Danielle Calabro

I decided to give a full page Zentangle™ a try this weekend. This time I did it with no planning what so ever, no string line, I just let it flow. There are some parts of this page I really wish I had not added but then there are also a lot that I really do like. I think for my next one I will try to do a little more planning. I used my Micron and Copic pens to draw out everything, with a few I did use pencil first. Once I knew the ink was dry I added a little color with watercolors. I am still a little rusty with the watercolors but I wanted to add a little shading. After a little more practice should be no problem. These are a couple of close-ups of the page I really liked the way the two larger flowers came out and the look of the simpler tangles. I took a chance on a couple of more complicated tangles and think I could probably benefit from practicing them. All in all, I am happy with the way this came out, especially since it took a total of about 5-6 hours to comp...

In my attempt to find my niche I have used many, many different mediums. I have used acrylic paint, oil paint, water color, gouache, markers and pens. I know I am not finished finding my own way but I think I am getting a better idea of what I enjoy most. I love to paint and I love to draw so I have started to mix them. In this piece, my Zentangl™ Tree, I did the background in watercolors, the sketch in archival ink pens, the tree with black gouache and the tangle with a white gelly roll pen.  Here is a close up: This change in my creative focus has helped me in more ways then one. First, it is so easy to just grab my sketchbook and my pencils and start working on an idea. Second, it has simplified my life a little, I can take it anywhere with me, go to a cookout, take the kids to the park or outside to play, I just shove everything I need in my bag and I am all set. Can't do that with a canvas and paint, but like I said I still love to paint just on a s...

I have a funny reoccurring story that happened to me just about every night when I am at my art table and I am going to share it with you. It may actually be frighting to some. The house we are in for the moment is very tight so my art table is in the computer room in front of the sliding glass door that never gets used. It usually starts like so, I am minding my own business just working hard on a drawing of some sort, listening to some music, when all of a sudden I hear this little buzzing noise, sometimes I hear the blinds move too. I look around, see nothing and go back to work. Then like clock work I hear it again, again I look around and see nothing. This happens a few times, then out of the blinds comes flying this crazy bug, scares the shit out of me, making me jump back in my chair and sometimes a little scream. What is this little culprit that tries to terrify me almost every night? It would be that crazy flying beetle called a "June Bug" Once...

Watercolor Pencil and Ink Well, here is another Zentangle™ I did, what should have only taken me a couple of days to finish took me about a week. Here is what I have learned with this little piece of art. I decided to use watercolor colored pencil to add color, which by the way is not the norm for a Zentangle™, from what I have read anyways. I drew out the basic area that I wanted to tangle then used the watercolor pencils to color the area in then used water to turn it in to the watercolor. I used regular watercolor paint for the larger background color. Which I think I may upgrade to the tube watercolors, using the smaller pallet watercolors can be a bit time consuming. So here is the problem I found when using watercolor pencils with your regular multiliner pens. Apparently the watercolor pencils still keep that waxy film even when it is diluted with the water.  Don't get me wrong, I loved the pencils and I think they will be great with other projects but not so much wit...

Zentangle™ Blooms Gouache and ink So What is Zentangle™? Zentangle™ is an art form that requires a pencil, pen and paper (no eraser). A focus on creating basic repeating patterns. There is no expectation and no mistakes, you let your imagination flow. You can find a lot of information online about Zentangle ™, there are a lot of resources available for someone that would like to learn.  I came across Zentagle™ about 8 months ago, I saw a book at one of the art stores I frequent and decided to give it a try. I can honestly say that I do really enjoy it, it can be very relaxing and gets you out of the creative block that you may be having. I have also found a lot of patterns on Pintrest. Just be careful that you don't mistake a doodle for a Zentangle™, Zentangle are structured patterns.  I do not follow all the rules to Zentangling, I do use an eraser some times, of course my design will sometimes change once I apply the ink. I did things a little different on t...

