 Let's see: D for the Dharma, for daylight, for delight, for deliberate. Also for do-over, for doubt, for demand, for "duh...", for ditto...I could go on, but won't. This is another illustrated letter using sketchbook paper (5x7"), black Micron 01, watercolor and colored pencil, plus a bit of graphite and white gellyroll. Great fun to do. Tangles are: Rixty, Tipple, Mooka, Printemps, Flux, Moonpie, I Can This, Zinger.
 An illustrated alphabet. I'm making a start with the letter "A" but I've no idea how far I will pursue this. And I probably won't do the letters in order. This was great fun. I took a class with Kelly Barone (whimsybykelly.com) who is a wonderful watercolorist, art educator, and Certified Zentangle® Teacher (CZT). On multi-media sketchbook paper (5x7") using a Micron 01 and graphite. Back to basics.  "Baby Duncan #1" approximately 8"x10" Koigu sock yarn and a variety of Valdani cotton embroidery floss in size 8, 6-strand DMC scavenged from second-hand shops. Created with the Ultra-Punch medium needle set on a number 2 height. 2023. By permission of WCushing & Co (they have the copyright on the pattern, a Pearl K. McGown design).  "Baby Duncan #2," approximately 7x10". Malabrigo wool sock yarn and Koigu sock yarn, with some Valdani and DMC cotton threads. 2023. By permission of W Cushing & Co, Wells, Maine.  "Baby Duncan #3," a mixture of random wool sock yarn and second-hand-store scavenged DMC 6-strand cotton thread. 2023. Approximately 8.5x10". By permission of W Cushing & Co, Wells, Maine. I worked on these three punch needle embroideries between April and July this year, since I was unable to hook rugs during that time due to a temporary medical situation (now happily resolved). I used the Ultra Punch medium needle on a #2 height and mixed sock yarns and cotton floss in all of them. After getting permission from W Cushing & Co <wcushing.com> I made these 3 to show possible variations to the basic pattern. At W. Cushing & Co's request, I made a copy of the hand-drawn pattern for them--they are now making it available on their website. If you want to try your own hand at making a "Baby Duncan," you can buy the pattern. Much easier than drawing it yourself. One word of caution: If you haven't ever done punchneedle EMBROIDERY before, I would not begin with this pattern. Do something simple first, like embroidering a few random circles and squares, to be sure you get the technique. Once you've done that, go ahead and try this. And here's a hint: begin punching in one of the corners. That way, if you can test out your colors and alter them before you get too far into your punching. Enjoy. Below is a quick side-by-side view of The Triplets:  I had to laugh when I put them together--up until then I thought I'd made them all the same size! Um, NO. Because I had to hand-draw each pattern (Cushing hadn't printed my pattern at that point, so I was free-handing it every time), they all came out slightly different sizes.
 My Duncan (all scrap wool, some hand-dyed by me, using cuts sizes 6-8, with crocheted binding). 2020. This was my pandemic rug. My rug above, was one of 17 Duncan rugs displayed at the Sauder Village Annual Rug Show Week (2023) in the "Special Exhibit" category.
I've just gotten back from the long drive and it was truly worth it. There were over 700 rugs (yes, you read that correctly) hung for this show. Amazing and inspiring. You can see all 17 Duncans in the exhibit HERE, in a short video taken by Lisanne Miller of WCushing & Co in Maine. Cushing owns the pattern (it's a very late Pearl McGown pattern, one of the last geometrics she designed). Details on my particular variation can be found HERE in a previous blog post from 2020.  On the left, contour drawing of tulips, just Micron 01 and graphite. On the right, Lavender, with watercolor pencil & water added to Micron 01. From today's journal. My notes on the right were cut off but they are telling myself, "Leave more room for the stem between the lavender flowers." More practice needed.  Micron 01 in black, graphite, colored pencil. Another photo from my sketchbook this morning. This one really made me chuckle--is it an anemone or a padula?
Never heard of a padula? A padula is a made-up flower. In other words, not a particular specific, identifiable flower. It's the type of flower kids often draw, not an accurate rendering. We use the term in rug hooking to describe those colorful fantasy flowers you often see in old rugs. It may also be a term used in other arts, but I've never heard of it anywhere else. This is supposed to be an anemone, but I'm not too certain about how accurate it is. Doesn't matter to me. Drawing it was fun and meditative. That's all I care about.  Sketchbook page. Micron 01 in black, graphite. I'm a bit too busy to do much besides sketch this week (and probably ditto next week) so it will be a few days of hurried contour drawing. i haven't had time to research what these flowers actually look like--this was done from a video by Kelly Barone (Whimsy by Kelly), a botanical artist.
Here's a page from my sketchbook showing some practice at drawing flowers. Kelly Barone of Whimsy by Kelly has a lovely free video series on FB on doing this. I think she began it last year but I'm just able to focus on it now. It was fun to try. Below you can see all the stages, from line drawing to shading to this result directly below.  Stage 3, the final sketch. Micron 01 black pen, graphite, 3 colored pencils.  Stage 2, after doing some shading with graphite.  First stage, done only with a Micron 01 to create the preliminary sketch. She clearly instructed us to use a pencil for this part--somehow I missed hearing that and so did it with pen. Much harder since nothing can be erased, not even the underlying guidelines! Oh well. |
ABOUT ME I'm a textile artist (traditional rug hooking, punch needle rug hooking, and other textile arts), a long-time meditator, a certified meditation teacher and coach, and focused on learning about the interplay of art, creativity, and mindfulness every day. 
Certified, 2021
Certified Unified Mindfulness Coach Level I, 2024
Certified Zentangle® Teacher, 2013
Certified by AmyOxford.com at The Oxford Rug Hooking School, 2016
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