I look at this tile and I see many things. From a layer of stones arranged as the floor of a patio to stretched out Cat’s Cradles or perhaps a section of lace. Maybe I’m looking at some sort of atomic level structure under the microscope. Who knows what it is?
Crazy N’Zepple works as a fill for sections in a design or as a full design in it’s own right. It’s easy to do and the end results are always surprising. I love to use it as a warmup when I’m not sure what I want to do. Give it a try, and let it surprise you, too!
Jumble.
Others always wondered at how so much cargo could come out of such a tiny ship. They just didn’t understand. She’d captured so many universes in her travels. And now she could store infinite amounts in each one. All she had to do is make sure they traveled together!
It has always fascinated me how shading opens up, raises, or pushes back sections of tangles on a tile. Here, this crazy combination took on all kinds of dimension just from shading various edges. Don’t skip shading your tiles. It’s as interesting and meditative as the drawing!
This Zentangle is brought to you today by Thomàs Pádro . He has named this one Pickpocket. I’ve actually done a slight variation here. Instead of straight lines, I’ve chosen to curve mine a bit. I think it softens the design, making it a little less rigid and a little more feminine. I also chose to make it appear as if two different kind of materials were woven together by adding the grey auras to every other section instead of all of them.
Squashed together.
This is a tangle that, until yesterday, I really didn’t like very much. When I pulled it from the tangle jar, I just kind of plopped it into my tile as a type of medallion, because I really didn’t know what to do with it. Then I watched this video from Helen Williams. Her blog is A Little Lime, and has lots of interesting tangle related information! .
Her method is so much more fun and makes a much more interesting finished image. Here, the gourds are used as more of an organic fill, rather than a center piece. The concept could also be incorporated into a standard Zentangle with other tangles mixed in. I’ll have to give that a try in the future!
Armed.
As she looked into the tank, she could see that these creatures had some kind of appendages that sort of sproinged out of their bodies. They ranged in all sizes from teeny tiny to so large she couldn’t even see the body in the murk. It looked as if the smaller ones became entwined in the larger as they grew. But wouldn’t these prisoners become a burden over time?
Aquarium.
Even though there was little free liquid on this planet, it was the home to the Celestial Aquarium. Her crew had just brought in a new specimen for display. As they completed the delivery, she decided to take advantage of the situation and walked off to see all the creatures from this part of the cosmos for herself. Some were so odd, she didn’t even recognize them as life forms. She enjoyed guessing which thing in the tank was actually alive.
Miss Bunny.
I’m sure you know that even though I do a lot of tangling, I also do other kinds of art. For examples of another kind, you can look at the Art Journal Pages gallery .
One of my favorite things to do is cut up printed or painted (or stamped!) paper into shapes and make pictures out of it. So I decided to indulge in a couple of my loves to creat and easter card!
Paths.
She walked through the garden, following the path to gate. Nothing was in bloom yet, although she could see the buds just starting in some places. Some of the bushes were pruned into interesting shapes, mirroring the owners logos. The larger plantings were still wild and unkempt, not yet ready for the party.
I always find it amusing when a tangle that I use a lot comes out of the jar. Today, it was Printemps. It’s one of my go-to fillers. I almost threw it back in, but I didn’t because it provided a counterpoint to the straight lines of some of the other designs.
Tradition.
We all enjoy learning new things, pushing boundaries and growing in our art. But we shouldn’t forget where we came from in the process.
To keep with the original tradition of Zentangle, I have used the die and legend that came with my new Zentangle Kit to select the tangles that I used for this tile. I chose them one at a time, filling in a section before rolling for the next. I went around clockwise, starting with Bales. I think it’s fascinating how everything fits together and looks good without having to think much or labor over what to use where. That is what makes this type of tangling a very meditative experience.
Cargo.
The hold was full. There were so many interesting, unique things she was bringing back from all the planetary markets. Her favorite, though was the star-egg. They told her when it hatched, a new universe would be born! It would be such an exciting thing to see. She was planning on putting on an exhibition and charging people to view it.
Some times, the craziest combination of tangles comes out of the tangle jar. Just looking at them, I see no way to make them all fit togther. But one of the amazing things about tangling is that, when you’re done, everything still looks great! Tangles are just like merchandise… It’s how you pile them up in the cargo hold that makes them interesting!
