Huge congratulations to the Toronto Raptors!!!
Last night in another nail-biter right to the final buzzer (“an instant classic in every sense of the word”) the Raptors beat the Golden State Warriors to take the Finals series 4-2 and become the 2019 NBA Champions.
Canada is going bonkers celebrating this historic win for its 25-year-old franchise and the country’s only NBA team. This is the first time an NBA Champion has come from a team outside of the USA, “north of the border”. What a series, what a night!
And this is a big weekend for still more reasons. It’s Father’s Day on Sunday and the last CZT certification seminar in the USA for 2019 also begins Sunday. Lots of excited tanglers arriving in Providence for the time of their lives! (For more on the teacher certification program, visit the ZENTANGLES > TEACHING ZENTANGLE page on the top menu bar.)
Today for our Buried Treasure we’re revisiting the excellent tutorial by our very own CZT Marie Browning on how to draw tangle-embellished colored gems using Tombow markers. The original tutorial post from 2017 is reproduced here:
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.
More Gem Tutorials
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!“
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Many tanglers like to use these biweekly Tangle Refreshers as their Zentangle® challenge-of-the-day.
Using the RANDOM TANGLE SELECTOR in the left sidebar this TanglePatterns String was selected for today – either to go with today’s Buried Treasure or just to use as a starting point for your day’s tangling.
Think of this as your tangle Challenge, if you’re so inclined. TanglePatterns String 011 is from tangler Yamit Fridman and was originally posted here.
Right click and SAVE to your computer; then print. Pinning content from this site is not permitted. Copyright notice is posted on the bottom of every page. Thank you for respecting these rights.
Remember that Zentangle strings are always drawn freehand in pencil so that they magically disappear when you’ve finished tangling the tile.
A string is a simple device to “divide your drawing surface into sections to be filled with tangles“.
In the Zentangle PRIMER Vol 1 (now available in paperback for $23.95) there is an entire section devoted to Strings which in part explains:
“As you tangle, your strings disappear as if by magic. This adds to the charm and unified appearance of your completed art. If you had used a pen to draw your string, you would still see the initial sectioning in your completed creation.“
Strings are not intended to be the focal point of your tile.
More String advice from The Book of Zentangle (now available in paperback for $19.95):
“A string is a useful reference, but it is not an impenetrable barrier. Practice going outside your string. It will help increase your ability to think outside the box.“
To download eBooks containing all 250 TanglePatterns Strings, visit the STORE > EBOOKS page.
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The Tangle Refresher series, aka Buried Treasure, spotlights hidden tangle gems from the past. 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!
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Noom |
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Trilad |
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PS23 |
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Firecracker |
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Agni |
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Tangle Refresher 173 |
More good stuff …
- The Importance of Strings in Zentangle – and String 001
- 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 Zentangle Primer Vol 1 – your CZT-in-a-book by the founders of Zentangle! Now available in softcover.
- 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.
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Enhance your Zentangle experience while supporting TanglePatterns: |
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CURRENT EDITION! TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE, 2024 Edition |
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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! |
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"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. |
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| 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. | |
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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 | |
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June 14, 2019 | 
More like this: 
I so much like the looks of “gems” when I can incorporate them into my tangles, but I don’t have the right supplies, so have to wing it most of the time. They come out pretty enough to impress viewers, but not to my personal satisfaction, so I’ll have to treat myself to the listed materials and learn to draw “real” gemstones 🙂