"It's a String Thing" #222 Tiles

It's another banner day at IAST - we are now represented in 34 countries!
Take a guess as to where our new tangler is from and then read on to find out.  I think you will be amazed. Our second new artist hails from the United States.  See if you can guess her state.

This week we worked with just one, very elegant tangle:  Marie Thomas' Verdigogh.
Inspired by the evergreens of the season, the tiles are just magnificent.

Let's take a look ~

The first tile arrived from Amy Barnickel (Florida) ~

I know I haven't been able to do much Zentangling lately, but when I saw that this week was #222, I had to do at least a quickie. #2 is my lucky number. I have never added color to a tangle before so I ventured out a little bit with the green in honor of Christmastime.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*white mixed with glorious green 'needles'
*sparkled black berries


From Miriam Gresnigt (The Netherlands) ~

Here's my contribution to this weeks challenge.
It was fun to draw Verdigogh.
Best wishes from the Netherlands,
with zenhug,

Tangled Tidbits -
*square tipped needles
*a stem of rosy berries


From Jody Genovese, CZT (New York) ~

This may be a new record for me…I absolutely loved this week’s project. It felt so Christmas-y to me.
Hope you are doing well. LOVE your new ebook with Dorian, beyond adorable. I have mine constructed, but not tangled yet.
Sending warm wishes your way.

Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you and please send a photo of your completed house.  I'd love to write a post and include everyone's creation.
*thick needles in three variations of color
*blue, black, and red sparkled berries


From Shirley Wohlsen (Queensland, Australia) ~

Attached is my tile for this week’s ‘ It’s A String Thing #222 ‘ challenge
Thank you Adele, for this challenge, it was a lot of fun.

Tangled Tidbits -
*dot tipped pretty green needles
*shadow shading


From Verena (Germany) ~

Best wishes from Germany.

Tangled Tidbits -
*lovely accent tangles
*berry filled branches


From Dani (Semarang, Indonesia) and here on her blog ~

Hi, I join your challenge again. Here is my entry for your challenge. I draw at cloudy Friday afternoon. Feels like I wanna go home soon, meet the kids and forget the work deadline. Tomorrow is weekend. Lets meet Monday with new energy.

Tangled Tidbits -
*lots of energy here! - stippled accents and lovely border
*overlapping needles create depth


From Lily (Hungary) ~

Dear Adele, here is my tile with Verdigogh for your weekly challenge.
Zenhug:

Tangled Tidbits -
*wondrous variation in Verdigogh needles
*Tipple filled spaces and border corners


A very warm welcome to Zhou Yanli from China ~

This is my work on this week's challenge. Thank you！

 Tangled Tidbits -
*rounded and weighted lines
*Bijou makes a guest appearance
Welcome to our Tangled Map and to our IAST community.  China, along with your name and red pin, have been added to our map.  There are now a total of 34 countries represented here!

From Lin H, CZT (Florida) ~

Hi, Adele, I hope you are enjoying this holiday season. I loved your latest challenge with Verdigogh. I was in a Zentangle class where we were given a sprig of rosemary and told to first savor the sight and smell of the herb (easy to do). Then as a deconstruction lesson, we drew Verdigogh in the shape of the rosemary sprig. I’ve loved the tangle pattern ever since. I ended up putting my tile onto a Christmas card for a special friend. Thanks so much for this challenge.

 Tangled Tidbits -
You were so fortunate to have that experience in class.
*berries balance beautifully among the needles
*shading and touch of green accent the tangle



From Lynn G (Florida) ~

Thank you for another fun challenge Adele. I just kept Verdigogh simple as I love the tangle for what it is.
I also want to thank you and Dorian for your FANTASTIC e-Book on Tiny Tangled Houses. Just finished the holiday version, candy canes and all. Such fun!

 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you on the book compliments - please send a picture when you can!
*wispy branches and long needles
*clusters of rosy red berries


From VenaC (Whitby, Ontario) ~

Wasn't too sure what to do with this so I added a ribbon.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*multi-colored berries on a single stem
*shading and highlights on a flowing red ribbon


From Ria Matheussen, CZT (Belgium) ~

Thank you for this wonderful seasonal challenge.
For the first time, I have made my entry on an eco-dyed papertile. I like the special effects , created by using this technique. It was a real challenge to work on such a tile.
I have only drawn one Verdigogh but followed the two other strings with the lovely pattern CO2.
Congratulations with your book and I wish you success!

