Monday, March 21, 2016

Seconds and Thirds

There's a lot that is going on this month.

There's St. Patrick's and Easter is early this year. Spring has officially sprung, though we've had almost summer weather for a month already! Temperatures have regularly passed 90 degrees or 30 Celsius. [NB: To me, Summer officially starts when the temperature passes 100, late April. We have a fifth season, Inferno, when temps break 115 in June or July, before the rains arrive].

But there's one (unofficial) holiday that dares not to be missed: Pi(e) Day! This year is the only time this century that the date, March 14, 2016, matches Pi, the mathematical construct, to 4 decimal places (3.1416).  Of course, pi has been calculated to million places and beyond, but hard to imagine.
So, let's have pie!

That's the rationale behind the IAST this past week. When I saw Adele's choices for tangles, I immediately knew where this was going (sometimes you just KNOW):

I suspect I'm not going to be the only one who sees it this way, but I hope it's an original thought. I really took my time to color it, vowing to sit still more than a few minutes. I think it paid off.

I saw a Zentangle blogger that mentioned she needed a lesson in composition. Now, I think Zentangle is supposed to be without preconceived design, quite unlike the example above. That said, there are some concepts that contribute to "some are better than others." I found this rather concise description of the elements and principles of design (there are twelve parts in all, so it's hard to make simple).
It's a start, anyway.
As a photographer, a fine composition can be gained by following the "rule of thirds." Think: tic-tac-toe. (It's the same concept that posits that you NEVER put the horizon in the middle of a landscape, although rules are meant to be broken once you learn them).
For an intellectual pursuit, I decided to apply this "rule" to this drawing.

X's Mark the Focal Points
Where the grid marks meet is a focal point and creates a dynamic composition when something is placed there, and the idea is to have A focal point, just one. It just so happens that a cherry landed on that mark. The other mark shows the end of the garden path, creating MOVEMENT into the drawing. Additionally, there is CONTRAST--the black background area, the complimentary COLORS of red and green and the REPETITION of the little squares, a pattern I call, "Confetti."
Did I plan all that? Not intentionally. Do you think it works? 
Does this little tutorial make sense, help out or just confound?
There's one other element of composition that every artist needs to learn and nobody talks about because it defies description: that moment when the artwork is finished, the materials are layed down and no more fussing.
It is "done."
Putting a signature on it helps, it's a signal of sorts. (I need to do that!)

I put the pen down after signing the Diva challenge this morning:



I was attempting to be very deliberate and almost too elaborate and suddenly veered into cartoony mode.
OK, step away from the journal pages...!
Well, it made a good segue to the Inchie challenge, which continues with themes from the "Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy" with the prompt this week of "door."
I have a very important door, one Door out of The Doors, our front door (on the inside, covering up an old mail slot) and "Would you like to trade your prize for what's behind Door number 2?"
DOORS
Did you know Jim Morrison had a song titled, "Hitchhiker?" Strange coincidence?
Perhaps, not. Life can be like that, right?


37 comments:

  1. a great collection of doors - especially like the washroom doors - very important!

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    1. Thank you, Kia. I had so many ideas for this one, I didn't know which way to go, so I hit a bunch of them. Glad you like them. c

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  2. Wonderful artwork and an interesting post. Your inchie collection is wonderful

    Love Chrissie xx

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    1. Thank you so much, Chrissie! Glad I made it worth your while. c

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    1. Thank you, Trillian! Thanks always for the challenge! c

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  4. I'm taking a class in color which also covered some design concepts and yours is a nice summary. Great tiles too!

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    1. Thank you, Dorita. Glad you liked my work and my little design lesson. c

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  5. Jock full of useful and interesting information. Your Diva challenge tile is so much more interesting than what I ended up with. On the other hand, I found the process very meditative today.

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    1. I'm glad you found this post to be interesting. I am glad your Diva translation provided respite and meditation because that's what it's all about, really. No comparisons, right? I'm glad you liked it, though. c

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  6. love the art! so much to look at and I do love the coincidence with the Doors and Hitchikers

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    1. Thanks so much, Free! Weird how that all worked out, hmm? Kind of ties it all together, though, doesn't it? c

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  7. I love your shuttack tile esp. The pretty perf version. And your lovely iast entry yummy looking cherries :)

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    1. Much appreciated, Joanne. Of course, the cherries are the best part! c

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  8. Nice shattuck tile and your concise explanation on composition.

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    1. Thank you very much, Lady Kate. Glad you liked what I put together here this week! c

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  9. The season of Inferno! Just love that :) It's actually my favorite time of the year. Love the doors, especially the restroom one, and the art lesson was a nice explanation of a beautiful tile.

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    1. Actually, we're pretty fond of "Inferno" also--we're not getting in the pool quite yet, still too "cold." Glad you liked my cartoons and I tried to keep the little lesson brief. There's just so much to tackle with design! c

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  10. Having no natural artistic flair I find composition very difficult so I was very pleased to read your help. You are correct in saying Zentangle has no preplanning but I see such wonderful examples online and I would like to improve slightly. Thank you for helping with your beautiful tile as an example.

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    1. I think you don't give yourself enough credit, for starters! Glad I could provide some potentially helpful information. There are so many different pieces that go into an art puzzle and this is just one idea. c

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  11. Love your colourful tangles and inchies, and the information, very helpful.

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    1. Thanks, Wendy! I appreciate your thoughts. c

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  12. I love your random thoughts that somehow lead somewhere anyway, a pleasure to read. I like the tile too and your guide to composition. If left to my own devices, I almost invariably start in a corner and work roughly diagonally but I don't know why. I'm going to try your tic tac toe method and see where that leads.

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    1. I'm glad you liked this post, Magrat! I think sometimes I fuss too much about what I want to say, laboring over every word. The fun part about Zentangle is it can be approached from all directions. You'll have to let me know how you put that method to work! c

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  13. Aha, I had seen that there was a pi day so your tangle is very very suitable lol, indeed both tangles are really nice and I'm so glad that Jim has made a guest appearance amongst your doors!

    Sally

    P.s want to send some of that heat over to Scotland?

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    1. I know The Doors was a little bit of a stretch, but that's what I'm trying to do: s-t-r-e-t-c-h-! Glad you liked my pie art, Sally! And of course I'll pass along some warmth your way. Soon enough we'll have heat to spare for everyone! c

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  14. Wonderful work! Especially I like your Shattuck tile. Lovely variations of Shattuck!

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    1. Thank you very much, Annette. It's one of my favorites. I look forward to seeing what happens with your Mosaik project! c

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  15. Thanks for the review of composition. I remember that from a photography class I took waaaaaayyyy back when;-)

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    1. Oh, like it was only yesterday! Only self-taught myself, so I didn't have to go through it, but it's just one of those things that sticks with you, right? c

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  16. Love your s-t-r-e-t-c-h! Love off the wall and love your zen tangle tiles and your "lesson" makes so much sense put the way you put it - thanks for that- glad to see you like rock too! Didn't know about the song - great page and blog - nice reading and can't get over the fact you have an inferno season!! We only just about get summer and it still rains and blows!!

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    1. Thank you, Jenny for your thoughts. Glad my thoughts and art resonates with you and that you understood my explanation of composition. When Inferno arrives, I'll send you some! c

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  17. Love the tic tac toe analogy. Heard that rule 100 times but for the first time,it stuck. Thank you! Great tangle, love it, love the homeroom like cherries.

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