The Art of Drawing Dangles by Olivia A Kneibler
Would you like to make your lettering and artwork dance with whimsy? Now you can! You can create lovely lighthearted images and the best part is that there are no special skills needed.
Dangles are a playful new art form for people who love journaling, coloring, tangles, doodles, lettering, being creative, and much more. No advanced skills are needed at all because this book was deliberately created to be perfect for any skill level. Have some creative fun and let your uniqueness flow by using this book, The Art of Drawing Dangles by Olivia A Kneibler as your guide to learning the art of dangles and charms. If you would like to check the book out you can find it here.
How Dangles Began
I created dangles years ago while I was working on some rough sketches for a set of images. I wanted to make the images seem more magical and whimsical, so after a while I found myself adding swirls and lines with little shapes and/or designs on my images. It was a “shining light bulb” moment for me, (YAY!) I was so excited that I started making quite a bit of my artwork with swirly dangles everywhere – it was so much fun! Because I enjoyed the process so much I never stopped, I just kept finding more and more ways of using dangles in my artwork. The following images will show you some of my earlier dangles, while they aren’t in the book I thought it would give you some idea of how my dangle work has changed over the years (or not, lol).
About the Book
My Dangles book is packed with helpful information and illustrations throughout. It teaches step by step how to create art that includes dangles and charms. It all starts with teaching you how to create the alphabet, a letter that comes from the heart rather than a perfectly penned letter, a letter that has a piece of your personality flowing through the marker as it glides along the page leaving its mark. I know that might seem a little dramatic but that is how I feel about it and I’m hoping to share this enthusiasm with you, even if it is just a little spark of inspiration. For the alphabet there are four parts including the outline, embellishment of the letter, adding shapes and patterns, and finally – the dangles and charms. On every one of these pages is an area dedicated to you so you can practice drawing the letter and adding your dangles with charms. Next is putting those all together into words and this is one of my personal favorites. It is rather magical to see lines swirling around with little shapes and patterns then all of the sudden those tiny tidbits merge together to become your mother’s name (for example) and WOW, how totally awesome it looks! Maybe it is because of the unknown factor of letting your imagination take control. This makes such a pleasant surprise when you look at the end result. Around half of the book is dedicated to letters and words so you really can get some great ideas.
If you would like to see some of the alphabets I have on my site that are totally related to dangles I’ve made a list of links below.
http://www.oliviaandco.com/shop/alphabets/Dangles-Delight-Alphabet-Upper-Case
http://www.oliviaandco.com/shop/alphabets/Dangles-Alphabet–Upper-Case
http://www.oliviaandco.com/shop/alphabets/DanglesAlphabet–Lower-Case
http://www.oliviaandco.com/shop/alphabets/Dangles-Alphabet-Digital-Stamps–Upper-Case
http://www.oliviaandco.com/shop/alphabets/Dangles-Alphabet-Digital-Stamps–Lower-Case
The following chapters while shorter pack a lot of illustrations and information into them; Dangle Shapes and Mandalas, Everyday Dangles, Charming Projects, Charm Directory, and the Color Gallery of Letters and Words. There are over 50 projects, from letters and words to creating bookmarks. The entire book is filled with colorful illustrations and dangles that defy gravity along with visual instructions so you can create your own Dangled masterpieces.
Final Thoughts
I’ve had quite a few people ask if I would create more Dangles instruction books and the answer was yes I’d love to. All of the requests so far have been quite consistent. I’ve been asked to create a book mostly devoted to the dangles and charms themselves and one on the type of lettering that I used for the book. I’ll post when I’m getting closer and maybe show a few images along the way. But I would like to ask all of you if you are interested in any dangles instruction books and if so would you please comment on this post to let me know what dangly subject/s you would like? There are oodles of ideas I have for more but I’d love to know your thoughts, so please leave a comment.
Hiding in a Corner with Embarrassment
If you would like to see a pretty thorough visual review of the book I’ve posted one on YouTube but I have to warn you that I wanted to hide in a corner after I watched it. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I get better over time because this surely can’t be my best work, lol. I didn’t realize it but I said the word “FUN” probably 20 times and after about the 10th time every time I heard that word a shiver ran down my spine and I sank just a little bit lower until I was a puddle on the floor! The craziest part of it all was I knew I said that word a few times but I was totally clueless in regards to how many times I said “FUN”. I think I need a bit of practice in the videoing department. If you watch it and count the times I said fun I would be interested to know because I quit counting somewhere after 10 or so. All jokes aside, there is useful information in the video and I go over almost every page. You’ll find my video at https://youtu.be/RwMu2HUAjXQ
Supplies I Used to Create the Images for the Book
The supplies I used to create the images for this book are available at the below links.
Ultra Fine Sharpie Markers – http://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/100005…
Strathmore Bristol Board, Smooth, 11 x 17 – http://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/100005…
Some of the brushes I used were Winsor & Newton Flat Wash Brushes – http://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/100005…
Some of the watercolors I used were from Grumbacher – http://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/100005…
Thanks everyone for reading and have a beautiful day!
Olivia
I LOVE the Dangle book and have referred to it many times. It’s ‘fun’ (sorry I had to say that) whimsical, cheerful, and easy to follow. One idea might be how to dangle some diy cards. Birthdays, encouragement, weddings, etc. if I think of anything else, I’ll be back. I’m a suggestor by nature (if that’s even a word).
I haven’t checked all your links yet but I sure as heck will! Thanks for all the time and effort you’re putting into helping us novices graduate to pros.
GOOD LUCK. This blogging business ain’t easy but it’s joyful (aka fun)
Hey! Sounds like a great idea and yes I can’t resist it either “FUN”! I’ll work on that and thanks for the suggestion. Did you watch the video? If so did you count how many times I said “FUN”? (As I’m sinking into my seat once again lol). I hope to see you here often with all of your suggestions, they help so much!