...HeidiSue's Torsdag pattern. When I saw Torsdag for the first time, I saw geometry in the pattern although I am sure that was not HeidiSue's intention. Please visit her website to see her original pattern.
Pattern: Torsdag
Pattern: Torsdag
Pattern: Torsdag
...some patterns I practiced for the refreshers I am still working on catching up to. At the pace I am presently producing refresher tiles, it will take years to catch up with Linda Farmer's refresher publications. Still, I love the challenge.
Pattern: Blooming Butter for refresher 8
While searching on google for variations for the one or other pattern in refresher 8 I came across
a rather interesting flukes tile.
Half Time! Everybody who kept drawing alphabet tiles gets a breather. You are half way through, or only 3 more months to go. ONLY??!! I am surprised how quick the first 3 months went by. I bet time got an update and is now much faster.
This week at MadeByJoey's website her theme 'finish my tile' has reached the letter M in the alphabet challenge. The pattern alongside the M is MI2. Maybe not a top favorite of mine, but I have a positive outlook.
I started drawing on 29th and suddenly I remembered something: March 29th 2017 is (now was) Manatee Appreciation Day. How co-incidental. So, one of my three tiles is dedicated to all remaining manatees on planet earth - and dugongs.
But first my capital M. The patterns that helped besides MI2 are merryweather and mask - both new to me.
Patterns: MI2, Merryweather, Mask
Then the lowercase m with morning and morning glories. Yes, I stole the coloring idea from Ria Matheussen and her latest DIVA challenge contribution. They remind me of my English landlady when I studied English in London all those years ago. She was the unequivocal purple lady.
Patterns: MI2, Morning, Morning Glories
And here my Manatee Appreciation Day tile including a manatee - well, nothing wrong with my drawing, a manatee is just not a delicate beautiful animal to look at, but totally harmless and in dangerous of being extinct. Florida people, take good care of your remaining manatees.
This tile also looks most like Joey's m theme tile "Finish my Tile".
Patterns: MI2, Map, Man-o-Man and a manatee
Here the whole 'tile'.
Here the whole tile page for Manatee Appreciation Day 29 March 2017
Animals Help Line
I cannot make up my mind: what is more sickening, dog baiting or killing bear and wolf families, mothers and their cups, while hibernating in their dens. How low do people stoop to get the thrill from a kill is beyond me. Is that the latest trend sick (my upbringing prevents me from using a more descriptive word) and ego possessed people have come up with for their disgusting killing entertainment? Hunting animals the normal way has become too difficult because they killed all their game? I am sitting here shaking out of frustration and disbelieve!!!!
Hence - another appeal for a petition to be signed if you, too, think this slaughter of helpless victims cannot be accepted. Thank you very much.
Animal Happy Day
If you are still here, click on this video. Yes, you will cry, but they will be tears of joy...like the tears from this mother. And while you are watching, the background music will make you shed even more tears.
I loved this week's It's a String Thing challenge, IAST #189. We were called to use the pattern patience, which I haven't done prior to this challenge. I instantly fell in love with it. Instead of hurrying up to get a tile done, I played around with it and almost missed the deadline to send it in. The two other patterns were aura-leah and CO2.
This is the tile I chose to send in.
Patterns: Patience, Aura-Leah, CO2
This is the tile I chose not to send in.
Patterns: Patience, Aura-Leah, CO2
Here just a few 'play-around and have fun with patience' samples.
Animal Help Line
This time I ask you kindly to take time to sign a petition concerning the slaughter of baby seals that is still going on in Canada. However, I have to warn you, there is some graphic material on the page.
In the last few days, weeks maybe, I noticed tiles with an abstract watercolor background referred to as "Hefty Back". While searching for Hefty Back on the Internet I came across a MootePoints video on Youtube called 'Masterfield Technique' (Masterfield is the name of the author, Maxine Masterfield of the book: In Harmoney with Nature (Amazon)). In the video Cherryl Moote shows one of the watercolor background techniques from the book using Saran wrap (I used cellophane wrap) to form sharp lines and cracks. I had all material I needed at home and thought I would give it a try right away. The result was stunning (I gather that when you are new to something, anything is stunning).
So here is my capital L (can you spot the L?) on part of the green/blue watercolor background above and with a leaf as a border. I rather liked the result, but, woman, did it destroy my pen. So off I am to buy a new one.
Patterns: Leelee, Leafing
Now we come to my mammothian tries on the lowercase 'l'. The first shows the 'l' as a fat stick diagonal through the tile. I drew both sides of he stick the same so when you turn it 180 degrees it looks the same. I didn't copy anything, but it was a constant 180 degree turning to get it somewhat correct. I liked the idea, but the fat sticklike 'l' I certainly didn't.
