This arch is adapted from a Renaissance arch from the book “Suggestions of Design” by John Leighton and James Colling (1880) found on archive dot org. I also added some Found Flowers on a frame around the arch. Shaded and colored with Inktense and Pitt Artist Brush pens. If you goto my blog you'll see I wasn’t able to stay faithful to the original - I love the way my hand just takes over and adds whatever details it feels like.
Read MoreAn Art Raffle game gave me Fife, Eofer and Mooka. I included one fragment of each, plus added a little random flower to fill up the empty space. Using again that lovely color palette with green, blue and purple. Love that one! Tangled with inktense and pitt artist brush pens.
Read MoreMixing and matching fragments is such fun! In this piece I used a combination of three fragments: Tufton (Jodi Christiansen), Stacked Mooka, Munchin (Zentangle) and also an ogee dome. This is part of a mix and match study I did almost a while back, but only developed the final piece now. Tangled with inktense and pitt artist brush pens.
Read MoreThis color scheme was not my favorite when I finished the piece - what was I thinking! - but it's starting to grow on me. Here is Pickpocket (Tomàs Padros) and also a coiled ribbon pattern similar to Cadent with a lotus in the middle, found on Plate X (Egyptian) of the Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones, 1865. Ancient Egyptian ornament was mostly very geometric; flowing lines like this were very rare. Tangled with inktense and pitt artist brush pens.
Read MoreMy art-cheological explorations are not always historic in the traditional sense: this fragment was found in one of my sketch papers from January 2023. The quote is from a friend who told me to “focus on the solution, not the problem”. I don’t even remember what the problem was at that time, so clearly it has been solved! Tangled with inktense and pitt artist brush pens. Love the color palette!
Read MoreContinue to explore the world of historic ornament. This one is my interpretation of a detail found in the Chaukhandi Tombs, a 500 year-old necropolis richly carved in sandstone, located near Karachi in Pakistan. Photos were graciously shared with permission by Tahamie Farooqui, a very talented photographer referred by Jenny Farooqui. Many thanks for the gorgeous pictures and referral! Shaded and colored with Inktense and Pitt Artist Brush pens.
Read MoreI can’t get enough of Byzantine and Romanesque ornament. I found this one with a typical S-scroll vine in the book Byzantine and Romanesque Architecture by Thomas G. Jackson, 1913, page 256. I replaced some of the leaves with berries and light tangling. Shaded and colored with Inktense and Pitt Artist Brush pens.
Read MoreI have a thing for the “palmette”, a historic motif used by many ancient civilizations. In this Assyrian design it is flanked by what seem to be two birds deities or birds of prey (mine look a bit like tangled chickens, hahahaha). Palms were sacred trees for the Assyrians and the palmette was their main motif of ornamentation, along with the round daisy-shaped rosettes. Shaded and colored with Inktense and Pitt Artist Brush pens.
Read MoreThis new picture includes two of the tangles that are new to the Art Raffle app: Fandango (Vicki Bassett) and Potted (Liz Drake). I love the medieval look that these two have together! I worked the two tangles using Inktense pencils and Pitt Brush Pens over a 4x6 inch watercolor card.
Read MoreIn this picture I combined two medieval foliage artifacts found in a public domain book by James Colling. They are described as “triple buds” in the book. I also love the presence of Mooka tendrils sprouting from the branch. Shaded and colored with Inktense and Pitt Artist Brush pens.
Read MoreLast April I had a family reunion in Lisbon and as part of our trip we visited the stunning Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, built in the 15th century in the Portuguese Gothic Manueline architectural style. As most Portuguese historic buildings, it was full of beautiful painted tile panels (azulejos). This picture is inspired on one such panel. I included some “Found Flowers” to replace the center decoration and changed the color palette. Shaded and colored with Inktense and Pitt Artist Brush pens.
Read MoreOne of the most beautiful historic places in the world has to be the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. This piece is inspired not by any one particular panel, but just the overall look as I was scrolling through my pictures of that place. Using my new favorite palette with blue/greens and oranges, using inktense and pitt brush pens.
Read MoreLast Wednesday I took a lovely class with the CZT After Hours conducted by Pam Signorelli. She introduced two tangles that were new to me, Houdini (Tomas Padrós) and Overlap (Beatrice Aronas). I adapted the project to a 4x6 card, using Pitt brush pens to shade.
Read MoreLast week I was driving around Pasadena, CA and saw the most beautiful ornamental pattern on a building facade that served as inspiration for this picture. I can only guess that it is Art Deco due to the lines and style, and since Pasadena does have some fine examples of that period. Drawn using Inktense paint pads and Pitt brush pens with a waterbrush.
Read MoreThe beautifully poetic class Duotone Tangling is now available in video format for individual purchase. This video class includes how to use a “landscape string” and how to create contrast using two inking pens of different colors. It also shows how to use grafting and how to organicize tangles to make them resemble plants.
Read MoreIn this picture I mixed a tangle with some history: the leafy tangle is Laquinta (my own) combined with a Romanesque fragment on the lower right corner. I used Laquinta sprouting from a wavy ogee curve, climbing like a vine and turning around the corner. Again, tangled with inktense and pitt artist brush pens.
Read MoreI continue my exploration of historic ornament and fragments, using this blue/green/ochre palette. This pattern - sometimes referred to as "Double Guilloche” - can be found in ancient Egypt, Assyria, Greece and ancient Rome. I also found a similar but not identical tangle called Tuly (Carmen Muniz Real). Tangled using Inktense paint pads and Pitt brush pens with a waterbrush.
Read MoreFinally managed to get something done in a different color palette! This is inspired by a photo I took of the Pantages theatre here in Los Angeles, I extracted a string with some large triangular points. Inside I added Crescent Moon, outside Moonpie on a path and some tiny Opus. Tangled using Inktense paint pads and Pitt brush pens with a waterbrush.
Read MoreStarting a new series of rectangular postcards in color. These seem similar to the Journal Tiles I’ve been making but they are actually made in a completely different way, tangling with inks using a waterbrush. This forces me to work extremely large, something quite unusual for me and yet here is still tons of room for tiny tangling and hatching.
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