I love creating Zentangles that offer optical illusions. This tile, for example is actually just Cadent with a square in the middle of it. But after the echo lines are drawn around the inside of each, you can’t tell where one begins and the other ends! And those simple white squares are magically lifted right up towards you in the design. Shading just further enhances the effect.
This concept came from a video recently added to the Zentangle Mosaic app. In the video, Rick used a random scattering of dots for the corners of his initial Cadent reticula. Then he created the central diamonds or squares by going from the center of one line to the center of the adjacent line. As a result, his design had irregular shapes, which was also interesting. I happen to find regular, repeating patterns calming, so I chose to make mine very “regular”. Either way, this concept makes for a really fun Zentangle.
Bones.
Their culture was built on the bones of their ancestors. The believed these relics spoke to them, leading them towards the future without forgetting their past.
This is another tile celebrating and exploring fragments. This is B2 from the Zentangle Primer. I ended up not putting the second set of lines inside each shape and just let the color define the areas. I chose to stop because it looked so much like a grid of bones. I just wanted to let it be.
Folds.
They were all folded to catch the rays of the overhead light. The sole purpose was to attract the customers, drawing them in with bright colors and patterns.
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Tangles: Arukas Black Box Drack Kuke Rain
I’m still working my way through the various fragments in the Zentangle Primer. For this exercise, I chose K14. This is another very geometric fragment, and it is like Emingle, except triangular. I actually drew it twice in each triangle, once in blue-black and then again in blue. By shading it with blue pencil it was possible to create another star-like pattern. I find these very relaxing to do.
Embellishment.
This Zentangle came from watching a video published by Sakura of America in which Molly begins with the tangle Zenith and then embelished it. The end result was this fabulous diagonal design that looked like the hem of a beautiful skirt!
I pretty much followed the video exactly until the end of the tangling part. There, I added the Ruflz tangle to the upper, left side because I felt it needed something more. I followed the shading in the video to some extent, but I used different tools. Instead of the regular pencil, I used Copic Markers and a black colored pencil. I did my highlights slightly differently, and used white colored pencils.
Morning.
The sun shone through the open window, casting small shadows from the Creeper vines. The decorative designs on the windowsill captured her attention. They reminded her of the suns of home.
You may notice that there is a new addition to the sidebar on the right. In the “Explore” section, a random Zentangle will appear. You can click on it and go to the post about it. The choice of Zentangle is totally random and changes every time a page is loaded. Enjoy!
Emerald Isle.
There is so much about Ireland that has influenced culture all over the world. Literature, music and dance come to mind. In the United States about 33 million Americans claim some Irish ancestry. These ancestors came to the U.S. as immigrants, and brought with them their heritage. In speech, dress, religion, foods and traditions they influenced the American way of life permanently.
Just as any other cultural group that is different from the main, the suffered prejudice. Irish Catholics were mocked in public schools. During the mid 1850s, the Know Nothing Movement tried to oust Irish Catholics from public office. Irish women were stereotyped as constant breeders and girls were considered to be industrious and moral. On the other hand, men were often thought of as drunk, always fighting, lazy and shiftless.
WhollyHollibaugh.
Recently, Zentangle released a new video, #18, in the Kitchen Table series that illustrated the principle of seeing behind parts of a design through a window, or cutout in a tangle. Hollibaugh was used to illustrate this, so I decided to create this tile for my collection showing the concept. They call the tangle enhancement “Wholly Hollibaugh.”
Zentangle drawn on Stonehenge Kraft using black and brown Pigma Micron pens and Sakura white gel pen. Shading done with Copic marker and graphite and colored pencil.
Incubation.
She found a group of eggs in various stages of growth in the Royal Nursery. She had no idea this was their method of reproduction until now. She wondered if each egg started with such elaborate patterns or if they were decorated after they were laid.
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Tangles: Caviar Meer Patena Printemps Purk Shattuck
Last Friday I received a package in the mail from Zentangle Headquarters. In it was some paperwork for CZT30 and an unexpected surprise!
But first…
I’ve had a Zentangle kit for years. Mine is one of the original, hand made ones. As you can see in the image above, it is covered in deep turquoise Lakota paper with the Zentangle symbol stamped on the cover.
The entire outside is covered with this paper.