Tangle Refresher 149 – Featuring a tutorial from CZT Marie Browning on how to draw colored gems with Tombow markers

For quite a while now some tanglers have been bitten by the craze of including colored gems in their Zentangle®-inspired art.

I think this trend gained traction late in 2015 when when Japanese tangler Kae Yoshino published two tutorials on her blog in Japanese illustrating how she added gems to her Zentangle tiles using watercolor pencils, colored pencils, and a white gel pen or white acrylic paint.

If you’re not familiar with working with colored pencils and how to layer colors, this can be a little challenging.

However today CZT Marie Browning is going to show you how to use the richly-colored Tombow markers to EASILY create beautiful gems for your artwork. And the Tombow markers blend like a dream on Zentangle tiles with the colorless brush blender. No experience required.

“How to Draw Gems with Markers and Colored Pencils” is an easy 4-Step tutorial from Tombow’s signature designer and CZT Marie Browning, using the following supplies:

• Tombow Dual Brush Pens
• Tombow Irojiten Colored Pencils
• Tombow Colorless Brush Pen Blender
• Tombow Sand Eraser
• Tombow MONO Drawing Pencils, 2B and F
• Signo Uniball White Gel Pen

In Marie’s tutorial on the Tombow blog she includes a detailed chart indicating the specific colors to use to create these gems: Rose Quartz, Ruby, Amethyst, Sapphire, Turquoise, Emerald, Topaz, Amber, Opal and Obsidian.

BTW – If you don’t have a copy of Marie’s Brush Marker Magic, or her Pencil Magic, or Time to Tangle with Colors, treat yourself! All gems too, they’re in my library 🙂

Marie’s tutorial includes a free downloadable PDF for you to try your hand at adding colorful gems to Marie’s lovely dragonfly as she has done here.

UPDATE June 2023: The document download links no longer work on Tombow’s blog. They have graciously sent me the documents to post the links here so with thanks to Marie and Tombow, here are those download links:

• Marie’s JPEG dragonfly image for you to try your hand.
• A PDF summary of Marie’s tutorial including the specific Tombow Dual Brush Pen numbers to use for each type of gem.

More Gem Tutorials

1. German tangler Simone Bischoff posted her detailed method of drawing gems using Faber Castell Polychromos color pencils. Simone’s tutorial is in German but you can use Google Translate to translate the page.
2. Since she first published her tutorials Kae Yoshino became a CZT at Seminar 25 last June. I notice she has added English to her two-part gems tutorial: Part 1, Part 2.
3. There are many practical and useful resources online on the subject of rendering gems. For those seriously interested in the subject of drawing a whole range of jewelry you might check out this free PDF from the PMC Guild (Precious Metal Clay), hosted on the site for Rio Grande jewelry suppliers: Practical Jewelry Rendering. This is a “must-have resource for any jewelry designer who wishes to illustrate renderings of their design ideas and their completed work! Courtesy of the PMC Guild archives, this wonderful “drawing course” shows you how to draw your work, how to shadow, how to distinguish different kinds of metal and more!” Rio Grande’s main article is here, updated links courtesy of Rhi Dent.

* * *

More gems! The Tangle Refresher series, aka Buried Treasure, appears every other Friday and spotlights hidden tangle gems from the past and frequently includes additional useful tips and tutorials. It can remind you of tangles you might not have used for a while or introduce you to some you haven’t come across yet.

Here are five more tangle pattern gems and a Tangle Refresher from a year (or two) ago for your tangling pleasure. Remember to check out the “More Good Stuff” links below too.

BTW as you visit these tangles please do leave a comment of thanks and encouragement to show the artists you appreciate them for sharing their creativity to inspire yours. And please share a link to your favorite tangles with your followers on all your social media. Thanks!

Zenful tangling!

Buried Treasure from the tangling past

	Gourdgeous
	Tri-Bine
	Charmzy
	4Fun
	Chechain
	Tangle Refresher 121

More good stuff …

• Adding glorious color to your ZIA projects – another excellent tutorial by CZT Marie Browning
• Lightfast or not? Important considerations about color in your Zentangle-inspired art by Jane Catherine, CZT, a follow-up to Marie’s tutorial
• New to Zentangle®? The Official Zentangle Kit has everything you need to get started, including a great DVD tutorial by Zentangle co-founder Maria Thomas.
• A great companion to the Kit is the new Zentangle Primer Vol 1 – your CZT-in-a-book by the founders of Zentangle!
• Everything you need to know about creating Zentangle-Inspired Art or Products
• Free Interweave eBook – Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for crafters and artists
• Tangle Pattern Refreshers – the entire Buried Treasure series.
• Find more tutorials on TanglePatterns by visiting the TUTORIALS tab on the pink alphabetic menu bar
• Find a CZT near you – the link to the list of Certified Zentangle Teachers is located in the left sidebar of the site under the heading SOURCE WEBSITES.
• Interested in becoming a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT®)? Here’s more information.
• Linda’s List of Zentangle-original tangles — THE tangles to learn first if you’re new to Zentangle.

.oOo.
Enhance your Zentangle experience while supporting TanglePatterns:
CURRENT EDITION! TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE, 2024 Edition
	The 13th Edition of the TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE is an instant-download 109-page interactive digital eBook/PDF containing approximately 2,000 tangles on the site from May 2010 through December 31, 2023. It's a great resource and a must-have digital tool for using the site. Visit the STORE > E-BOOKS page and help keep TanglePatterns.com going by getting your copy now!
	"Linda, Thank you! I was relying on too few and getting stuck after 3 years of daily working with Zentangle. This has inspired me to ‘begin again’ with renewed excitement." ~ Barbara R.
See the BOOK REVIEWS page for more details on its features and view a sample page. Note: this is a digital product you download immediately when you place your order, nothing will be physically mailed to you.
GIFT ORDERS FOR ANOTHER PERSON: To give the TANGLE GUIDE as a gift, visit this page to place your gift order.
If you're new to Zentangle® and tangling, my TanglePatterns.com BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO ZENTANGLE is just what you need to get started. Also available en Français and en Español.
	This is the only Zentangle book you'll ever need: the fabulous Zentangle PRIMER Vol 1. It's your CZT-in-a-book by the founders of Zentangle®. Visit the STORE tab on the top menu bar or click on the image. For more about the content and to read the rave reviews, visit the BOOK REVIEWS tab.
NEW! Now available in KINDLE format for $9.99. Spanish Edition here. Japanese Edition here.
"Absolutely the best Zentangle Book yet! As an accomplished artist I used to think I did not need instruction on this art form. How wrong I was! My tangling improved by leaps and bounds after reading this book. If you think you have Zentangle down then you need this book more than ever!" ~ Kris H
.oOo.