Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Undulating 'S' curve

This week's guest challenger on the DivaCZT blog is Sharla Hicks. Sharla's challenge is to use a C or S curve tangle and to work in a series. This is a wonderful way to push the boundaries and discover other ways of doing the same old thing. I usually find myself doing this with a monotangle or duotangle challenge. I get on a roll and one tile makes me think of something else that could be done.

When I read "S-curve" I knew immediately which pattern I would use, although it's one I've rarely used. It's called Mambo, and was designed by Helen Breil. I discovered it when I was hunting black-and-white patterns in between discovering Zentangle and becoming a CZT.

Here's my original note about Mambo, and how to draw it.

#1 - I used a simple, 3-line, lightning bolt string across the middle. I wanted only two variations per tile so I could see them easily. First I did Mambo as Helen did (left side), then filled alternate stripes black (right side).

#2 - Sharla suggested using Perfs and Auras as part of this investigation so I did Perfs on the left and Auras and Perfs on the right. I added Black Pearlz to a few too-white areas.

#3 - An easy way to vary a tangle is to vary the scale, so I did Mambo smaller, and larger.

#4 - I thought Mambo could be interesting as a border and tried that, small and large. The tangle in the center is my latest, Pixioze.

#5 - Then I thought, "The S's don't have to be empty" so I filled them with stripes (top).
In previous tiles some of the 'S's connected in ways that seemed like ribbons and I decided to explore that idea further (on the bottom).

#6 - Then I thought, "S's don't have to be curvy" so I did them with angles and corners (left). Then I realized that the angular S's could work in a rectangular grid (right). I experimented on the back of the tile first! Okay, not undulating, but still cool.

#7 - Filling in those two loops of the 'S' with stripes reminded me of Aquafleur, so I did one like that. If you look closely you'll see that the lightning bolt division is horizontal.
Other tangles: Aquafleur, Aura, Black Pearlz, Firecracker, Tipple

#8 - Then I thought, "It doesn't have to be a Roman letter S" so I did the only other one I know, an Arabic S. (My husband and several other people were having a meeting upstairs, so I was holed up in my basement studio for three hours. What can I say. I was becoming somewhat Mambo Undulation Variation Punch Drunk by this point!)
Other tangles: Beadlines, Crescent Moon, Pearlz, Tipple
#9 - Then for some reason I thought of Hollibaugh and decided to overlap some S's. It didn't really work out that way but I tried some other interesting ideas: curvy Knightsbridge, Aquafleur again, and a dovetailed corner (like Hibred).
Other tangles: Aquafleur, Knightsbridge, Tipple
At around 11:30 pm I decided I should go to bed.

The next day... yes, seriously. I was still thinking Mambo and S's and undulations.

#10 - Pencil outlines. I decided to use the S's as a string, although in the end many of them got outlined anyway.
Other tangles: Aquafleur, Beadlines, Black Pearlz,
Lamar, Paradox, Pearlz, Phicops
#11 - Then I noticed my computer wallpaper, a fabric swatch (isn't it gorgeous!?!?!) with spirals (like S ends, no?) with rolling zigzags on the outside.
Well, gee, I could try that too! I did. I turned it every which way, and it has to be on the diagonal. I like it, but I can't not see an 'S' !

I think that's all folks. I hope so. I have other things to do. Thanks Sharla! I'm not sure if this is what you had in mind, but I had fun. :)

37 comments:

  1. You have been hard at work! I love the one with the perfs.
    Lee Darter

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  2. amazing! All of these are so active and energetic. Like piles of worms wiggling back and forth. It's almost like the art were actually moving. You had a lot of fun with this. It's way fun to look at, too

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  3. WOW! Thanks for sharing your creative process! Truly inspiring!

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  4. You have literally created an academic course material, Margaret, on 'S' curves'. What a range you have created. We can not thank you less for this service to the Zentangle community!

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  5. I love them all. You have inspired me!!

