About as Crazy as It Gets

This is especially for all you Crazy Huggins fans out there!

I had a piece of eco-dyed paper with 'spots' from eucalyptus leaves:

Here it has a few of the 'spots' outlined in brown ink.

I couldn't see any trees or houses or flowers in the marks. Lots of moons, maybe. I didn't have a clue what to do with it for a loooong time. Suddenly it struck me that Huggins has a lot of circles! No, wait. CRAZY Huggins!!!

I outlined most of the circles, deciding to sacrifice a few. These circles would need to be darker than the connecting curved bands. I thought about what tangles could be dark and would fit in a small circle, and which tangles would work in a long space.

I decided to include a gem for some 'pop'. I eliminated the pink at the top left. I made two screws á la Maria. In the end, there IS one moon! After a lot of shading, here is the finished work.

All the tangles:
Appease, Beadlines, Bilt, Bosch, Crescent Moon, Cubine, Drobbles, Emingle,
Fohbraid, Gewgle, Gneiss, Icantoo, Jonqal, Knightsbridge, Koril, Kuke,
Paradox, Pearlz, Snag, Tamisolo, Tipple, Zewm, Ziabolic, Zonked
Plus: Auras, triquetras, a Chinese coin, and striping with a twist

Here's a detail of one section.

And that, I think, is "About as Crazy as It Gets". :)

ZIA Ideas - Tree trunks

In my on-going, randomly occasional, posts about tangles that can be used in Zentangle-inspired artwork, here are some tangles that I've used for

  TREE  TRUNKS  

CRUZE from CZT Caren Mlot. Find step-outs here (scroll down).

"Meteor Shower" - 9 cm. square
(c) Margaret Bremner

DIVA DANCE from Zentangle, for CZT Laura Harms. Find step-outs at this link.

"A Windy Day" - 9 cm. square
(c)2018 Margaret Bremner

PRESTWOOD from Margaret Bremner. Find step-outs at this link. 
Shown below is a variation of this tangle.

"Splendiferous" - 9 cm. square
(c)2018 Margaret Bremner

ZANDER from Zentangle. Watch Molly draw it in this video link (about halfway through the video).

There are many tangles that begin with a zigzag line - angular or curving - and could be used for a tree trunk:

HIBRED (from Zentangle): in the Zentangle newsletter here.

PUFFLE from CZT Sandy Hunter. Find step-outs at this link. Scroll way down.

WUD from CZT Joni Feddersen, and a 'ribbon' variation of mine, can be found at this link.
ZEDBRA (from Laura Harms and Margaret Bremner): earlier on my blog here.

ZEWM (from CZT Amy Broady): on Amy's blog here.
KNASE (from Zentangle): I recently learned that this is pronounced 'nase' not 'naze' or 'k-naze' (which I'd been saying for years). Pictured below. Step-out from CZT Holly Atwater, with thanks! 

"Black Walnut" - 9 cm. square
(c)2018 Margaret Bremner

Knase step-out courtesy of CZT Holly Atwater, with thanks!

PALM TREES are somewhat different and sometimes have a more square grid look. I don't see palm trees much where I live, so I don't draw them often. From left to right here is Beelight, a variation of 'Nzeppel, sort of Purk, and Tortuca (all from Zentangle).

"Baobab Fantasia" - 9 cm. square
(c)2018 Margaret Bremner

No doubt you can think of lots of other possibilities!

ZIA Ideas: Roofs

"Early August" detail, (c)2015 Margaret Bremner
Tangles on the roofs: Crezn't, Flukes, Tagh

Shelter from weather. Star-gazing platforms.

Here are some tangles that may give you thoughts of

 ROOFS 

CREZN'T (from Margaret Bremner)
Shown on the left roof above, and in this detail from "Cloud Cover". Find step-outs at this link.

FLUKES (from Zentangle)
Shown in the middle roof of the top image, and in "No. 6 Fairy Lane" below. Find step-outs at this link.

PALREVO (from Karry Heun)
Shown below in a detail from "Cloud Cover". Find step-outs at this link.

SHING (from Margaret Bremner)
Shown below in a detail from "A Little House on the Prairie". Find step-outs at this link.

SHINGLE (from CZT Maria Copetas)
Find step-outs at this link.

TAGH (from Zentangle)
Shown on the right roof of the top image, and on the right edge below. Find step-outs at this link.

UP AND ACROSS (from CZT Suzanne McNeill)
Find step-outs in Suzanne's book Zentangle 2 - Ideas for Scrapbooks and Journals.
See an example on the right in the image below. This picture is the cover image of the 2019 Tangle-a-Day calendar, available here!

"Be Home for Supper" (c)2015 Margaret Bremner
Tangles on the roofs, left to right: Palrevo, Knightsbridge, Tagh, Shing, Zewm, Up and Across

Many square-grid tangles, if you done on an angle and in the right context, could look like a roof. Try Emingle, Tortuca, Warble, and Beelight.
You can also use many tangles designed as borders, but do several layers instead of just one.

Have fun!

ZIA Ideas: Coniferous trees

Coniferous trees. Evergreens. Conifers. Triangles.

"Winter Conifers" (c)2015 Margaret Bremner
Tangles in the trees: Flux (two varieties), Opus, Sanibelle, Tipple

Living where I do - in the middle of the Canadian prairies - I see lots of coniferous trees. They offer greenery in the winter, and often show up in my zentangle-inspired artwork.

Here are some tangles that may give you thoughts of

 EVERGREENS 

I can't let this post go by without sharing 

Carole Ohl's spectacular Christmas tree using AQUAFLEUR.
Step-outs at this link.

FEATHERFALL (from CZT Carole Ohl)

Find the step-outs at this link.

