Moebius Logo Tile

Hello again! It's been a busy week. I'm glad to sneak into my blog for a little while to share some of my recent Tangling activity. The Diva this week served up a second challenge to heighten awareness of Moebius Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder that her son was born with. The logo for the Moebius Syndrome Foundation is a striking Moebius Strip in a tri-looped configuration, quite reminiscent of a Celtic Knot.

Before shading...

I was so eager to start on this challenge, and as I love drawing simple Celtic knots, it wasn't difficult translate the logo to my tile. I did use pencil, though (I'm not sure-handed enough to tackle that one with a pen just yet!), and had to make a few adjustments on my lines. True to Zentangle philosophy, I did not use an eraser; I just kept my initial lines very light, and hoped the stray ones would have a very minor appearance in the finished design. Once I had the logo drawn on my tile, I was very cautious in moving forward. I wanted this tile to be special! I had a hard time choosing which tangles I wanted to use, and was unable to get closure on my design until today, Saturday--the end of the challenge week. So much for staying on top of things and finishing early!

Completed Tile!

I embraced purple again (and wore my purple velveteen pants on Tuesday the 24th, which was Moebius Syndrome Awareness Day), and this time I experimented with the water-soluable properties of my Albrecht Durer Watercolour Pencils by Faber Castell. On the logo, I used dry pencil, but in the negative areas I used a thin brush and water to activate the pencil and smooth the color around. The specific colors of the pencils I used are Purple Violet (8200-136), Violet (8200-138), and Mauve (8200-249) which was the deepest purple, and did not look at all like what I consider to be mauve!

I'm sharing both the unshaded and finished versions of my tile. The tangles here include 'NZeppel with a Cockles 'n' Mussels development in the central part, Bales, a square tangleation of Pweeko, and Tipple. The design in the center is a sneak peak of a tangle I developed over Winter Break. I have yet to settle on a name for it...I'm thinking of Fleurry or Fleurish as a play on both the flower-y and the snowflake-y qualities it has. I'll try to get some step-outs drawn up soon so I can introduce it formally.

Featured Tangles: Tangleation of Cadent, Ibex, Meer, a single unit of Tripoli, Shattuck, Pweeko, Tagh, and Mooka.

I'd  also like to mention the design that now appears in the title bar at the top of my blog. Ever since I began visiting Zentangle blogs, I've always been impressed and delighted by the designs that the author/artists feature in their title bars. I've been wanting my own special design. But oh, the pressure of developing a just-right design! I also wanted to try to add my own unique feature. Years ago I carved a fish (it's a molly fish) for a group art project. It was my adventure into soft-block carving, though I'd had the supplies for a long time before I got the courage to start carving designs. I don't carve often, but every time I do, I wonder why I don't engage in that process more; it is so relaxing! Like Zentangle. So when I wanted to add some artwork to the Tanglefish title bar, I thought of my molly fish soft block carving, and decided it needed to be a part of the blog. I will probably re-do periodically, as my print did not come out perfectly, and I'd like to experiment with different tangles around my fish. And perhaps some tangles on the fish! I've thought about that, too. (Where's my white Sakura Gelly Roll?) But this is my first effort, and I thought it deserved some time up there at the top of my blog. And since you can't see the full design up there, I thought I'd show the full width here.

So...what do you think? Post me some comments! And come back to see some directions for Fleurry. Or Fleurish. Which should I name it? Any other suggestions?
~Amy in TN