Friday, July 12, 2013

Flor de la Vida

I've been doing things with the classic Flower of Life pattern recently. You can see some pieces here. I don't want to call all the pieces "Flower of Life" so I'm using different languages! I tried another round tile with the one main circle in pink and the rest in green.
I liked it enough, but there seemed to be too much distinct separation between the green and the pink. What to do? I remembered four hummingbird pictures I'd saved and covered with layers of acrylic matte medium, thinking I might use them on ATCs. Maybe one of them could be added here.
Nice, but it really didn't show up very well. More work needed. I added color with a light pink brush pen, outlined the beak with a black 005 Micron pen, and put a few pink lines here and there on the bird. Then I made the main 'flower' more pink, which turned out to be too much pink and dominated the bird. But it was the lightest pink pen I have. Hmm.
Out with the trusty white pen to lighten it again. That's better. I added more pink to the wing on the right and a few pale pink bits around the edges of the tile. I think that's it. I like how the bird may not be the first thing you notice, but it's a nice little surprise.

8 comments:

  1. Lovely. The hummingbird ingenious.

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  2. Exciting result - it cost of such work!

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  3. This is sooo stunning! The wings of the humming bird give the illusion of rapid movement just like the humming birds in my garden! Your work is always a show-stopper!

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  4. I love the original! and the final~ the hummingbird is a nice surprise. I also like that you went back in with the white and lightened the middle back up. you have very lovely work.

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  5. Thanks for sharing your process Margaret. Your work is inspirational. I really enjoy your application of colour, and your many ideas for composition. This latest is rather stunning. Quite a delight!

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    1. Thank you. I always find it interesting to hear/see how someone else does something. While I may use the idea or technique, what I do will never be the same as what someone else did. That's why I never mind sharing my how-to. :)

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  6. Wow, Margaret, I love your style since I tried on your paradox tangle, but this one is sooooo pretty!!! I love it!
    I really like the way you use different colours in your tiles. That makes it so interesting to watch. And the hidden hummingbird is so lovely!

    May I ask you witch pens you use for the colours? I never found such thin pens in colour as my normal black pen for the zentangles is.

    Lots of greetings from Germany,
    Janina

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  7. Gorgeous! I love the way the hummingbird ties the whole tile together.

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