91 Dominoes Doodle Challenge

A few years ago I worked through a 30 day Zendalas challenge and it was one of the most fun activities that I look upon fondly. I have been wanting to do a similar challenge for some time albeit a little different.

I recently bought a tin of 91 one dominoes and for the life of me, while laying out the color families, I could not get the colors to line up accordingly. I went online looking for a image by someone who laid them out and came across a blog called Tanglefish. In her Domino Delight posting she talked about embellishing dominoes with ink and I immediately knew my next challenge was born.

What follows is my ongoing challenge to zen doodle the backsides of my 91 dominoes. And of course, I invite you to take the challenge with me.

I have to admit that for the first ten dominoes I was quite nervous. It is not like paper where if I do not like what I am doing I can rip it up, recycle it and start fresh. I do not plan the pattern out ahead of time though, what kind of challenge would that be.

Some of the designs come out naturally while others I start with a base outline then check my handy resource of patterns (all the zentangles I have done and the pattern link further down the lens).

I am having fun with this challenge and have been doing anywhere from one to two dominoes a day. I may go back and add to a few markings later on but most of these once photographed are done.

Because dominoes are a new medium for me I am still experimenting with my tools. My main concern was smudging.

Currently I am using a black Sakura IDenti Pen suggested by Tanglefish as well as a red pigmented Le Plume marker. Both have points on each end, one thick and one fine. My main color will be black but I wanted to include at least one red detail on each domino.

I have a can of Krylon Matte Finish spray to seal the ink when I am done. I have not used this before but bought it to seal some water colors paintings and thought it would be good for this project as well.

The domino set came with a plastic train starter / holder which holds the first domino placed when playing the game. I am using this to hold each domino while I am doodling. This helps me keep my paranoid smudging fingers away from the marker tips while I am working.

I bought my dominoes from the local department store for $12.99 but you can find them online at game shops or places like Amazon.

I was at the dollar store and happened to see the last pack of mini dominoes. I of course could not resist and at $1 for 28 dominoes -- what a bargain. It was definitely more challenging to hold and doodle these little guys. I left a true size domino in the picture so you could see how small they are in comparison.

Thank you for viewing my dominoes. Please leave a warm fuzzy before you go. Other suggestions for comments:

* Do you doodle, tangle, or otherwise play with ink?

* Are you up for the domino challenge?

* Do you remember the first time you played dominoes?

If you take on the domino challenge leave a link to your lens or blog post and I'll add it to the cue.