely.  

If you would like to book a workshop with me you can contact me at Jane Monk Studio link.

Happy Tangling for now ... Jane x

Taming Tangles with Colour

 Adding colour is something that I love to do.  It gives those tangles more dimension, a playful feel if you will.

I started with "J"

Then came R ... I love how my pattern "Swirly Blossom" looks coloured in with the background of  "Printemps", add in a few "Zingers", "Nouveau", "Tadpegs" and it is done.  Then I thought about just using colour to do the tangles ... so A appeared from the end of my pencils. I used "Tadpegs", "Fern", "Nerfy", "Finery", "Verdigogh" and "Sedgling".  A mix of my own patterns and the official Zentangle patterns.

In these three drawings I have used  Black 005 and 01 Pigma pens, Staedtler Triplus Fineliners and Prismacolor Pencils.  I am still a bit miffed that my box of Prismacolor Pencils have lots of broken lead in them - this is the second box - I figure the postage process must not be very good for them!

Then an "R" with both graphite and colour shading.  I have also used a Black 01 Pigma pen and a pale grey Staedtler Triplus Fineliner with a touch of Blue Prismacolour pencil.

I do love the colour, but I like the simplicity of B&W tangles. 

Happy Tangling everyone ... have a nice weekend ... Jane x

Jane's Pattern "Fern" and introducing "Nerfy"

I see that Tangle Patterns (aka Linda Farmer) has put directions up for my pattern Fern (thankyou Linda)  ... I do love this pattern - very versatile ... I thought I would show you a project that I have underway ... with a better example of "Fern" and introduce to you his little brother "Nerfy".   Nerfy is the fern before it gets to being a fern, that little tendril that comes up first.

The Fern pattern has lots of opportunity for drawing in other patterns inside it ... here I have used my pattern "Raindotty" and a basic circle pattern with a dark background.  I love the effect.

Also today I had a comment that a few of my patterns were like other peoples patterns ... this is bound to happen as we are all influenced by the same nature and things that abound on Mother Earth.   However ... I would like to say that my patterns "Connectors" and "Loave It" were first "published" in July 2010, before the other pattern came out.  Having said that ... there are subtle differences and in the long run, I don't think it really matters ... just enjoy the patterns.

I am looking forward to the weekend ... I am teaching a full two day workshop incorporating Illuminated Letters into your tangling as well as Shading and Colouring ... I can't wait.   If you want to book your own private workshop (minimum of 5 people)  contact me ... I'd love to hear from you and can be contacted here at Jane Monk Studio....  Happy Tangling for now ... Jane x

Zentangle Galaxies

I have been working on this piece over the weekend on and off and 2 hours today at the doctors saw it finished.    I had images of worlds and galaxies full of Zentangles whirling through my mind.  I like it.

And last week I added some colour to the front page of my A3 journal.   Still considering colouring the letters in red or grey ... not sure yet.

Happy Valentines Day to everyone ... hope your sweeties bring you flowers and kind words....Jane x

Something A Little Different

I love the "free fall" look that this drawing has.  I have stacked tiles in drawings before but this time I have drawn different size Zentangle tiles to give depth.

I could say I drew 19 Zentangle tiles early this morning!

Happy Tangling for now ... Jane x

PS .. I have just added some photos to  my quilting blog purrfectlyquilted showing my Zentangles on Fabric ... hop on over and have a look. 

Shading - try it, you'll like it!

There has been a bit of chat lately about using a tortillon for shading.   Personally, I like to use a blending stump which is a denser roll of paper.

You can really use anything - a tissue, a piece of paper folded or rolled like the tortillon, a piece of chamoise or fabric.

To see which method you like, get a piece of your favourite drawing paper...lay down some graphite and experiment with the different methods to see what you like.   You may like different methods for different effects.  Try different grades of pencil as well.

I sharpen my blending stump on a piece of fine grade sandpaper.  Although I do have one stump that I keep dirty (with graphite) so I can just add a smidge of shading without putting the pencil on the paper.  I also use the edge or side rather than the pointed end.

Heather P (on a Zentangle group) found this link with Google - how to make your own tortillon http://share3.esd105.wednet.edu/sotelops/tortillion.htm  - try it with different weights of paper for even more different effects.  By the way (for those of you who want to pick me up on spelling - smiling at Kit here!) you can spell it tortillion or tortillon, either way it is a stick of paper.

In my two day workshops, I go into depth with shading techniques - so if you are interested in attending a workshop, or organising a group of your own, let me know.  (minimum of 5 people in Tasmania - and other States can be organised.  I am currently in NSW in March and VIC in April/May) 
And remember I am a Certified Zentangle Teacher ... one of three in Australia and currently the only one in Tasmania.  You can see more on my web site here.....janemonkstudio.com

Happy Tangling for now ... Jane x

Work in Progress ...

 I have started working in my A3 Moleskine - not one to leave a blank page blank for very long, I couldn't resist.

Here is my front page ... it looked pretty cool with just the bubbles that are coloured in, before I added more ... but I didn't take a photo.

 Bubbles coloured in - I use a Graphic 1 pen to colour in all that black (you can buy them from my website janemonkstudio.com)

This is with all the background coloured in.


I am contemplating the next step ... the words are not quite defined enough for me and I am considering putting a touch of colour around the bubbles, or ... using a light coloured ink to put Zentangles in the letters - much like my Shades of Grey drawings below here ...

I have used Black Sakura Micron Pigma 01 & 005 pens here with two grey shades of Staedtler Triplus Fineliners.




And if you were wondering how I got those circles all so nice and round ... I have a Celco Circle Template with lots of circles ... so I thought I might as well use the tools that I have.  It works a treat!

Happy Tangling for Today ... Jane x

Look what arrived yesterday ....

 A huge A3 sized Moleskine Water colour Notebook ... yep A3 - 72 pages of 200gsm beautiful paper.

And a little baby one too!

I have put the Micron pen there so you can see the sizes.   www.bookdepository.com.uk  (free postage worldwide and pretty good prices too!) (wish I was affiliated with them, because they have a heap of my money - lol!)

 I couldn't resist that huge expanse of creamy thick paper and started to draw last night.   This book will be my own journal of bigger drawings - for posterity I think!

Not to be egotistical but I would like something of my art to remain for my family when I am gone ... what better way to do it than in a beautiful book form.

I have another little one and I use it to keep all my own patterns in ... I know you haven't seen some of these ones.   I currently have over 60 patterns of my own design and more in my head waiting to jump onto paper.

So there you have it ... a quick visit to the book depository online and I have a couple of beautiful Moleskines to draw in ... what more could a girl want (other than pens of course!)

Happy Tangling for now ... Jane x

New Pattern "Calipo"

Sometimes it is good to have a slow day ... I haven't been doing much at all but I did come up with a new pattern.

So to celebrate February (why not) ... I would like to share with you "Calipo".    I haven't had much time to play with it yet but I'm sure it is going to be a lot of fun in my tangles.

Enjoy....Jane x