Review of '3D Tangle: Shading Case Studies' EBook by Eni Oken #Zentangle #EniOken #Zentangle-InspiredArt

If you are into Zentangle® on social media, you have probably seen some of Eni Oken's fabulous gems and intricately shaded tangles. She's written several Ebooks on the subject, and her latest is '3D Tangle: 15 Shading Case Studies'.  Today I'm here  to review this PDF Ebook.

Giveaway has ended.


Specs
Format: PDF Ebook
No. of Pages: 48

What's It All About
'3D Tangle: 15 Shading Case Studies' is a text on shading techniques that can be used to enhance your patterns.  Tremendously.  The shading techniques covered are time-proven ones that can be used in any drawing, so this book will be of interest to anyone wants to learn more about shading, even if they aren't already tangle enthusiasts.

The book is not a Zentangle how-to with step-outs and new patterns. It does provide a resource link where you can look up the step-outs for patterns used, but it doesn't supply the step-outs themselves.

Traditionally Zentangle or Tangle books are picture-heavy with minimal text, and lots of fun. 'Shading Case Studies' edges closer to textbook style, but it is an easy read with gorgeous illustrations throughout.  It's aimed at people who want to go that step farther into turning their work into art.  

Each case study focuses on a different aspect of shading, with four to twelve illustrations and instruction. By the time you are through, you've learned about line width to add variety, shading large masses first, reflected light, blocking out highlights, contrast and overlapping, building values, increasing depth, looking for dark corners, crosshatching, using gems for contrast, and more.

Except for the addition of colored gems, all the illustrations are in black, white and gray with orange arrows to point out the important areas.  Extra tips on shading and on improving your tangles are salted throughout the book.

Eni has a unique style of drawing, and her versions of the tangle patterns are compelling.  Just seeing them made me itch to use patterns I haven't drawn in years. Her tangles are truly fine art.

If you are totally new to shading, you may want to start with her earlier PDF Ebook, 3D Tangle: Shading Fearlessly'. 

She's written several other Zentangle Ebooks.  If you want to check them out, go here.  After you've entered the giveaway first, of course!

Contents
Prerequisites and Notes: Things you should know before starting
About This Book
Case Studies Index: index of the drawings, tangles and art supplies used for the case studies.
Some of the studies used in this book: photos and descriptions of the art supplies used.
My Shading Method: An explanation of how Eni's shading method works and some shading tips.
Case Study-Printemps in Ink and Pencil: Tips for creating monotangles
Case Study-Tri-Roda and Narwhal in Ink and Pencil: How line width adds variety to shading.
Case Study-Tri-Roda and Pufcookie in Ink and Pencil: Reflected light in shading.
Case Study-Windfram and Yincut in Ink and Pencil: Blocking out larger masses.
Case Study-Zenith and Zentwining in Ink and Pencil: Shading ribbons and blocking out highlights.
Case Study-Pepper in IX in Ink and Pencil: Contrast and overlapping
Shading with Gray Markers: Instructions on how to use markers for shading.
Case Study-Ixorus in Ink and Gray Markers: From line art to final shading.
Case Study-Paradox in Ink, Markers, and Pencil: Building values and varying patterns.
Case Study-Umble in Ink, Markers, and Pencil: Using overlap.
Case Study-Schnek in Ink, Markers and Pencil: Technique for increasing depth.
Case Study-Zonked in Ink, Markers and Hatching: Crosshatching.
Case Study-Verve in Ink and Pencil: Looking for Dark Corners.
Case Study-Verve and W2 in Ink and Markers: Using many of the previous techniques together.
Case Study-Nymph with Gems in Ink and Pencil: Using gems to separate and give contrast.
Case Study-Ellish in Ink, Markers and Pencil: Using many of the previous techniques together.
Index of Tangle Patterns

My Attempts at Shading
I don't have all the art supplies recommended by Eni, but that's never an excuse to avoid trying new ideas.  I used a Pigma Micron .05 and two different gray value markers instead of three, and added blue colored pencil to this drawing to make up for it.   A Sakura white Gellyroll was used for highlight and to gray out the blue pencil.

I used three of the same patterns that Eni used in the ebook, Shnek, Zonked and Windfarm.


I wasn't totally happy with the marker/colored pencil experiment, so I tried another drawing with just the two gray markers, the Pigma Micron and white Gellyroll.  Much better.  For the gems, I used Eni's method from '3D Tangles: Shading Smooth Gems', coloring with red colored pencil over gray marker. 

The tangle patterns used were Ellish, Yincut and Verve.


The other art supply I don't have is the common 2B pencil.  It's a personal idiosyncrasy of mine that I don't like using graphite pencil (don't ask.  It's just a thing, lol).  So instead, I used three colors of gray colored pencil, and combined some of her tips for pencil, and for marker.

Tangle patterns used: Amanita, Amaranth and Beanstalk.



GIVEAWAY has ended

Who Can Enter

This giveaway is both U.S. AND International!

Prize
One winner will receive a copy of Eni Oken's '3D Tangle: Shading Case Studies' PDF EBOOK.  That person will be emailed a link allowing them to upload the book.

How to Enter
Type or cut and paste the words  'I want to win a 3D Tangle: Shading Case Studies EBook' into the subject line of an email, and send it to me at LifeImitatesDoodles [at] gmail [dot] com.

Start and End of Giveaway
The giveaway starts on Sunday, June 19, 2016 at 06:00 AM PDT, and ends Sunday, June 26, 2016 at 11:59 PDT.  I'll notify the winner by responding to their email on Monday, June 27.


Disclaimer: I received my copy of  the'3D Tangle: Shading Case Studies' EBook, as well as a copy of Eni Oken's '3D Tangle: Shading Smooth Gems', specifically for this review and giveaway.  I received no other compensation.  I'm excited about hosting this giveaway, but tried not to let it influence my opinion, and all opinions are my own. 

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