Michelle Casey, “Hands 2”, Mixed Media Collage, 4 x 4 inches, April 2014
Michelle Casey, “The Universe within Me”, Mixed Media Collage, 4 x 4 inches, April 2014
My apologies for leaving you blogless last week. Today I thought I’d share some recent pieces I’ve been working on with you. Small ones spurred on by my interest in Zentangling and Spirograph. The compositions are simple and playful. I’m working with the theme of hands since I’ve always been attracted to them in drawings and paintings. While they’re all experimental, I felt an interesting theme beginning to emerge once I reached the third piece – the nice thing about working in a themed series; you never know where it will lead you. On a technical note, I added colour and line to them with Tim Holtz Distress markers. These markers come in an attractive array of muted and vintage colours which blend and layer beautifully. If only Holtz’s water-based colours were permanent! As well as the Distress markers, I’ve also used Sakura Pigma Permanent Micron pens which I found worked best on a smooth 140 lb hot press paper; I used Fabriano’s Acquarello water colour Extra white paper. If you’d like some additional tips on pens and markers for your Zentangling or mixed media projects, see CYW member Sheila Cain Samples’ blog entry: Pigment Pens… What Does it All Mean? in which she discusses the differences between dye-based and pigment inks… thanks for unraveling some of the mysteries, Sheila.
PS I still find Beckah Krahula’s One Zentangle A Day an incredible compendium of ideas for taking the craft further. For beginners, I highly recommend Zentangle Basics by Suzanne McNeill.
A Note to New List Members: To those of you who are expecting a complimentary gift from CYW, I haven’t forgotten about you! I hope to have them posted by the end of April. Thanks so much for your patience.
Other Related Links:
The Way of the Zentangle
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