 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you, Ria!
*Verdigogh glows on the hand crafted paper
*lovely white, black, green, and a touch of red


From Priscilla DeConti, CZT (Kingston, New York) ~

Verdigogh in red and green for the holidays!
On a watercolor background,,...simple but effective..

 Tangled Tidbits -
*both red and green fill the tangle
*pretty, softly colored background


From Roseann Popa (Washington State) ~

Well this Zentangle didn’t turn out as I had imagined at first! I started it and realized that my initial vision wouldn’t work. I almost scrapped it to start over, but then remembered there are no mistakes in Zentangling ;-) I’m glad I stuck with it as I’m pleased with it!
I used Verdigough, Morf, Tipple, Hollibaugh, Shattuck, and a Chartz adaptation.
Cheers!

 Tangled Tidbits -
Good for you!
*multiple tangles flow from Verdigogh
*beautiful edge created with aura


From Ulrike (Germany) and here on Flickr ~

Here is my entry for the weekly challenge.
I never tangled Verdigough before. But I like it, and I used also Jetties.
Best wishes from Germany

 Tangled Tidbits -
*split branch Veridogh
*sparkled Jetties decorations


From Lisette (Switzerland) ~

Dear Adele, thank you for this new challenge. In the beginning of my “tangle-time” I didn’t like Verdigogh but (with many others) I love it by now. I turned the tile on the corner and hope that’s ok for you. I added twisted rope and sandswirl, some pearls and some fading tira in a distance. At the moment I’m in a blue mood - but not figuratively :-)
In Europe we wish each other a happy Advent season at this time of year. I don’t know if you do this in the States. But nevertheless, enjoy the Advent season.
Hugs from snow-covered Switzerland

Tangled Tidbits -
Yes, it is a very happy Advent season here - thank you for your good wishes and many more to you!
*graceful lines in beautiful shades of blue
*pearl-like berries


From Laural D, CZT (New York) ~

I was inspired by the recent Project Pack, with the new Gellyroll pens, to just keep it simple, with a white on black tile.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*simple and elegant tangle
*touch of highlight for each stem and along the border


From Margarete Gilge (Germany)  and here on her blog ~

your sweeping string formed the branches of my first drawing and reminded of pine branches. My addition with stars and moon is very Christmassy. As a contrast to the Christmas tile, I send you my second version with organic and flowery looking patterns.
Thank you again for this interesting challenge!
Best wishes from Germany

Tangled Tidbits - 

*creative combination of organic tangles

*deep background and shading add sense of depth

From Sra (India) ~

The spokes in my Verdigogh just didn't get the bushiness or the elegance I saw on the Internet. After several tries, I felt somewhat better about it and got on with it. Among the many renderings of it that I saw, there was one with a fragment-reticula background that seems to have lodged itself in my sub-conscious. I took out the papers from the F-R class that we did and decided on this fragment because I could tweak the rounds to look like the berries in the Verdigogh.
I had done the main central Verdigogh and done one side of the squares on the tile and gone off to a movie. Sometime during the movie, I remembered that the string had two more string lines, one on either side of the central one. So I retrofitted the one on the left and drew the other before filling in the squares on the right. It just struck me that the one on the left looks rather like a candy cane! Or a horseshoe!
Cheers

 Tangled Tidbits -
*such a fun combination of concepts - all integrated with Veridogh
*detail lines, weighted lines, shading, sparkle, white space - grand details


From Pat (Washington State) ~

Thanks again for a great challenge. Verdigogh is one of my favorite patterns.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*elegantly tapered needles
*wonderful color, crosshatching, weighted lines, and shading


From Susan (Tennessee) ~

Hi Adele! I grew up in North Carolina in Duke Forest. This tangle brought me memories of walking the beds of pine needles and finding berries in the bushes. I became so entranced in this exercise that I was finished before I could think again! Thank you for the respite in North Carolina.

