Gourd "Art" of the Week

I have been intrigued by the new Zentangle adult coloring books. (Who knew that adults couldn't color until recently?) Some of them are really, really busy, but I found one that just gives you the basic outline of the whole animal (or just its head), and then you're free to fill in all of the tiny designs.

You can just color the pages, but I have been tracing the page onto a gourd. (Hard to do when the page is flat, and the gourd is round!) Then, I sketch in all of the little squigglys, wood burn them in, and finally...get out a teeny paint brush, and paint away.

My favorite parts of the piece? The horns on both animals.

The name of the piece? Tatanka and a Ram, and a Wee Little Lamb. (I plan to put a small sheep on the underside.)

The whole process is both time-consuming and tedious, but oooooh so much fun.

I am typing this as I go back and forth between 2 movies. Castaway (for the 17th time), and Happy Gilmore (for the 23rd time.) The sad thing is...that's probably not that much of an exaggeration.

P.S. To give some idea of scale, this is a big gourd...13 inches high.