[Not sure what Zentangle is? Start here.]
This week, the Zentangle Diva (Laura Harms) challenged us to produce a white on black Zentangle tile (composition). I have to admit, I don’t love working in white on black. None of my white drawing implements deliver the control I find with my Sakura black pigma micron pens, so I feel constrained. For today’s challenge, I used an official black Zentangle tile from the Mother Ship, a white Prismacolor pencil and a white Sakura gelly roll pen which comes out as gold sparkles. Without further whining ado, here’s what I came up with:
Tangle patterns: Ahh, Poke Root, Fescu, Rixty and some generic spirals.
I was in Miami Beach this past week for an AARP Life at 50+ Expo. (I fall somewhere in the “+” category). If you’re interested in seeing some of what I learned, you can read about it here, but I still have some tangle inspirations to share from my recent trip to the Catalunya region of Spain.
One of the places I visited was the Marimurtra Botanical Gardens in the town of Blanes on the Costa Brava. In fact, Blanes is considered the southern gateway to the Costa Brava in northeastern Spain. The gardens were lovely. I wish I could identify all the plants for you, but my botany knowledge is sorely lacking. I just like plants and flowers. If you recognize any of them and want to chime in by way of a comment, please enlighten us.
The Marimurtra Botanical Gardens has different types of habitats, such as this one for water plants. I think even I can safely say that these are some type of flowering lily pads.
Nature’s “tangleations”.
Even the tile floor in the gift shop has floral inspired designs.
And then, there’s this beauty.
{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }
The gel pens can be sensitive. Roll it on your finger before you start, and definitely try a Signo Uni-ball. You can get them at Jet Pens online. And, just toss them when they get used. You can’t get much out of them, like you still can with black, at that point. Your tile still looks lovely! I always enjoy seeing your travel photos!
Jean, thanks for the tip on the best type of white pens to use.
Beautiful tile and I struggle with the precision that is lacking in the gelly pens. But if I focus on less delicate tangles until I get the feel…maybe I can keep my own whining at bay.
Your tile has a lovely organic feeling!
I certainly share many of your complaints with the black tiles…if only they could come out with a white Micron ^_^ I suppose you could always fake it and use some handy-dandy Photoshop to invert it, but that ruins the whole point of the challenge. I’ll just make sure to do it AFTER I do a proper tile ^_^ Your tile is lovely, and the botanical garden photos are phenomenal – I’ve been to the one in Denver, does that count for anything? ^_^
Fortunately, I’m not tech savvy enough to use Photoshop, so your inverting idea never crossed my mind, but I must admit, it has a certain appeal because my white pencil was a PITA. BTW, of course the botanical garden in Denver counts for something.
I know what you mean about the white on black – it’s a whole different kind of challenge. I haven’t done much with that type of tangling, but probably should practice more. I like the tile you came up with!
NIce tile and beautiful pictures. Thank you for commenting.
Mitsubishi do a white pen and it’s the best I’ve come across. It’s a Uni-ball Signo and I love it. But I think we have to accepts that white on black cannot mimic black on white and deal with it. Not better or worse but different. Personally, I like your tile and your choice of patterns.
Dear Suzanne, Thanks for sharing your travel photos along with the black tile. I guess i’m in the minority on the white on black as it requires REALLY slowing down–the pen I use takes a while to dry…but this isn’t about me, it’s about YOU! I like the tangles you chose–a light-hearted approach makes this one cute.
I don’t know about the rest, but your green plant there is a succulent, looks like an Escheveria (I don’t know my Latin to make it singular). It could be a Sempervivum. You can probably find “hens and chicks” at your local garden center, which would approximate what you saw in Spain. They don’t need a lot of water or attention and can tolerate some cold. We grew them in Jersey.