My goal today was to do a nice little Mothers Day painting with gouache. We had a busy day planned so I got started on it this morning before we went anywhere. I didn't draw it out, I wanted to go free brush. Part of me went into this thinking, "OK, I can do this", this other part of me said "you need more practice with the faces and the gouache."I figured what the hell, lets give it a try and see how it comes out, the only way we learn is through our mistakes, right? So this is what I started with before we started our day: I though, "Not a bad start, I can defiantly work with this", unfortunately, It was time to head out so I found a stoping point and we went about our day. Got home and went right back to work, and I can honestly say I am not happy with the end result. I am still trying to get past this learning curve with the blending of gouache. Sometimes I can get it to blend ok and other times I want to throw my paint brush across the ...

As I said before I really like to Zentangle®, it is definitely a good outlet. It really does helps with freeing your mind. Now, I will be very honest with you, I do not follow the directions of Zentangle®, I do use an eraser and sometimes I will fix my mistakes. This is just my way, if I do not like the way something looks I will fix it.  I started this about a week ago, I worked on it between work, play and sleep. I am still working on drawing faces, I can see myself getting better and I see were I could improve, but I was pretty darn impressed with myself on this face.  I also wanted to play with some new pens I just purchased (white Gelly roll pens).  I drew out the face and the Zentangle® hair then painted the background with jet black gouache. I then set out with a ruler and white gelly roll pen and this is what I came up with. It looks a little yellow because I had to use a camera instead of my scanner to get it on my computer.  I have finall...

Sketched, outlined in ink and colored with colored pencils on paper I wanted to do something this weekend that we have never done, U-pick it Blueberries. I have never been a huge fan of blueberries but my husband and son liked them, so I figured what the heck, lets go. We went to a place in Clermont, Fl called Southern Hill Farms , it was about 20 minutes away from my in-laws house so it wasn't too far. So armed with my GPS we set out on our little trip, after realizing I just passed the road we did a U-turn (almost got hit because someone was riding my ass) and found our way to the 5 mile dirt road we had to go down before we made it to the farm, but it was a gorgeous view.  Since this was something we had never done before I wanted to know the best place to pick and the best blueberries and of course I wanted them sweet. The workers at the farm were great and they actually took us on a tractor to a good location further away (more berries). The Family  O...

Gouache and ink on paper As of October 2013, I stopped smoking real cigarettes and started using an e-cig. This was in attempt to start working out. My dad had talked me into signing my two kids up for karate (best choice I made) and they had a fitness class called "Cage Fitness." I had already decided I was going to stop but had not made the final decision, this made it for me. I knew there was no way I could do an intense work-out like this and still smoke. My sweet hubby is not a smoker, so me smelling like ciggy smoke kind of grossed him out, I can't blame him, even as a smoker I hated that stale smoke smell too. I am in no way saying that the e-cig is any better, I have heard it is just as bad. Where does that leave me? I now have two new addictions, one being my e-cig and the other my new found love of Starbucks® Coffee. Both, probably not the best for me, one is still full of nicotine and the other is full of caffeine and calories. Honestly I will probably ...

Cartoon Cityscape in gouache and ink on canvas I am a rare breed here in Florida, I was born, raised and still live in Florida.That doesn't mean that I have not traveled a little. The Sad thing is I have never seen a real bustling city. I would love to go to New York City, ride the subway and of course visit the Art District, however my sweet hubby doesn't think I can handle the crowds. My anxiety tends to get the best of me in large crowds. That doesn't mean I don't want to go, I might actually surprise everyone and handle it just fine. My husband is from Long Island and has went to the city plenty of times, a lot of his family still lives there. One of his Aunts live in Ozone Park , NY. Did you know the name "Ozone Park" was chosen to try to bring buyers in with the idea of refreshing breezes blowing in from the ocean? It was created and settled in 1882 by two wealthy partners Benjamin W. Hitchcock and Charles C Denton after the Long Island Rail Road...