Orbs

This week, Laura Harms' zentangle challenge (#5) asks that we use orbs. To be honest, for some reason I wasn't particularly taken with the challenge. At one point I thought maybe I'd skip this one.

Yesterday, we had a lovely evening with two of our daughters and five friends playing board and card games for three hours. After that, I went down to the studio. My automatic pilot takes me there a lot. The orbs appeared! To be honest again (not that I'm usually dishonest!) two of these tiles I think are among my best ever. I'm also fascinated my how different they are, one from another.

Those blind strings got me into going off the edge of the paper, and even filling the entire tile. 

This first one started with a blind string. I admit to using a circle template for some of the large circles.

Orbs full tile

Then I decided that I should use a border again, having got quite away from that.  I added some random circles with my eyes closed, none of which met at the ends; I made some adjustments!

7 orbs in a box

Then I did a 2-pencil string just going 'round and 'round a few times. 

It didn't look like much at that point.

Orb

I'm delighted, and occasionally dumbfounded, by how much difference shading can make! Shading can adjust, correct, hide, enhance, improve, and even salvage.

Now here's an added treat.
My daughter - the one who just got married - gave me a little pack of
rainbow Scratch Magic Mini Notes. 'Orb' to me seems to include 'lighted' or 'glowing'
so I tried an orb-y thing on one of those notes.

Orbs? Scratch magic mini note. Memories of lava lamps.

See a follow-up to this post here.