Tag Archives: abstract

Tangling with Zentangle

art, art therapy, books, doodle, drawing, illustration, zentangle, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The school year ended yesterday! Yay!

As a dedicated doodler, I feel like it’s my job to try out all forms of mindless drawing when the opportunity presents itself. After work, the opportunity presented itself so I went to my local art store and went on a little art supply shopping spree. I picked up a book called, One Zentangle A Day: A 6-Week Course in Creative Drawing for Relaxation, Inspiration, and Fun by Beckah Krahula. Click HERE for more information on it. I’ve started the course today and completed the first three days because that’s how I roll when I get free time to myself. This is what I have created so far…

These were the first three patterns that I tried from her book.
These were the first three patterns that I tried from her book.

Next, three patterns were tangled up with some of the first few patterns in the next drawing.

Day 2, zentangle
Day 2, zentangle

And finally, Day 3’s zentangle doodle…

Day 3, Zentangle
Day 3, Zentangle

I am struggling with the whole idea of keeping the doodling structured into specific compartments of a square so I tend to ignore some of the author’s suggestions to keep the zentangle drawing in a square. I like the new styles and combinations of patterns offered by the book. I find it funny that there are specific names for these patterns, many of which sound like names given to furniture at IKEA. Great branding, though!

Also, I love the idea of shading my ink drawings with a pencil. It adds something extra to my drawings. While I enjoyed learning about this drawing style all day, I am ready to go back to freestyle doodling on napkins. If my Photography class this summer doesn’t take up all my time, I might try a few more of these tangle thingies.

Signing off for now…

The Faceless Girl

The Faceless Girl

When I was younger, I took a Psychology in Art class. There were universal shapes that were often drawn by children of the same age around the world. Then there were drawings that helped children without the words to articulate their feels who would draw their family members. Some of the more dominant individuals in the family were drawn bigger. There was something to be said about the proximity of each family member from the others. And then, there were illustrations of self-portraits that were somewhat angular with no eyes or no hands, maybe a home with no doors. Those were the parts that we, as students, were asked to pay special attention. They might be indicative of something that the child felt he or she was unable to express. No ears, eyes or mouth could mean, hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. It’s a bit speculative though.

I tend to draw a lot of faceless people. I’m not sure if this indicates anything in particular psychologically or if it’s just my own artistic inclinations. I guess I wonder from where our own inspiration comes. Is it our psyche speaking up? Maybe I should try a Jungian analysis of my artwork and see if there are any female archetypes represented here.

The process of creating seems somewhat like a waking dream, I guess. Maybe that’s why so many creative types often feel like a vessel of some unknown creative spirit rather than assume complete conscious control over what is put down on paper. Where do you think your creative inspiration comes from? Anyone know any books about this subject? Will have to do some research on it. My favorite book is Shadows Bright As Glass by Amy Ellis Nut about an individual named Jon Sarkin who became this creative prodigy after experiencing brain trauma. His personality changed and he just felt an overwhelming need to create constantly. It makes me wonder if creativity is biochemical or from the part of the subconscious responsible for dreams. Maybe it’s from our experiences or all of it combined. Anyway, it’s a great book and it’s worth a read. Here’s a NY Times review by Abigal Zuger, M.D.
…CLICK HERE…

So, yeah. Here’s my drawing. Pointilism with a micron pen. Happy Doodling!

Flight Interrupted

I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.

-Zhuang Zi (a.k.a. Chuang Chou, Zhuang Zhu, etc..)

Was watching the movie Inception while my boyfriend slept intermittently on the couch. He’d wake up with some vivid dreams and I would tell him that he’s still dreaming just to mess with him. Both the movie, his dreams, and this butterfly I began to draw all afternoon reminded me of this Zhuang Zi’s quote.

I remember reading Zhuang Zi’s works when I took an Asian Philosophy course during my undergraduate years. Maybe life is just a dream. Some of my dreams bring me such epiphanies that they feel more vivid than my waking life. Usually, drawing puts me into a dreamlike state during my waking hours as I let my subconscious produce an image that surprises even me. Other times, I search for some inspiration so I can plan out my drawing for the day, like today.

Near Pratt University in Brooklyn, there’s a lady who sells her extensive art book collection every Saturday morning down the street. I finally bought one from her. It’s called, America 1585: The Complete Drawings of John White by Paul Hulton. John White sailed to the New World and illustrated what he found here. I borrowed one of his illustrations of the “Swallow-tail Butterfly” for inspiration. Took a fine tip Sharpie and tried my hand at pointillism again for most of it.

Flight Interupted

And here’s the completed drawing.

Flight Interupted and Dino's napkin doodle 032

 

 

Abstraction on a Napkin

Abstraction on a Napkin

After taking photos of the protest at Union Square, it poured. I was soaked. Took a soggy ride back to Brooklyn, settled down for some dinner at good old Mullane’s Pub and doodled something on a napkin. Straight lines helped to mentally make sense of our chaotic world somehow. It felt very centering and made me think of Frank Stella’s artwork. Must revisit his stuff.

Classical Tea with an Abstract Lady

Classical Tea with an Abstract Lady

Because showing up in the abstract is all the rage! And be sure to bring along your matching striped duck while you drink from the finest English Abbey tea sets in the building. I’m currently centering my chi and drinking some Hibiscus tea at the best café in Brooklyn…in my apartment. I’m nesting a bit and working on summoning up my inner diva.

Stripes and Nonsense

Stripes and Nonsense

Was looking through my photos today and found a napkin doodle that I designed during my break. Lost myself in it’s odd design. It’s intuitive and fluid. I highly recommend emptying your mind and creating an unplanned, stream-of-consciousness doodle with some tea.

Masked Cabbage

Masked Cabbage

Lunch at 67 Burger today. Brought my sketch book along so I could try out this Zentangle craze and found myself frustrated with it. I went for a napkin instead and created a monster that ate the Zentangle design instead. I can’t bring myself to name him because he’s too weird. I’d prefer if people who viewed him would exclaimed, “Who was that Masked Cabbage?” when they see it.