My two cents. Have a brilliant day! c
Suzanne, Your tile is lovely. And thank you for sharing your travels with us. It is great to see parts of the world that I probably won’t get to. The photos are magnificent and help to capture the “flavor” of the area you are visiting. Keep traveling, tangllng and sharing. 🙂
Love your tile and the photos are inspiring. I would love to paint/stitch/tangle any one of them!
It almost looks Bedazzled! And the flowers – oh my gosh, how beautiful!
I have yet to catch your enthusiasm for Zentangle but I loved the photos. (But at least, thanks to you, I know what Zentangle is.)
Always happy to keep you in the know. 😉
Your white on black is beautiful! I keep seeing poke root! I love the beautiful garden photos!
Lovely tile! I like the sweet little stars!
Suzanne, your black tile is so whimsical and sweet! I love the glitter part. Your garden photos are so beautiful!. Love them!
A wonderful Post, Suzanne. Love your challenge tile. Your flower images are inspiring. Thanks for sharing your travel experiences. They are so fun.
Those are the cutest Rixty’s I’ve ever seen. Like little bugs getting ready to launch off the tips of grass blades. Terrific fun tile.
Charming post, as always. What a delight, to visit a botanical garden. I know one of those plants is a Hen and Chicks. The succulent near the top. Otherwise, I’m in about the same boat as you.
Beautiful work and fabulous photos 🙂
The white pens do take some time to get use to. From your description and looking at the tile am wondering if you had a Gelly Roll Stardust pen and not a regular Gelly Roll. There are a variety of Gelly Roll sets and the only ones that I nknow that have glitter are the Metallic sets or the Stardust. The Stardust pens on black do not show as much color. Love the travel pictures.
It definitely has glitter which I wasn’t expecting, so maybe it’s a Stardust pen. I bought it at the Mother Ship store at CZT #18 in Providence, RI.
I think the Stardust pens have a shooting star on the cap and there is a small ball in the cap that indicates the color of the ink. The gel pens just have Gelly Roll on the barrel and will indicate whether it is a medium or fine point. I think the metallic pens, the caps look like they have glitter. I think they all just say Gelly Roll on the barrel. I do not remember what all the other different types have on them to help identify them.
The metallics do have glittery caps, and they say “Gelly Roll Metallic” on the barrel. They also show really nicely (well, some of them do) on black paper. Hope that’s helpful ^_^
Your tile is delightful. I like the added sparkle and your garden photos are great inspirations. I think your reference to “The Mothership” is brilliant. I plan to appropriate it for future use…thanks for the chuckle 🙂
So, this is actually a test. I am trying to figure out how someone can stop a subscription to comments.
Hey Suzanne…nice post, I always enjoy reading your travel experiences! Cute tile …rixty looks like an interesting insect or a space alien! C is right the first green closeup plants are succulents from the Echeveria family and there are loads of varieties so I wouldn’t venture a guess. I am a succulent maniac and love to grow them because you can’t kill them by not watering them. I have a pretty brown thumb but can grow those. LOVED all of your photos!
I can even neglect succulents to death. Maybe that’s why I so enjoy visiting botanical gardens. I love flora, I just can’t be trusted to actually take care of plants and flowers.
I love the way your pokeroot seems to be growing further out from its’ corner spot.
Good job with your White on Black! Also thank you for sharing the photos also!
I always love to read your blog…so full of life and your pictures are fabulous. Your tile is all kinds of fun and I think you did a very good job. Using the white on black is very difficult for many reasons….first and foremost, the white pens are a bit bulky for intricate work, and then the problem of trying to figure out where to highlight. But yours is nicely done.
I love the tile!! And I can certainly see how inspiring the botanical gardens are! Lovely lovely photos!
You did a great job, especially considering the constraints of using a colored pencil on such a small canvas! I love your photographs, flowers are always such an inspiration for me. The tile floor fascinated me… it would make a fun tangle, wouldn’t it?
You did very Well with the gel pens. Your tile is very flowers and beautiful. I love iT.
Your tile is like a midnight garden. How I miss mine… Your artwork is amazing as usual!