There's a lot of ways to practice new patterns and using scrapbook paper or coloring pages is one way. I like to use this method after I've figured out the basics of different patterns and I'm ready to see new patterns together. This is a great way of discovering what patterns work well together and what patterns should be separate on a page.
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Zentangle on Patterned Scrapbook Paper
Let me start off by saying that I really love this drawing. It was a lot of fun to do. I think part of the reason it was so fun is that the pattern on the scrapbook paper took the pressure off to create a completely original drawing. Using a page like scrapbook paper or coloring pages to have portions already blocked off for patterns is a great way to practice new patterns.
There's a lot of ways to practice new patterns and using scrapbook paper or coloring pages is one way. I like to use this method after I've figured out the basics of different patterns and I'm ready to see new patterns together. This is a great way of discovering what patterns work well together and what patterns should be separate on a page.
There's a lot of ways to practice new patterns and using scrapbook paper or coloring pages is one way. I like to use this method after I've figured out the basics of different patterns and I'm ready to see new patterns together. This is a great way of discovering what patterns work well together and what patterns should be separate on a page.
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Mandala Flower and Vines
Wow, I am not 100% sure what to say about this drawing. I am very surprised at the popularity of this video. It was a very simple drawing that only took a little over an hour to draw.
The design was inspired from a Google image search. I cannot find the original image although I've looked several times. I was hoping to show how you can use images as inspiration without completely copying the image.
I do like the way the final image looks. This was one of the first mandalas I drew that wasn't using a compass. I sort of let the mandala grow naturally and eye-balled the divisions of the mandala. I must admit that I didn't put as much effort into this drawing as I have for others. This is one of the reasons I am so surprised that the video has over 200,000 views.
When I look at some of my most viewed videos/drawings, I've noticed that a lot of them are ones that I didn't overthink and over-plan. Sometimes just letting things be a little simple and not trying to hard is what people are looking for. I think this is because it lets people know that it's something that they can do if they put their mind to. Simple drawings aren't as intimidating the way more detailed drawings can be. That's just me guessing at the popularity, but I can't say for sure.
The design was inspired from a Google image search. I cannot find the original image although I've looked several times. I was hoping to show how you can use images as inspiration without completely copying the image.
I do like the way the final image looks. This was one of the first mandalas I drew that wasn't using a compass. I sort of let the mandala grow naturally and eye-balled the divisions of the mandala. I must admit that I didn't put as much effort into this drawing as I have for others. This is one of the reasons I am so surprised that the video has over 200,000 views.
When I look at some of my most viewed videos/drawings, I've noticed that a lot of them are ones that I didn't overthink and over-plan. Sometimes just letting things be a little simple and not trying to hard is what people are looking for. I think this is because it lets people know that it's something that they can do if they put their mind to. Simple drawings aren't as intimidating the way more detailed drawings can be. That's just me guessing at the popularity, but I can't say for sure.
Thursday, January 11, 2018
Zentangled Mandala - Pushing Through Mistakes
This little mandala didn't turn out the way that I was expecting. The solid black lines were not supposed to be solid black lines. You can see that by the way that I started off the drawing. As I was going over the penciled lines with my pen, I made a mistake which caused me to have to make the lines solid. I remember being really disappointed by having to change this vision of what I was planning.
When I make mistakes like this, I tend to start over again, but this time I decided to keep going. I will say that the disappointment did cause me to choose more simple patterns than what I was planning. Apparently when I make a mistake, I let it effect me a little more than I should.
Over the years, I have learned to work around the mistakes that I make in a drawing, but I must admit that there's still a part of me that gets annoyed by my own mistakes. What's funny about that is most of the time, no one other than myself would even know that a mistake was made.
This is something that I try to impress upon my students. Even when you think there's a mistake beyond repair, keep going. There's a great possibility that the mistake will not be noticeable once you finish the piece.
When I make mistakes like this, I tend to start over again, but this time I decided to keep going. I will say that the disappointment did cause me to choose more simple patterns than what I was planning. Apparently when I make a mistake, I let it effect me a little more than I should.
Over the years, I have learned to work around the mistakes that I make in a drawing, but I must admit that there's still a part of me that gets annoyed by my own mistakes. What's funny about that is most of the time, no one other than myself would even know that a mistake was made.
This is something that I try to impress upon my students. Even when you think there's a mistake beyond repair, keep going. There's a great possibility that the mistake will not be noticeable once you finish the piece.
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Black and Red Zentangle
For this tangle, I was really looking forward to using this new ribbon technique that I taught myself. I like the way the ribbons turned out, I just wish that the patterns looked a little more polished, but I keep reminding myself that I was still learning new patterns at this stage of my channel. I practiced the ribbons over and over again, but only practiced that patterns a handful of times.
One thing I like about this drawing is the way the shading looks. It was something I was still trying to perfect at the time and I think it looks really nice. I can't remember exactly how long this drawing took to complete but what I do know is that the shading took longer than it would now. I guess the more you practice something, the easier it is to accomplish and the less time it will take to create.
This tangle is one that I plan on trying again soon with my own patterns, maybe with different colored ribbons.
One thing I like about this drawing is the way the shading looks. It was something I was still trying to perfect at the time and I think it looks really nice. I can't remember exactly how long this drawing took to complete but what I do know is that the shading took longer than it would now. I guess the more you practice something, the easier it is to accomplish and the less time it will take to create.
This tangle is one that I plan on trying again soon with my own patterns, maybe with different colored ribbons.
