30-day Creative Challenge Week 1 + DC #170

Here we are with the first week of artsy things! I have included the daily prompts, but haven't always used them.

Day 1 - Consider using a theme from nature!
I used String 105 from TanglePatterns.com Strings, because of the leafyness of it. I'm not 100% sure I like it, but 'm afraid I'll ruin it completely by adding more to it...

Fescu, Aura-Leah, Bluebonnets

Day 2 - Shading
I just went with the flow, and this is what came out. I really have a hard time shading, even the Zentangles, that don't have a "wrong" way, seem odd to me when I shade them. I've looked up shading tutorials all over the net, but they don't seem to help... I still get the feeling of unrealness from my work...

Tipple, Knightsbrigde, Bales, Beadlines, River

The shading isn't really visible on the first photo, but it is there!







Day 3 - Just DO it!

Quib, Bugles, Fife

I don't think I've ever participated in the Diva's challenge, even though I've been wanting to jump in for a while now. My OCD self is holding me back, cause "You can't start at challenge nr. 5874520!!! No, you start at 1 and work your way up!"
Since that gets harder to do every week that passes by, I decided to JUST DO IT!

I think it worked out ok. At first I didn't like the way Fife was turning out, but when the tile was finished, I had a good feeling about it. Yay for me and on to the next challenge! Only 169 left to do to catch up . . .





Day 4 - GO with it!
For our fourth day I decided to start working on a mandala. I have a Chakra-mandala workbook which I've been planning to try out, but haven't gotten to yet. This challenge is a great way for me to at least start working on them!   

It's A4 in size and apart from this initial pencil drawing, I have no idea what I'm going to do with it yet. Let's just wait and see what comes up.

Day 5 - Consider doing something you've been wanting to try for a while.
Not going with the prompt today, I went with another Diva Challenge. #169 was up (I decided to do them backwards, or at least for now): Circles as a string:

'Nzeppel, Tipple, Auraknot

 I first drew an entire circle, I kept the compass width and drew 4 quarter circles at each corner of the page. Inside I drew the smaller circle to connect every quarter circle (it looked really empty without the center circle).

I think I might use this 30-day challenge to complete lots more of the Diva's challenges and try to catch up this way!





Day 6 - I'd like to encourage you to include a heart for today.
Today I continued working on my Root Chakra mandala. I inked the pencil lines and did the first colour.

Day 7 - Work on a multi-day project for the weekend.
What a coincidence! Today I worked on (and finished) the mandala I have been working on this week. I coloured the inner circles with a darker red and "shaded" with a green pencil. Since it's the root chakra, I tried to keep it as simple as possible. The knotwork looks pretty intricate, but if you keep the "over-under" in your head, it's hard to make a mistake.

Wow, can't believe the first week is over already! I had a lot of fun taking daily time for drawing and hopefully will make this a constant in my life. I feel a lot more relaxed and can't wait to start with the second week tomorrow!

Feel free to comment and let me know what you think!