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  6. Amazing! I love to see your thoughts on the progression. Does your husband lock you in the basement often? Lol

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    1. Haha! He has an office down here too. Sometimes I think if we moved the bed and the kettle down, we'd be good to go!

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  7. Stunning series. I love the way you shared the progression of your thoughts and they showed in your tiles. Loads of things you've done I now want to try, and of course the same principles work for other / most / all tangles. I'm having fun too, although my series is only at 3 so far!

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    1. Three is a good beginning! Enjoy your series journey. :)

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  8. Wow! It's crazy, a lot of ideas and designs! You are very inspiring for his research, Margaret! Your tiles are gorgeous! Thank you for the pleasure to consider them!

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  9. Wonderful tiles and very entertaining post.

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  10. Margaret, I love your tangling. Sharing the thinking was so inspiring. Thanks!

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  11. I'm sitting here, first thing in the morning, opened your post and I feel as though I've been on a tangling retreat. What a treat to be able to walk through your thought process and enjoy and appreciate the results. Spectacular!

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  12. Wow Margaret. A fantastic selection of drawings. Thank you for sharing.

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  13. Wow!!! I think you pegged the challenge!!! I had a hard time with it. I may have to play around with it again sometime, as you have inspired me. I sure wish I'd have seen this post before I attempted my submission for the challenge.

    I especially love #7 and the very last one. I enjoyed reading your process as well!

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    1. I think sometimes when an idea grabs you it's best just to let it run with you!

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  14. Wow you were busy this week!. You have inspired me to look at tangles more and see what I can do 'extra' with them. I love a few of your ideas here and that fabric swatch is gorgeous 😊

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    1. Just in case you haven't seen it Joanne, check out my "and then some" post about Cadent. and Paradox too. :)

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  15. OMG, Margaret, I'm worn out just reading your blog! How did you do all this so quickly? I'd be unable to even produce a ghost of this in three weeks, let alone three days! I hope you don't mind if I print this out for my own future reference, as this is truly an education. (no, I won't pass this on in a class!) So, so wonderful!

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    1. Thanks Antonine! I get on a roll and forget everything else!

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  16. You have created a whole class series. While they are all great, I think I am partial to the first and the last one.

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  17. Thank you for sharing all these beautiful tiles!

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  18. Wowza. I can get somewhat tangential at times, but you win the prize this week. (Tangential thinking is not always a bad thing. Your tangential thinking led to tangential creativity). Mambo is a new tangle for me and I have a feeling it is going to be one of my favorites. Thanks for sharing your notes about it.

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  19. Margaret, I'm so in awe of your wonderful work! What a great exploration of "S"! WOW, WOW, WOW!

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  20. All of your tile are awesome. Thank you for sharing . :)

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  21. J'aime beaucoup toutes ses suggestions.

    I love all these suggestions

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  22. Have we mentioned Margaret, that you are slightly nuts? (In a loving way, of course).
    I cannot believe what you just did! My head is whirling from looking at all these lovely things each of which would have taken me an evening to complete. I hope you had a big glass of wine after this!

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  23. Hi Margaret. I am fascinated at your exploration of this challenge. Wonderful, inspiring work. I was wondering if you could tell me the name of the wavy tangle on the top right of the last zentangle (second one in #11). I've seen it as a completed tangle a couple of times but was not sure of its name or how to draw it. Thanks

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    1. Hi Melanie, I've been hunting! The tangle you refer to is a variation of another tangle. I, too, saw it elsewhere. That person mentioned the name of the original tangle and I noted it... somewhere. No luck so far. Sorry!

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  24. What a fabulous study of mambo! I love to see all the variations you came up with. Every single one is wonderful!

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  25. Wow! I loved reading your though processes as much as I enjoyed seeing your tiles! Loved them!

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  26. You are fabulous as always Margaret! Dripping with ideas. Love it!

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  27. Unbelieveable ! what an exploration. I don't know how long it took you but, I think a year would be a good estimate for me and not nearly as fantastic . Thank you

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