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Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Doodlers Anonymous Coloring Book!

I get so excited about the strangest things, but being in the new Doodlers Anonymous Coloring Book really tops my charts!


"Volume 4 of the Doodlers Anonymous coloring book features the doodles and drawings of 60 artists from around the globe - some fresh novices, others seasoned veterans, all of whom share a love for the hand-drawn.

The artwork is playful, beautiful and inspiring - not something off the shelf. So treat yourself, your family, and your faves to a little bit of happy!"

 This crazy animated gif features a few of the images from the new book. If you stare really hard at it, you can catch a glimpse of my art! It's a mandala-ish sort of thing made up of plant pods... no, really, it's cool!! Even Lilah likes it. And it will be very fun to color.


If you pre-order it now, CLICK HERE, you can save $3 off the regular price. The three previous coloring books are also really nice.

If you are thinking of giving this as a Christmas gift, I suggest including a set of Staedtler fine tip coloring pens. I have just recently gotten addicted to these and was freaked to discover that there is not only a gorgeous set of 20, but also two additional sets with pastels and forest colors. The images in these coloring books have very fine details, so I think these pens - with the books - would be Doodle Nirvana!

Here are some Amazon links for the pens:



And, yes, you can create tangles in color with these pens too!

UPDATE 12/13/14:

I wanted to show you a page I colored in one of the older Doodlers Anonymous coloring Books.

Line art by Amaia Arrazola

I used the Fineliner pens and the colors look bright and beautiful. Because they are finepoint, I color in with crosshatching.


In areas where I went over many times, some of the color bled through to the back of the page. Not as bad as with regular tipped markers though.


I didn't care about the image on the back (a motorcycle), but you could always photocopy the page if you are worried about that.

marker bleed thru on back of page
As far as longevity - I really don't know. Markers aren't designed to last for a long time. Graphic designers used them for speed of color application and the art was scanned for reproduction. If your coloring book masterpieces mean a lot to you, I suggest scanning or taking a photo. But the whole point is to enjoy the process while working - and I enjoy using these colored pens. :-)

Friday, November 14, 2014

Tangles of Kells - Now in the Physical World!

I wanted to tell you about my new BOOK! I added a new cover and some new art to the e-book and had it printed on very nice paper and - voila!! - The Tangles of Kells is now available as a BOOK!

I sold pre-release copies to the ladies at Bette Abdu's CZT Retreat a few weeks ago and then I gave copies to my attendees at this past weekend's, ART SWARM. (Yes, I know, I need to do a blog post about the Swarm - it was fabulous!)

While I was procrastin-... ahem... trying to get it listed on my Etsy shop - I saw that it was already having an impact on a fellow SWARMer. Jacque was posting it's effects on her family on Facebook and I asked if I could re-post here:


And here is proof that her boys enjoyed the book...

It got them drawing!


And it got Jacque drawing too!
Stunning white on black...


...and more tradtional black on white..


I think these may be Jacque's first tangles? (Welcome to the rabbit hole!)

I love ebooks and the chance they give to try out a subject without a huge investment. It also makes it really easy to get my books into International tanglers' hands! If you love ebooks, The Tangles of Kells is still available as a downloadable PDF, HERE.

The (NEW!!) printed version is available as a Limited Edition book - signed, with three special postcards, and two Bijou tiles in a pocket inside the front cover. (Get it HERE).


And the regular version of the (NEW!!) Tangles of Kells is available HERE.


Lastly, if you are a CZT, or a teacher, or another person who needs large quantities of Zentangle related books, you can get quantities of ten or more Kells books at wholesale, HERE.


I am very excited to have piles and piles of the new books!! There is something so satisfying about seeing your work in print. But now I need to get these books into YOUR hands. I hope that you will enjoy it and be inspired to make beautiful work of your own. And please share what you are working on on my Facebook Page!

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

It's That Bauble Tree Time of Year

I received the following email this weekend:

Dear Ms Bartholomew,
I have to thank you again. I recently had the pleasure of purchasing your book "The Bauble Tree" in your Etsy shop. I have since written a short blog post about it at http://www.stxradley.blogspot.com  The book was so quick and easy to print out and I love it so much. My 6 year old loved it as much as I for she quickly absconded with it and sat down to draw. You inspired her yet again with the Lilah beans and the tree. I was lucky to get a look at the book after I put it together. Haha. But thank you again for all your efforts and your books that you produce. I know you are a very busy lady and I admire both your work and your simple instructions. These books have been tools for myself as well as our craft program at camp. I look forward to seeing what is next.
Sincerely,
Chelsea Radley
Stx


I was so blown away by the blog post... and then a second post, that I begged for permission to re-post it here. I edited a little, so if you would like to see the complete posts, just click the titles for either and they will get you there.
Posted: 07 Nov 2014 09:06 AM PST
Hello and welcome to another sporatic installment. I recently purchased the printable book "The Bauble Tree" from Sandy Steen Bartholomew's Etsy shop. It was an instant download so I was able to print right away. 