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
January Tutorial Challenge & Playlist
Welcome to a new monthly series I'll be doing throughout 2018. In the beginning of each month, I will be posting a playlist with the tutorial videos for that month. I encourage you to try these patterns out and create your own drawing for the end of the month. If you follow along and create a final piece, I would love to see it! If you follow me on Instagram tag me in your photos so I can see what you've created. It will take me a couple months to figure the best way to upload these little tutorials but for January, I've decided to release all of the tutorials at once in a playlist. HAVE FUN!
Monday, January 1, 2018
2018 - A Whole New Year
I am not perfect and 2017 really proved that to everyone who follows my YouTube, FaceBook, Blog, Books or anything else in my art world. I kind of disappeared without explanation to anyone. My brother has asked me numerous times when I am going to post another video and I haven't even explained things to him.
I wasn't sure what I was going to do with my art. I was continuing to draw while not on camera because I love it, but I was frustrated with my "professional" side of art. There were things that happened that were beyond my control that made my earnings drop severely. The money I made with YouTube and my books with my publisher were severely cut. It was disheartening to put over 40 hours a week into art and not receiving a check some months.
There was something in my personal life too that was causing a big barrier in me creating videos. I've never discussed this publicly but I suffer from ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). I was on medication for awhile but because of insurance and the cost of my medication I was not on meds for longer than I should have been. What happens when I am not on medication is that it's very difficult for me to complete tasks, I become easily distracted and frustrated, and tasks that should take an hour take several hours.
As much as I would love to get into what it feels like for me to draw with ADD, not on meds, and having distractions like my earnings dropping, I can't really describe it without sounding like I'm whining but I'm going to try. The best way I can really describe it is like this. Imagine you have the best job ever and even though you're not getting rich by any stretch of the imagination, you're able to pay your bills and have a little left over to save. Then one day you're told, "hey, you still need to work 40-60 hours a week doing what you've been doing, but you now get paid 50% less than what you had been earning. If you decide not to put the hours in, we'll drop your pay by another 15-20%." Even though you might love your job, it suddenly feels like being forced out of a job you love because you can no longer pay your bills.
Anyway, while I've been off camera, I've been really thinking about what I want to do with YouTube and everything else. I seriously considered just letting everything go. It was a depressing thought but the thought of continuing to try only to continue to fail was more depressing.
Now that I am back on my ADD medication, I am able to fully think things through and analyze things until I reach a conclusion. I had to go back to the beginning and think about why I started recording my drawings to begin with. It was never to make money or to get recognized. I knew from the beginning that I was never going to be rich from my videos. I started recording my drawings because it was fun and I wanted people to learn the art I was growing to love. As my channel grew, I have loved communicating through the comments section and through Facebook and other social media. That aspect has never gone away no matter how frustrating the behind the scenes stuff got.
This made me realize that I really do want to keep going with my art on social media no matter what that means. I've spent the last part of 2017 working on a schedule that will keep me on track with my posts. I'm not saying I won't get frustrated again but I do know that I am going to keep going. I hope you all understand and will stay with me as I transition into this new schedule.
I can't promise that I will be perfect with my new schedule. I wish I could. What I can promise is that I'm not going to disappear for months again. 2018 is a whole new year and I plan on making this the best year yet.
I wasn't sure what I was going to do with my art. I was continuing to draw while not on camera because I love it, but I was frustrated with my "professional" side of art. There were things that happened that were beyond my control that made my earnings drop severely. The money I made with YouTube and my books with my publisher were severely cut. It was disheartening to put over 40 hours a week into art and not receiving a check some months.
There was something in my personal life too that was causing a big barrier in me creating videos. I've never discussed this publicly but I suffer from ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). I was on medication for awhile but because of insurance and the cost of my medication I was not on meds for longer than I should have been. What happens when I am not on medication is that it's very difficult for me to complete tasks, I become easily distracted and frustrated, and tasks that should take an hour take several hours.
As much as I would love to get into what it feels like for me to draw with ADD, not on meds, and having distractions like my earnings dropping, I can't really describe it without sounding like I'm whining but I'm going to try. The best way I can really describe it is like this. Imagine you have the best job ever and even though you're not getting rich by any stretch of the imagination, you're able to pay your bills and have a little left over to save. Then one day you're told, "hey, you still need to work 40-60 hours a week doing what you've been doing, but you now get paid 50% less than what you had been earning. If you decide not to put the hours in, we'll drop your pay by another 15-20%." Even though you might love your job, it suddenly feels like being forced out of a job you love because you can no longer pay your bills.
Anyway, while I've been off camera, I've been really thinking about what I want to do with YouTube and everything else. I seriously considered just letting everything go. It was a depressing thought but the thought of continuing to try only to continue to fail was more depressing.
Now that I am back on my ADD medication, I am able to fully think things through and analyze things until I reach a conclusion. I had to go back to the beginning and think about why I started recording my drawings to begin with. It was never to make money or to get recognized. I knew from the beginning that I was never going to be rich from my videos. I started recording my drawings because it was fun and I wanted people to learn the art I was growing to love. As my channel grew, I have loved communicating through the comments section and through Facebook and other social media. That aspect has never gone away no matter how frustrating the behind the scenes stuff got.
This made me realize that I really do want to keep going with my art on social media no matter what that means. I've spent the last part of 2017 working on a schedule that will keep me on track with my posts. I'm not saying I won't get frustrated again but I do know that I am going to keep going. I hope you all understand and will stay with me as I transition into this new schedule.
I can't promise that I will be perfect with my new schedule. I wish I could. What I can promise is that I'm not going to disappear for months again. 2018 is a whole new year and I plan on making this the best year yet.
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