Art of the Carolinas -Zentangle and Watercolor Class

Saturday afternoon it was back to the North Raleigh Hilton for Art of the Carolinas.  This time, the trade show was open, and I hoped to pick up the watercolor paints and other supplies I needed to finish my painting from the Karlyn Holman class.  She must have a lot of disciples at the show...most of the colors I needed were already sold out.  I did pick up a large pack of Arches watercolor paper, a new paintbrush, and a few tubes of paint.  I also ran into Karlyn and was able to get the instruction kit for the hollyhocks painting.

My instructor for the evening class was Suzanne McNeill, author of several Zentangle books and publisher of many how-to books.  She was in her booth at the Trade Show.  I was able to see the sketchbook she made on her recent trip to Mexico...a beautiful piece of art.  Both Roberta Morgan and I brought our Zentangle hand quilts to show her, and she took our photos to put on her blog.

I was interested to see that there is a brand new Zentangle and fabric arts book.  It was sold out at the show, but available from the website.  Apparently, others have recognized the similarity between Zentangles and quilting and embroidery designs.

Her class was very enjoyable.  She jokingly called it "Zinfandel and Watercolors,"  since it was Saturday night.  She showed us large color prints of many of her paintings. 

It was astonishing how far she has taken the Zentangle doodles in combination with painting. The tangles become blended into the backgrounds, as well as part of the garments, flowers, or other focus element.

You can see more of her work on her website.   And, she shows step-by-steps for a new Zentangle design each week.

After Suzanne showed us some examples of her work, and we had a student "show-and-tell" session, we each traced the line drawing for the lady with the scarf onto watercolor paper.  We got a large postcard with a print of the original.  Suzanne started showing us some tangles, and we added them in on various parts of our drawings.

Then, it was on to the messy part.  We thoroughly wet our drawings with sponge on front and back, and pooled watercolor paint to form a wash in the background.  At this point some of my doodles smeared, because the ink had not dried completely.  But, I think it turned out okay.   When I left the class, this was what my painting looked like.

On Sunday I filled in the rest of the Zentangles, including adding more contrast to some of the lighter tangles.  This is how it looked with all the tangles drawn.

Then, I added some shading to the face and neck, and colored in the background.  I would say she is about 99% finished now.  Maybe a little tweaking of the eyelids.

I am pleased with my Zentangle lady!