C & R special zentangle project: Stage 1

My eldest daughter will be getting married in January. I plan to give them one of my paintings or drawings - their choice. I mentioned this to an acquaintance and she immediately said, "That's nice! But you should give them something especially for them too!"

"Hmmm," I thought, "yes I should." I thought some more.

I've always liked illuminated manuscripts, and perhaps I was further inspired by the beautiful calligraphy and illuminated letters created by Maria Thomas, and the special project of the Zentangle seminar in August 2010. No, sadly I wasn't there :-(

I decided to create old-looking-but-on-closer-inspection-kinda-wild-and-contemporary zentangle-inspired initials, "C" and "R". I considered doing the two letters on one piece of paper but there are more hanging options if done separately.

Stage One was to figure out the size and design the letters. I don't want them too big; they'll fit into 12"x16" frames, which I bought. I also bought a sheet of beige (that's the "old-looking" part) Stonehenge paper. It's lovely to draw on, good for both pen and pencil. I plan to use black and brown inks and probably white highlights.

Here's the very begining of the project, on scrap paper. Updates to follow.