My Funny Valentine: I Heart Zendoodle! with Mandy Russell

This Valentine-themed Zendoodle is sure to make you ask questions. It's got that bizarre, Alice-In-Wonderland or Tim-Burton-feel to it. Is the heart plant a good presence? Or not so good? With the crazy look on her face as well as her curly-Q tentacles, she seems to lean towards the creepy side. And that little bump of a bee? Just what are his plans??? Whatever your take on this garden scene is, it's sure to wow viewers. Plus the act of just doodling is itself such a joyful meditative process. So grab a pencil, a black Micron pen, a piece of drawing weight paper, a blending stump, and a cup of tea. Create your own little weird and whimsical Valentine-inspired landscape.

Start with a pencil and a small (4.5" x 6") piece of drawing paper. Give yourself a border. a mound of land, and a tree trunk with a scalloped base. Rest a heart at the top of the trunk and give her (or him) some curls to resemble tentacle-like branches. The heart also gets some feather-like flourishes at the top of her head. Now, switch to using a pen and ink your pencil lines. I use a black Micron pen, size 01 or 02.

Next, complete a space filling doodle in the mound of land. Search on Google for easy grid style Zentangles and you will find more than you'll ever need. Also, darken, or color in the scallops as shown.

Add long, curly, loopy tendrils, coming out between the curly-Qs. Then, make the curly-Qs striped and add a wrap-around stripe to the tree branch. If anytime you feel you need to use pencil first, and then ink over your pencil lines, feel free!

Next, add a few plants to your garden. Start with some bleeding heart tendrils. Begin by drawing the arching branch, then drop little stems hanging off the underside of the branch. Finish with a small heart hanging from each little branch.

Add more plants. Hearts atop of stems are always a good idea. Simple leaves are a great gardeny space filler. A different version of the bleeding heart plant is also very Valentiney. I drew a wavy stem and made little arches come off it at regular intervals. I then hung a tiny stem and heart under the tiny arches. Very cute indeed! Give your heart a smiling grin, wide eyes, and a little nose. Next add some pencil shading. I added a light scribble of pencil just to the inside of the heart's perimeter. I did the same for the land and the tree trunk. With a blending stump, I burnished my pencil lines, smearing the graphite around, evening it out. and rubbing it towards the center a bit. I also colored in the lips with pencil.

Add any finishing touches you see fit. I colored in one little heart red, just for a tiny pop of Valentine color! I hope you enjoyed this weird and wonky zendoodle lesson! And have a happy Valentine's Day! ~ Mandy

You can see more of Mandy's creations online! Website:  www.mandyrussell.com Facebook:  www.facebook.com/mandy.russell.940 Instagram:  www.instagram.com/mandy.russell.940/?hl=en