My random tanglizer spit out a lot of tangles for practicing line work yesterday. At first, I was a bit worried that these wouldn’t produce enough contrast. But after using my magic wand (actually, a pencil), I like the way they became distinct and unique!
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Tangles: Fassett Flux Fracas Nzepple Sand Swirl Static Tipple Xircus
How do you challenge yourself? As an artist I’m always looking for different things to try as ways to grow and expand my skills.
Here, this tile was drawn entirely with my left hand. I even signed and dated the back with my left hand.
Why?
Well, first of all, I wanted to see if I could. In addition, drawing with your non-dominant hand builds new neural pathways in your brain. It also challenges you to look at things in a different way, and helps you to understand how your students, those that use a differnt hand to draw, are challenged to follow your instructions!
This fabulous monotangle of Mooka was created by my Mother-in-Law, Twyla Baker.
As many of you already know, she passed away on June 27th. I am in the process of going through her artwork. I found a small, spiral-bound sketch book which contained many Zentangles.
Towards the end of the book, I found this monotangle of Mooka. It fills the entire 4-inch by 6-inch page! I’ve never seen this before and there is no date on it. Because the dates on other pages jump around and are not in consecutive order, I’m not sure when this was done. It was probably some time around 2013-2015.
Another DingsplatZ today! I’ve discovered that about 3 tangles, along with some perfs and dots works well for creating these! My favorite part, though, is the shading. It amazes me how much life it adds to the pen lines!
Zentangle drawn on kraft colored Stonehenge multi using black, sepia and brown, Micron pens and white gel pen. Shading done with graphite pencil and white charcoal pencil.
Tangles: Antidot Knase Ravel
I decided to give dingsplatZ a try this weekend. It was fun to do this on the fawn colored paper. It allowed me to add both highlights and shadows!
Zentangle drawn on fawn colored, Stonehenge Multi using a black and brown, Micron pens. Shading done with graphite pencil and white charcoal pencil.
Tangles: Crazy 'Nzepple Perfs Scena
A couple of weeks ago, I posted about using the tutorial from Chris Titus to create a book of Zentangle tiles.
These little books are made from folded Zentangle tiles. The instructions are very easy to follow, mostly pictures, and produce a very nice book. The tiles are arranged in such a way that they will open out flat, making it easy to tangle on them.
Above you can see the front cover of my book. Honestly, I “cheated”. Instead of covering the board with fabric, I cut the piece from a tag board kleenex box. I liked the design on it, so I just glued it on as it was.
Finally, a gold and maroon tile from Eni Oken's Crazy Gold Auraknot lesson.
While I liked the idea of this, it turned out harder to do than it looked. I found that the widest marking gold pen that I had was kind of sketchy when used to fill in the solid ribbons. On the other hand, I found one with a very fine line that I liked along for creating the patterned details.
Another tile from Eni Oken's Crazy Gold Auraknot lesson!
I am making progress with the lesson. Here, I’ve added the designs to the stripes of the tangle. I stuck with the black and white because I just wanted to get a feel for how to do it.
I’ll finally be using metallic ink on the next one!
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil, colored pencil and copic markers.
Another Beginner’s class tile #2! A fascinating thing about the Zentangle method is that no matter how many times you draw a particular tile, it will always be slightly different!
Zentangle drawn on an Official Zentangle tile using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Tangles: Bales Ennies Fescu Printemps
I recently visited Holland, Michigan for a little R-and-R with my husband and older daughter. We decided to walk the main, downtown shopping area, looking in various stores.
We came across The Bridge , a store that specializes in unique, fair trade, import items. There were some very interesting things in the store, but the most fascinating to me was paper made from elephant dung!
I purchased both a small, spiral-bound book and a box of small, loose sheets .
She had traveled down the hall of the long good bye for such a long time. She slept and awoke and walked towards the door in the House of Waiting. The vastness pulled at her spirit and she longed to be free. She would not miss anything here. She had completed her mission. She would leave it all behind.
It had been her life. But now, she was free to fly.
This tile is the result of an ongoing challenge (#TangleTagCZT30) on the Zentangle Mosaic app . Each person is to create a tile using all of the tangles that came from previous CZTs in the chain, and add one more of their own choosing.
There were seven people in the chain when I was tagged. I’ve added the eighth tangle, Zailz.
I found this interesting, and very challenging. This was a lot of different tangles to try and fit on a single Zentangle and still have anything that wasn’t total chaos!
This is my finished tile from the Tuesday Beginner’s Class. I rarely finish my tile during the sessions because I’m busy helping the students. However, I do always finish them eventually. I don’t mind having many tiles with the same design.
I can always create my own, personal mosaic!
Zentangle drawn on a white, Official Zentangle tile using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Tangles: Bales Florz Hollibaugh Tipple
Perhaps, the Universe is pointing the way?
The next step of Beginner’s tangles evolving.
Zentangle drawn on an Official Zentangle tile using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Tangles: Bales Ennies Fescu Printemps
Into the center. The weaving falls into dynamic patterns. Forming. Collapsing.
Which way will she take the ship.
Unknown.
This tile was created by following instructions in Eni Oken’s Crazy Gold Auraknot lesson. You can find it and many more fabulous lessons by joining her Art Club !
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Tangles: Crazy Auraknot Perfs
star light star bright weave your way through the night light the sky let us fly this is the day away we hie Zentangle drawn on Stonehenge white using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Tangles: Aura Knot Perfs Monotangle
Another tile from a Beginner’s Class this week. I may have enough of these to create my own Mosaic!
I never get tired of drawing these. Each time, while they always have the same plan, they come out somewhat different. It depends on the day, the artist, and what they feel like doing.
It’s one of the wonderful things about the Zentangle Method!
Zentangle drawn on an Official Zentangle Tile using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
I taught another Beginner’s Zentangle class yesterday. What a wonderful time we had sharing our drawing and life experiences with each other!
Zentangles drawn on Original Zentangle tiles using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Tangles: Crescent Moon Hollibaugh Florz Tipple
Tanglers are always looking for new ways to carry tiles with them on the go. Others want a way to save, share and protect finished tiles. And some are looking for projects that incorporate tangling alternatives.
I am making a Bitty BookZ , following the instructions from Chris Titus . These instructions are very clear and easy to follow. The end result is a finished book, containing ten Zentangle tiles!
If you make this from standard tiles, the book will be just a bit larger than 3-1/2 inches tall by 1-5/8 inches wide. Made from Bijou tiles, your tiny book would be a bit larger than 2 inches high by 1 inch wide.
I had an introductory class with a private student yesterday. We had a wonderful time together. This is the tile I created while teaching.
Every so often, I think it is very important to go back to the very beginning and do that “first tile” again. Every single person who has taken a class from a CZT creates this tile, or one very similar with the classic “Z” string. Sometimes the tangles used vary slightly. But there is so much to learn and remember from that Beginner’s class!