ATC #214 - Zentangle® #29

This Zentangle was abandoned at Anthony's restaurant in San Diego a couple of weeks ago, but I have not gotten any email about it. Oh well. Maybe they didn't like it.
Ink on paper.
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ATC #213 - Zentangle® #28

I like the way this one turned out, perhaps I will abandon it somewhere.
Ink on paper.
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ATC #212 - Zentangle® #27

I made this ATC with the intention of abandoning it like I did with the previous ATC. However, every time I go somewhere with the intention of abandoning it, when I'm there I forget to leave it behind. Perhaps that means I should keep it and abandon a different ATC. I do think this is one of my better Zentangle® ATCs.
Ink, paper.
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ATC #211 - Zentangle® #26

When I first learned the pattern Mooka, I had a hard time with it and was very frustrated. Then I took a class from Jennifer Van Pelt at The Stamp Addict where she showed us how to do this tangle pattern. Somehow the light went on and now I really enjoy this pattern.
This ATC is my first abandoned artwork as a part of the Art Abandonment revolution. It was abandoned in a restaurant in Santa Ana a couple of weeks ago.
Ink, paper.
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ATC #210 - Zentangle® #25

This one has a "new" tangle invented by my friend Susan. I am hoping either she or I will put it up on Tanglepatterns.com sometime soon!
Ink, paper.
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ATC #209 - Zentangle® #24

I'm not all that happy with the black paper and gel pen, but I have a lot of blank black ATC cards, so I have to use them up of course. :-)
Paper, gel pen.
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ATC #208 - Zentangle® #23

More Zentangle® on black paper.
Paper, gel pen.
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ATC #207 - Zentangle® #22

I've been making more Zentangle® ATCs, but haven't been posting them, so I'm uploading a bunch of them today.
Ink on paper.
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Go make art!

ATC #206 - Zentangle® #21

I'm enjoying the black paper for Zentangle®. This was made using a Sakura Gelly Roll white pen, and shaded just a little with a white "charcoal" pencil.
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ATC #205 - Warm Seas

More painting experiments. I believe this background card was from a class with Chris Cozen where we were practicing blending. The colors reminded me of a tropical sea. I added the bubbles. This is in the top 10 of my favorite ATCs I've made.
Painted paper, ink, collage.
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ATC #204 - Abstract #2

Here is the other card from the painted paper left over from some experiments.
Painted paper, embellishment.
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ATC #203 - Abstract #1

I made a couple of cards from the remains of some old painted papers from one of Chris Cozen's painting experiments classes. Couldn't bear to cover them with more than the origami mesh.
Painted paper, embellishment.
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ATC #202 - Undersea Post

I have a bunch of these faux postals that are printed on transparent sticker paper. They look very interesting when pasted over colored backgrounds.
Scrapbook paper, faux postal stickers.
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ATC #201 - Lonely Gargoyle

What do gargoyles dream about? Do they miss their buddies? Are they dreaming of days running free, where no one thinks they're ugly?
Painted paper, photo, embellishments.
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ATC #200 - Zentangle® #20

Using white on black paper is very fun. These are some of my favorite patterns. Sakura Gelly Roll is the best pen for the black Zentangle® paper. If you have the good black cardstock that has a nice smooth finish, I highly recommend getting a white Pilot Latte pen. Actually all of the pastel Latte pens show up well on black paper, except that the Zentangle paper is very absorbent, so the white of the Latte pen soaks in and doesn't look as nice.
Gel pen, paper.
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ATC #199 - Zentangle® #19

I'm back doing more Zentangle® again. It's very calming when I'm stressed. Actually it's fun anytime. The middle zig-zag part is a design I put together inspired by some folk art at our local Mingei International Museum of Folk Art, Craft and Design.
Ink, paper.
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ATC #198 - Nasturtiums

A couple weeks ago, we had a sketchcrawl at the lovely home of one of our members. There was a profusion of nasturtiums in parts of the yard, and they were beautiful.
Watercolor.
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ATC #197 - Freesias

I love freesias - they have the best fragrance! This is from the sketchcrawl meeting in March, where we went to Spanish Village in Balboa Park. There were a lot of freesias in the planters.
Watercolor.
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ATC #196 - Datura Flower