Tangled Tidbits -
What a sweet respite that must have been!
*aura sets the center branch apart
*larger tangle creates an interesting background


From Susie (St. Louis) ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*striking berry colors accent the branches
*rounded edges of the main stem and branches


From Karen Herstowski (Atlanta, Georgia) ~

This is a nice wintertime pattern. I love the simplicity of it as well as the opportunity to use Hollibaugh effects. This led me to a simplistic theme of a pine sprig - sort of “realism" - rather than a traditional Zentangle pattern. The dusting of snow, aura and shading was an after-thought, but It does make it stand out on the tile a bit.
Happy holidays to all.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*beautiful "dusting of snow"
*pine cone, aura, shading, touches of color - wonderful details


From Tonia C (Rhode Island) ~

Tangled Tidbits -
*three pretty versions of the tangle
*aura and darkened spaces emphasize the middle branch



From Sharon Fite (California) ~

First, your little houses are adorable! I wish you lots of success with your book. Thanks for this fun challenge! At this busy time of year, it is great to sit quietly for a bit and be mindful, one stroke at a time!

 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you - your compliments are much appreciated!
*delightful decorations tip the tangle
*green shading and bright red berries


From Felicity Strohfeldt (Velddrif, South Africa) and here on her blog ~

I'm a bit out of the loop. Congratulations with the newly published e-Book,
sounds awesome. Also, I unfortunately did not participate in challenge 221,
but tried my hand at it this week so I've included it.
Tile 222 with Verdigough by Maria Thomas, immediately had me including
Cruffle again this week. Both Patterns immediately bring Christmas to mind.
I love the possibilities that Cruffle has in its bag, so most of my bobbles
are variations of the original Cruffle pattern by Wayne Harlow. Of course,
Christmas also means plenty of colour, so I went wild with my Christmasy
decorated Verdigough. What a fascinating challenge with, I'm sure many
delights to enjoy from the participants this week.
Happy holidays to you and all the creative artists who may take part this
week.

 Tangled Tidbits -
Thank you for your good wishes on the ebook - and for sending in both of your beautiful tiles.
*creatively colorful Cruffle baubles
*overlapping and intertwining Verdigogh


A very warm welcome to Donna Matoi (Long Beach, California) ~

I love your string challenges, I do not consider myself an artist as in drawing, but, I'm happy with my tiles as I do enjoy the process and how I feel when drawing tangles! Thank you so much for making my life a bit more interesting with with your IAST! I know it is a lot of hard work and I appreciate it!
Lastly, I purchased your e-book that you and Dorian Eng published together! It is amazing! I love and admire both of your works of art! Also, thank you for all of your tips!
Happy Holidays!

Tangled Tidbits - 

And we thank you for your kind compliments - enjoy the book!

*lovely overlapping - even along the doubled border

*sparkled black berries add depth

Welcome to our tangled map and to this wonderful IAST community, Donna ~

From Susan Theron (Velddrif, South Africa) ~

My contribution. Me and Verdigogh are not friends. My tile looks so empty, but I did not know what to do to give it a bit of oomp.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*overlapping stems shaded to one side
*uniform strokes create an elegant look



From Aileen (Singapore) and here on her blog ~

Thanks for another challenge. I really needed it.

 Tangled Tidbits -
*aura-ed Verdigogh
*festive Tipple background, shaded inward


These are my tiles ~

After days of decorating the house for Christmas, this exercise was especially relaxing.  Verdigogh - and Maria's ingenious step out for drawing it - have always fascinated me.  I thought to tangle it in three mediums.  The first, in the traditional way.  I tangled the main stem first, then the left one, and lastly the right one.  After filling the first two so tightly, I decided to leave the last one a bit sparse.  Adding the black berries covered up some spots I felt needed a little extra weight.

Using Maria's step out, I completed this second tile with Prismacolor pencils - three shades of brown and and six shades of green.  Since I didn't plan for the berries, I added blue as they showed up against the green.

The third tile I completed with Tombow markers.  After outlining  the stems and berries with a black Micron, I filled in the stems and berries first.  I chose eight glorious shades of green and using the brush tip, used a flicking motion to create the needles.  

And now...

the winner of the random drawing this week is...

Lisette from Switzerland.


Congratulations, Lisette!


Lisette will receive a copy of my new eBook written with Dorian Eng, CZT - Tiny Tangled Houses.

By the way, exemplary reviews are coming in daily for our book.
To order your copy, click on the photo to the top right and tangle away!

Stop by Tuesday afternoon for "It's a String Thing" #223 -
Our last one for the year 2017!