[Zentangle novices, start HERE.]
This week, the Zentangle Diva challenged us to use the tangle, Shattuck, in a monotangle. Shattuck is one of my favorite tangles, so this week’s challenge was more relaxing than some of them are. I like to be pushed, to be challenged to expand my Zentangle horizons, but sometimes it’s also nice to curl up with a nice cozy tangle friend.
I haven’t peeked to see what others have done. I played it pretty straight, but I think I managed to obtain some depth with shading. I did start with a string. Can you see that there are actually vaguely distinct regions on the tile? (Is “vaguely distinct” an oxymoron?)
(This was done on an unaltered official Zentangle tile. The differences in color must be caused by the light when I took the photo.)
Even as we dodged the brunt of a nor’easter (a winter coastal storm in the northeastern United States with hurricane like winds) and dealt with some cold rain, the first of the flowering trees and daffodils are out in my Center City Philadelphia neighborhood and it’s looking rather photogenic.
We even have some tall buildings in Philly. These were the first two modern skyscrapers visible from Rittenhouse Square.
I live in the Rittenhouse Square area of Center City (what Philadelphians call downtown). I’ve already written an extensive blog post about Rittenhouse Square, so I’ll not reinvent the wheel. If you’d like to read more Rittenhouse Square, you can find my blog post on the subject, here. If you’re not sure why you should want to read my Rittenhouse Square blog post, let me entice you with these 5 words:
gorilla.painting.in.the.park 🙂
….because Philly is different like that. You can never be quite sure what you might find.
So, here are some of my photos of early spring on Rittenhouse Square—or you can skip right to the end, and leave a comment if you’re so inclined. By the way, if you have not yet discovered Instagram and you do not yet have enough ways to waste time, it’s becoming my favorite social media. You can find some compelling photography there (by other people)—and even the odd Zentangle creation. If you want to follow me on Instagram and see what I’m up to when I’m not intently drawing on little squares, you can do so at Boomeresque on Instagram.
Blossoming tulip tree in front of the Church of the Holy Trinity on Rittenhouse Square.
The Rittenhouse Square fountain awaiting warmer weather.
Philadelphia is not just about cheese steaks and poorly behaved sports fans. There is a serious civic commitment to public art. This rather ferocious lion was forged in France in 1832. (PS: He’s eating a snake, not the little man.)
And finally, Philly has some awesome sunsets.
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
Beautiful photo’s, especially the blossom and sunset! Thanks for sharing, always so nice to see some of the places where people live.
I read in some of your comments that you think you are not creative. I disagree, I like the vague string lines and different ‘ribbons’.
I like how your string causes my eyes to move around the tile.
I do like this tile: nice shadow, really depth is created and with a lovely touch of ribbons.
Philly looks marvellous in springtime, beautiful pictures!!!
Ria, we’re standing with all Belgians this morning. Hoping you are safe.
22 of march will never be the same in Belgium. It is really very sad but we are grateful for all the solidarity we get. Thank you Suzanne.
I booked a plane for next week (thursday) to go to Providence for the Seminar. At the moment it is not possible to fly from Brussels. Still I hope it will be possible than.
All the people do their best to repair the damage, as soon as possible. I only can hope, wait and see….
I hope you are able to get there. I think the CZT training in Providence will be an especially healing experience.
I love your tile and the photos of Philly the sunset looks amazing the the blossom trees so pretty 🙂
Beautiful tile and photos! What a treat to see the flowering trees! Still a ways to go here in Minnesota for that to happen!
Aha! the in between spots!
I found your Zentangle relaxing to observe. Maybe your description had something to do with that.But the photos are stunning…thanks for sharing your little corner of the world in such spectacular fashion:)
Thank you, Jacquie. I appreciate having you as a faithful reader of my pontifications—about Zentangle, travel, whatever. 🙂
Really like your Shattuck tile! Very creative.
Thank you for sharing photographs of Philly. The lion eating the snake made me laugh as you pointed out the guy he isn’t eating. Shattuck is also a friend of mine, a mac n cheese go-to. I like how you decorated the lines into patterned ribbons and wove them through your composition; great movement.
Have a brilliant day! Cheryl
Your Shattuck really called for a longer look that I usually give a tile. Very interesting! I also always enjoy your other photos. Happy almost real spring 🙂 (We’re already in the 90’s!)
Gosh you have wonderful skys too! I like your Shattuck and I can see your string, it is very subtle.
I love your tile, i can see its One of your favorites. Great shading. Beautiful.
The shading here is excellent and creates great depth. i too like the ribbon of pattern threaded through.
Oh, I love that sunset! very nice. Impressive statue, too. But I do love your Shattuck monotangle…yes, I can see the string. Quite well done. The different patterns inside the Shattuck “ribs” are nifty!
Wonderful tile! I like your Shattuck with those lovely ribbons. Great depth!
Fantastic photos! That sunset is unreal;-) I love your Diva piece especially the embellishment of the “spines” 😉
Your diva tile is really wonderful 🙂 I like the different “stripes” between the Shattuck lines (I hope you know what I mean) and your shading is great!
Like the different variations that you did. Shattuck is also one of my favorite tangles. I think it is very versatile and I find it easy to relax when I do it. I think that it is due to the repetition of the same stroke. Like the pictures of Philly. Of course my current interest in your city is the NCAA tourney. Probably due to the fact that I live in Indiana. Will be a lot of fans there this weekend. I hope they behave themselves.
Love the photos.
Nicely done tile, especially your bedazzled strips! But, even more I enjoyed your spring photos of Center City. Such a nice neighborhood.
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