Following her suggested directions I created a book out of the printout and even added a cardstock cover. 


I folded the pages in half ...

    

 and glued the back edges together. 

Look at my little munchkin. No sooner did I print and glue than the book was stolen from me! Yes, stolen I say! Because as soon as she got her hands on it she proceeded to draw "bauble" to her heart's content. 
    

Copying the ideas in the book, Cali sat down and immediately drew her own tree and accompanying tangles. 
    

She was very intent on her work. And who isn't? Honestly it was a joy to watch her stretch her creative muscles. I fancy that Ms. Bartholomew's daughter and mine would get along quite well when it comes to tangling.
    

Cali even cut it out and asked for a string to hang it up like an ornament. Seeing as it is not yet Christmas, I headed outside for this shot on our neighboring pine tree. I think her tangled ornament came out quite well! Now if only I could get the chance to play with the book myself. *sigh*
    








Posted: 08 Nov 2014 03:32 PM PST
Ah, yes. So I finally got hold of the book "The Bauble Tree" and was able to try my hand at this tangle. What resulted was a lot of fun experimentation.


My first attempt was this little card. I colored on with metallic colored pencil. But I thought to myself, can I do more? 

Yes! I did! And I absolute love this little card! 


So how could I make this even better? Well, color it in of course. Thankfully, my color printer did a fantastic job so I just had to cut and fold my papers. I now have over 40 of these little cards to send out this Christmas. I don't think I have ever had Christmas cards ready this fast! 



And my daughter even sat down to tangle and color yet again. What do you think of her version? 


For the third installment in this series, in which Chelsea creates all of her Christmas cards, in November - and under the influence of the Lilah Beans...
click this link to read all those details...

More Ebooks and Tangle Cards

And here are some quick previews of the adorable cards which are available on Chelsea's Etsy shop.


If you would like to get your own copy of The Bauble Tree ebook, come on over to my Bumblebat Etsy shop. This is the perfect time of year for Baubles!

Sunday, November 2, 2014

October Journal Pages

Week 39 - In the City

This prompt was so much fun! Since I don't live in a city, I was free to imagine whatever kind of buildings I liked. I started with my tangle CUdad and built the buildings UP from there... bigger and bigger! I used a Sharpie Pen and tried really hard to stick to just clean lines. I entered this piece in the Doodler's Anonymous Coloring Book contest!

© Sandy Steen Bartholomew

I often feel torn between the very simple coloring book drawings... and going all out with color and shading. So when I saw the theme for the next week - "Experiment"...  I thought I'd submit my city in B&W and maybe experiment with color on it for the next assignment.

Week 40 - Experiment

And here are my Experiments!

First - lots and lots of shading (with gray Tombow markers).... to see if I could create some depth.
© Sandy Steen Bartholomew

... and then color on top of the gray (with more Tombow markers)...

© Sandy Steen Bartholomew

My favorite part is the little park on the roof.


Week 41 - Mosaic Inspired
 
I glued down a piece of an Asian newspaper that had been used as packing in a box. Then I drew the mosaic tangle, Man-o-man, all over it with a Uni-Pin pen, and added some white (GellyRoll pen) and gray Pitt brush marker). This one took quite a while to do!

  
© Sandy Steen Bartholomew

Week 42 - Magic

An old book, tissue paper, gesso, markers, paint pen, Inktense pencil, ballpoint pen... kind of a stew of everything sitting on the desk! I scanned the piece into Photoshop and removed the harsh seam down the middle. I transferred the finished art, using Sheer Heaven, to a piece of Bristol, and I hope to do some more work on that... (after the Art Swarm is over!)

© Sandy Steen Bartholomew

Week 43 - Stencil It!

Colorbox pigment ink pads, Prismacolor pencils, Crafter's Workshop bees and hive stencil, Dreamweaver honeycomb stencil, black 12x12 paper. 

This one was almost relaxing... easy... after the last few prompts! It was nice to use someone else's art as the basis for a page. Just color and play. Aaaahhhh... But looking at it now - I can't help seeing the beehive as a stack of pancakes or cookies!? I think I may need a snack...

© Sandy Steen Bartholomew






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