Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Diva Challenge #136: A Whole Lotta Pokeroot

The Diva challenge this week was to use colour in a tangle. I combined this challenge with another project I'm working in right now. I'm reading One Zentangle a Day by Beckah Krahula and the below assignment was to practice pokeroot until I felt comfortable drawing it and then to practice shading and drawing it to create depth.  Pokeroot always reminds me of cherries so I used red and green for colour. I drew it to create layers of pokeroot growing over each other, then coloured the top layer is red whereas the bottom layer remains unshaded (except in the top left corner which I shaded red before making this decision). This is drawn in two pages if my sketchbook, resulting in the crease in the middle.


I find pokeroot really hard to draw so decided to practice lots, resulting in a whole lotta pokeroot. The first picture below was my first practice session with pokeroot, and the second picture was the next day after sleeping on it. My final strategy is to slow right down and be very mindful of my strokes. Also, I have to draw the circles the same way I draw tipple by being mindful of drawing an orb. Otherwise, my circles in pokeroot end up long and oval, which I don't like. Whenever my circles become oval I'm getting hasty. I also struggle with making pokeroot look like it's bursting out in clumps; instead I end up with rows of pokeroot each growing out of each other,which is less natural. I worked left to right on this drawing and got better at bursting as I went on. 





I broke two micron pens doing this exercise by pushing too hard, driving the nub up to the pen. Very frustrating, and a sign I'm not yet very zen yet with this pattern. More mindfulness required. I like it a lot better though. 

16 comments:

  1. You have been working hard on this tangle. I think you did quite well!

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    1. Thanks Anne! I definitely have been working hard, and I'm glad to see some results.

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  2. This is amazing! What a great idea and the result is just beautiful!

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  3. I think you've done a great job on Pokeroot.

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  4. I love the abundance of pokeroot, it's almost hypnotic! Lovely touch of colour, too :)

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    1. Thanks Helen - I'm glad that I could finally colour some pokeroot red because it's what I see every time I draw it.

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  5. Doing monotangles is a great way to work on a tangle that one struggles with. I have used it myself. You can definitely see the change. Your observation that you need to be more deliberate(mindful) about your strokes is spot on. I think it is easy to lose this on a tangle like Poke root.

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    1. I agree about it being easy to lose this on poke root. I don't find it to be a very interesting tangle, which is why I become less mindful. It's a great exercise.

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  6. Lovely. It's a great pattern and you've used it very well. As for the pens - some just aren't up to the job!

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  7. Your pokeroot are abundant....wow you have patience and I love the result! I think the pop of color gave them added depth and I adore them!

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    1. That's great that you see the depth - it's something else I was practicing. Thx!

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