Patterns: Leelee, Lealap, Lazy Eyes
So that triggered try number 2. Here the 'l' is supposed to look like an 'l' and be slightly transparent. Well, we are getting better.
Patterns: Leelee, Lanie
Still not happy I drew number 3 try. By now I knew I wasn't particularly fond of leelee. So with this tile I took leelee totally apart and placed all parts separately but to the left of the tile as per Joey's "Finish my tile" L sample. Then I took 4 'l's and stuck them to the right of the Luv-A bouquet. That completed my tile and I was satisfied and happy until...
Patterns: Stripped into single parts Leelee, Luv-A and 4 'l's
So here, finally, the last lowercase 'l' tile of this week and the one my present mood likes best. Lori did a perfect netting on her IAST tile and Lovelygiraffe's tipple was a fantastique job. On this tile I insist that I have met the criteria as well, leelee is on the left of the 'l' - look closely, they almost touch.
Patterns: Leelee
My pattern Lapin (Rabbit)
I created a few patterns and here is my first. Lapin - rabbit, it looks like rabbit ears. Thus far I only used it in my sketch book though. Here the 4 steps.
Patterns: Lapin
Lapin samples from my sketch book
Do you have the blues?
A few letters ago the topic "having the blues' came up, which reminded me of Bette Midler's song Glory of Love. In case you don't know the song and haven't seen either the 1988 nor the 2017 movie 'Beaches'... Or if you want to be impressed with the voice of a little girl click here.
Lots of love, kisses and hugs
When next you want to sign your email with XO, maybe you send this video instead. It is hilarious!!!
Last but not least. My heart goes out to animals, any and all kinds of animals. If you do, too, and have time to sign a petition (Life Export of Animals), please click here. Thank you so very much.
Occasionally I send one of my tiles to a friend of mine in Berlin, Germany. Her name is Renate and we met in the Maldives when we were both working there tons of years ago. What a great time we had! Anyway, her reply to each of my tiles was
"where are the colors" or
"I miss the colors" or
"if it was in color...".
She paints with paint, that explains it.
Only a few days ago same thing. So I thought "enough! you twisted my arm", and I took the subsequent challenge and turned it into a colored tile. I was lucky when next in line was IAST #188. The patterns fricle, zinger and fescu are easy and so is the string.
So I colored and colored and colored some more. My table top is colored now, too, and so are my fingers and my nose tip (I belong to those who draw with the nose almost touching the paper. I know, my mother always said...). So, Renate, this tile - in full color - is dedicated to you. It says so not only here but also in my sketch book. I hope you like it and that you are happy with me now.
I have to confess I enjoyed drawing it, but I doubt there will be another one like this any time soon.
Her challenge is a capital 'K' with the beautiful pattern kiss. I needed a few days to think about this challenge and the result is............... well, I...................... and then.................... is a................... yet still.................. and may....... that are............. a bit.
I am sure you will agree.
Lowercase k. I used the pattern kiss with only one other pattern: kuziem, the simple version. Furthermore, I have to give credit to Lori from allthingstangled for my background filler, the little black leaves from the kiss pattern (update: Lori has a brand new website called Doodle from the Heart). I noticed that Lori often takes a small part of a pattern and uses it as an ornament in another pattern, as a border decor, or as a background filler. I hope she doesn't mind my adaptation of her useful trick in my tangle here.
Patterns: Kiss, Kuziem
I managed to draw my capital K tile pretty close to Joey's original 'finish my tile' tile. Besides kiss I used a new pattern to me called kurlllz. It looks like this
I thought great, I can use the flowing bands to decorate the sturdy K, After I did the last embellishments I turned to rub my neck and looked out the window and what did I see? My laundry line with my old rags gently moving in the breeze looking oddly familiar to the hanging rags in my K tile.
Inspiration can hit you subconsciously.
I better stay away from the backyard when drawing my tiles.
This is my take on Abeko a la Helen Williams' take on the alphabet letter A = Abeko. I should have followed her monotangle voyage starting with the first letter of the alphabet, but sometimes it takes a punch and a push to wake up. Hence, here my A - Abeko tile after the B - Buttercup tile (I know, I could have back-dated this post, but that would have been cheating).
I can hardly wait to find out what Helen chooses as her C pattern. In any case, I am patiently waiting on my starting blocks, ready for my Take On...
The idea of the color offset in the loop was one I had almost to the month 4 years ago, April 2013 (see images below). So I thought this might be a take on Abeko a la Helen's take on Abeko that I could apply here.
Patterns: Abeko
The string I applied is a string I often used in my doodle years pre-Zentangle. As in this one.
Here the samples of the color offset I remembered having done once before.
