Seconds and Thirds

There's a lot that is going on this month.

There's St. Patrick's and Easter is early this year. Spring has officially sprung, though we've had almost summer weather for a month already! Temperatures have regularly passed 90 degrees or 30 Celsius. [NB: To me, Summer officially starts when the temperature passes 100, late April. We have a fifth season, Inferno, when temps break 115 in June or July, before the rains arrive].

But there's one (unofficial) holiday that dares not to be missed: Pi(e) Day! This year is the only time this century that the date, March 14, 2016, matches Pi, the mathematical construct, to 4 decimal places (3.1416).  Of course, pi has been calculated to million places and beyond, but hard to imagine.
So, let's have pie!

That's the rationale behind the IAST this past week. When I saw Adele's choices for tangles, I immediately knew where this was going (sometimes you just KNOW):

I suspect I'm not going to be the only one who sees it this way, but I hope it's an original thought. I really took my time to color it, vowing to sit still more than a few minutes. I think it paid off.

I saw a Zentangle blogger that mentioned she needed a lesson in composition. Now, I think Zentangle is supposed to be without preconceived design, quite unlike the example above. That said, there are some concepts that contribute to "some are better than others." I found this rather concise description of the elements and principles of design (there are twelve parts in all, so it's hard to make simple).
It's a start, anyway.
As a photographer, a fine composition can be gained by following the "rule of thirds." Think: tic-tac-toe. (It's the same concept that posits that you NEVER put the horizon in the middle of a landscape, although rules are meant to be broken once you learn them).
For an intellectual pursuit, I decided to apply this "rule" to this drawing.

X's Mark the Focal Points

Where the grid marks meet is a focal point and creates a dynamic composition when something is placed there, and the idea is to have A focal point, just one. It just so happens that a cherry landed on that mark. The other mark shows the end of the garden path, creating MOVEMENT into the drawing. Additionally, there is CONTRAST--the black background area, the complimentary COLORS of red and green and the REPETITION of the little squares, a pattern I call, "Confetti."

Did I plan all that? Not intentionally. Do you think it works? 

Does this little tutorial make sense, help out or just confound?
There's one other element of composition that every artist needs to learn and nobody talks about because it defies description: that moment when the artwork is finished, the materials are layed down and no more fussing.
It is "done."
Putting a signature on it helps, it's a signal of sorts. (I need to do that!)

I put the pen down after signing the Diva challenge this morning:

I was attempting to be very deliberate and almost too elaborate and suddenly veered into cartoony mode.
OK, step away from the journal pages...!
Well, it made a good segue to the Inchie challenge, which continues with themes from the "Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy" with the prompt this week of "door."
I have a very important door, one Door out of The Doors, our front door (on the inside, covering up an old mail slot) and "Would you like to trade your prize for what's behind Door number 2?"

DOORS

Did you know Jim Morrison had a song titled, "Hitchhiker?" Strange coincidence?
Perhaps, not. Life can be like that, right?