"Blue Spruce" (c)2015 Margaret Bremner
Tangles: Featherfall, Tidings

FLUX - either version (from Zentangle)

Find the step-outs at this link. 

See examples of Flux in the first tile, Rick's version on the left and Maria's on the right.

NARWAL (from CZT Sam Taylor)

Find the step-outs in a video at this link.

"Night Knoll" (c) 2015 Margaret Bremner
Tangles: Black Pearlz, Hurakán, Narwal, Prestwood, Printemps

PRESTWOOD (from CZT Margaret Bremner)

Find the step-outs at this link.
There is another example of Prestwood in the tile above, using Prestwood as a single, long line.

Tangles: Afterglo, Diva Dance, Morse, Prestwood

SANIBELLE (from CZT Tricia Faraone)

For an evergreen tree, draw it "upside down". Find the step-outs at this link.
Here is a Christmas card using Sanibelle on a 3Z tile. We added tiny colored gems for balls or lights.

Other tangles with great possibilities are...

VERDIGOGH (from Maria Thomas at Zentangle)

Inspired by evergreen needles. Find the step-outs at this link.
OPUS (from Maria Thomas at Zentangle) - step-outs at this link.

Tangles composed of triangles such as...
 TRIPOLI - step-outs at this link.
TRIFLE - step-outs at this link.
FASSETT  - step-outs at this link.

This is certainly not a definitive list. Put almost any tangle in a tall triangle shape and in the right context it could be an evergreen tree. See the example of Prestwood above. :)
Experiment. Enjoy!

ZIA Ideas: Deciduous trees

Today in my on-going, very occasional, series about tangles that can be used for landscape elements is deciduous trees. For these I generally avoid tangles that are regular circle forms (such as Drupe, Fracas, Cirqital) but if that appeals to you, go right ahead.
(The first in this series, cumulus Clouds, can be found here.)

These are some tangles that may give you thoughts of

  DECIDUOUS  TREES  

AQUAFLEUR (from Zentangle)

Find step-outs at this link.

"Black Walnut"
(c)2015 Margaret Bremner

BUNZO (from Zentangle)

Find step-outs at this link.

"Clearing in the Afternoon"
(c)2014 Margaret Bremner

FENGLE (from Zentangle)

Find step-outs at this link.
One of the things I love about Fengle is that you can add other tangles inside the various sections - tangling within tangles!

"Tea on the Terrace"
(c)2016 Margaret Bremner

GINILI (from Randi Wynne-Parry)

Find step-outs at this link.

"Reflections"
(c)2016 Margaret Bremner

MERINGUE (from Kelley Kelly, CZT)

Find step-outs at this link.

"The Shorter Days of Autumn"
(c)2017 Margaret Bremner

PAISLEY BOA (from Amy Broady, CZT)

Find step-outs at this link (scroll down).

This is another tangle where you can tangle within the sections.

"Jujube Tree"
(c) Margaret Bremner

YUMA (from Tina Hunziker, CZT)

Find step-outs at this link.

"Sapling"
(c)2017 Margaret Bremner
With three brass leaves sewn on.

Tangles that include leaf shapes can also be useful (try Zenith or Groovy) as well as tangles that contain actual leaf imagery like Yuma, Leaflet or Hurly Burly. Maybe try Shrock for a spring tree in blossom? And I'm sure you can think of others.

And don't forget, you can combine tangles, mix 'n' match, put one tangle inside another... have fun!

ZIA Ideas: Clouds

Puffy, poofy, soft-looking, marshmallowy, cumulus clouds.

Tangles: Floo, Tipple (Caviar version), Auras, and a tangle that's not yet public.
Susan Szathmary had done the color wash and the
green gem-pebbles. I added the 'clouds', the 'waves', and the 'sand'.

I received an interesting comment when I posted the above tile on a Facebook group page:

"I'm getting fascinated by your use of tangles to suggest textures... that would make a great blog topic if you wanted to share your thinking."

This topic is closely related to a class I offered at CanTangle 2015 drawing streetscapes and wonky buildings, and I've had a many inquiries about that. So, I've decided to start an occasional series called ZIA Ideas in which I'll offer suggestions, and show examples, of tangles that can be used to suggest particular things.

I want to emphasize here that a proper tangle is non-representational. A tangle is simply a pattern - a structured pattern - with a simple series of steps to accomplish the end design. Of course, many patterns are inspired by a floor, upholstery, a fence, a pattern on a carpet, a stack of dishes, a pile of stones, flowers, and the list goes on. But the intention is not to do a representative drawing of that thing.

Here are some of my favorite tangles that may give you

 THOUGHTS OF CLOUDS 

DUST BUNNY (from Margaret Bremner)

Find step-outs at this link.

ENNIES (from Zentangle)

Find step-outs at this link. Example below.

"Lollipop Tree" (c)2016 Margaret Bremner

FLOO (from Zentangle)

No step-outs online. Example in the tiles at the top and bottom.

POPCLOUD (from Carla DuPreez)

Find step-outs at this link. Example below.

"Mountain Ash" (c)2014 Margaret Bremner

PRINTEMPS (from Zentangle)

No online link. Example below.

Detail from "Overcast" (c)2016 Margaret Bremner

There are two tangles I haven't tried as clouds yet, but I think would be very good:

KANDYSNAKE (from Vicki Murray, CZT)

Find step-outs at this link.

GINILI (from Randi Wynne-Parry)

Find step-outs at this link. I find this tangle has more impact in a larger area.

Of course, there are tangles unfamiliar to me, 

and tangles that will strike you as perfect for a 'cloud' you need somewhere.
Experiment. Have fun. And let me know if you come across a jim-dandy 'cloud' tangle!

"At Home in the Clouds" (c)2015 Margaret Bremner
Examples of Printemps, Floo, Pop-Cloud, and even Opus and Pixioze as 'clouds'.