Last year I had a picnic out at a local county park in the foothills. There were a bunch of clusters of these datura flowers - this is the one called Jimson weed. The flowers are big, about 5 - 7 inches across, with a hint of purple. This is a watercolor from a photo I took that day.
Watercolor.
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ATC #195 - Dragon Year

This Dragon image is from an old matchbox cover. I meant to post it the first day of the Chinese New Year, since this is the Year of the Dragon. Oops.
Stamped background, matchbox label, embellishments.
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Etegami Card - Cup of Tea

So it's not an ATC, get over it. This is my first real etegami (Japanese: "picture message"), done on a postcard from my Maruman postcard gasen book. Gasen is a special kind of Japanese paper that has some bleed to it. I blogged about Etegami papers here, before I got this gasen book. I think this paper is very good for beginner etegami artists because it is a little easier to control the water than the other kinds of etegami papers. I'm not sure exactly how I learned about etegami, but I think I can blame my friend Rachel, who has also got me hooked on Noodler's fountain pens and inks. The best place to learn about etegami, and see some wonderful pictures, is Dosanko Debbie's blog. She is wonderfully prolific with etegami. Here is a set of etegami that I bought from Debbie. There is also an Etegami Fun Club on Facebook.

Update - I'm not as enamored of this paper for making a more "typical" etegami, as it doesn't have any sideways bleed (nijimi). With a regular brushload of color, it doesn't spread properly the way a good etegami washi paper should. However, it is very nice for my Pentel Pocket Brush Pen for Calligraphy, which I used for the drawing here. Also, it did well with my Niji waterbrush, which holds a limited amount of water. This makes it harder to cover a large area, but the color doesn't puddle and cause the paper to pill.

I have a bunch of ATCs that I haven't had a chance to scan and post. Soon...
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ATC #194 - Trust the Butterflies

I love the marbled paper background I used for this.
Specialty papers, faux postal, embellishments.
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ATC #193 - Cherish

I've still got a bunch of faux postals to use up!
Scrapbook paper, specialty paper, faux postal, embellishments.
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ATC #192 - Try - An Experiment

The background here was made using my Gelli printing plate, which I love! It is like printing on firm gelatin, but it's permanent and cleans easily. It was so much fun to use. I found that the best print was usually the second one - there is more subtle variations and texture. The embellishment stuff at the top are shavings from sharpening a triangular-shaped fat colored pencil. I love the wavy edges from the pencil.
Acrylic paint, embellishments.
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ATC #191 - Poinsettias Again

I painted these flowers at the sketchcrawl, but only now got around to finishing this ATC.
Ink & watercolor on watercolor paper.
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ATC #190 - Cactus Garden

I did this last Friday at our sketchcrawl meeting in Balboa Park. I keep calling this the new cactus garden, but it's really called the Desert Garden, and is on the east side of Park Blvd, north of the Rose Garden. I don't know the name of this succulent, but it's flaming all through the Desert Garden.
Ink, watercolor.
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ATC #189 - A Painting

This is from a painting I did in one of Chris Cozen's classes. I took a photo of it and stuck in onto an ATC which had some background painted on it.
Acrylic, photo.
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ATC #188 - Remember Your First Everything

This is from the inside of some candy wrapper, but I've forgotten what candy - probably some chocolate.
Candy wrapper, specialty papers.
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ATC #187 - Poinsettias

In December, the sketchcrawl group met in the Botanical Garden at Balboa Park to sketch/paint the pointsettias and plants.
Watercolor on hot press watercolor paper.
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ATC #186 - Butterfly Post

This is made from another of the pretty butterfly faux postals. The background doesn't show up well - it is painted with metallic-looking paint.
Painted paper, faux postal, embellishments.
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ATC #185 - Birds at Play

I think this image is from old dye bottle labels. The birds look like they're having fun.
Scrapbook paper, collage elements, embellishments.
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ATC #184 - New Drawing Pen

I drew this in October when I got a new fountain pen for drawing. The only ink I had was some purple ink I've had for many years, but it worked OK in the pen. I still haven't gotten used to the pen, but plan to get some waterproof Noodler's Ink to use with it so that I can add watercolor with it.
Watercolor paper, ink.
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Needed a break!

Hello everyone. Well, I did 6 months, and then I needed a break. I was taking several intense classes trying to improve my skills and resume. I actually have a fair number of ATCs that I haven't posted yet, and I like making them so I plan to keep on making them, just not every day.

Thanks to all who have supported me!
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