I like to have a tile that has a complex string with a lot of different spaces. I can sit down and fill an area with a random tangle when I have a few moments. But I don’t have to work on it until it’s done. I just return to it when I have a short bit of time.
That means it may be sitting on my desk for a while before it’s finished!
Generally, now days, I use fewer tangles on a tile that I did when I began 10 years ago. But not always.
Yesterday, I decided to create a complex string and use a lot of different tangles. I had been looking through tiles from years ago and I wanted to see if I could still tangle in that style.
It took longer to choose the tangles than it did to draw them! 17 tangles is a LOT!
Adaptation.
I recently had someone tell me that they never use Cadent when they are tangling. They don’t like it because they can’t get all the shapes to be “even”.
One of the the things that is great about tangling is that you can adapt whatever tangle you choose to work with your own style and ability!
So, today’s tile is a monotangle of Cadent… drawn in the “crazy” style. Meaning, there is no grid. I just drew the circles wherever I wanted and then connected them together with an “S” stroke!
You’ve seen this tile with Cadent in the center before. It was featured in a post on July 5th . And also in the post about the upcoming classes for August .
But here’s another sneak peak for the Beginner's 2: New Strokes class ! You may have noticed that the description mentioned a 3D project?
We’re going to be making a display stand to show off your favorite tile on your desk at work or home!
We’ve traded yesterday's spacial vortex for an ocean raft which we’re riding across the waves. So many ways to travel on this journey! I wonder what we will discover on the other side?
Zentangle drawn on an Official Zentangle Tile using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Tangles: Cadent Knight's Bridge Shattuck
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.
This is my own design, done in the Tints on Tan style. I wanted to finish out the week of beach-themed tiles with something original! After looking at pictures of sea horses, I realized their bodies are basically made up of a bumpy grid. Once I got that, the rest was easy!
I didn’t add any wave foam or sand dots because this one is actually meant to be under water.
Palette.
Her basket was full of magical designs just waiting to be added to a frock or a cushion. Some plain, some fancy, some simple, some complex, woven together they created a magical mixture for the customers to choose from.
The basic string for this Zentangle came from the Tangler's Palette" stencils from Acadia Laser Creations on Etsy. I wanted this set of stencils as soon as I saw them. They offer so many different possibilites for creative play!
Another’s view.
The tiles above and below were created by my husband. If you remember, from yesterday's post , I mentioned that I had asked all of my relatives to draw Zentangles for my birthday in 2010. Recently, I found them again and got to reminisce about that time and to see all the wonderful tiles everyone made.
For this first tile, my sweetheart used a heart as the central string! I think he did a fantastic job.
Note: I had some trouble scanning this drawing because it is in a large-format sketchbook. The upper left isn't really blurry. That was caused by the drawing page not being flat on the scanner. This Zentangle was created by my husband a little over 7 years ago. At the beginning of October, 2010, I gave all of my family members blank tiles and asked them each to draw a Zentangle for my birthday present. Apparently, my husband did some practice drawing in his sketch book before actually creating a tile!
Hidden.
She tried to hide from the outside by pulling the drapes, but the wouldn’t close completely. There were so many dangers she could not hide from around here. From the mystery under the pillow, to the strange marbles on the floor. She didn’t know how to escape the situation because she could not dream.
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
I heart.
The string for this tile started out as a heart. I then modified it a bit to fit in all of the random tangles for the day.
Zentangle drawn on Official Zentangle tile using a black, Micron pen.
Tangles: Afterglow Bamboo Bubbles Cadent Drupe Flux Poke-Root Quabog
Struggle.
Sometimes the random tangles that pop up on a given day struggle with each other for attention. And then, sometimes I struggle drawing them. Waybop landed on this tile, but it‘s struggling to fit in.
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Bristol Vellum using a black Micron pen.
Tangles: Cadent Dansk Fracas Sharalarelli Unyun Waybop
Blue.
I decided to experiment with a blue pen for this tile. I also shaded part of it with a blue colored pencil… after I did the Cirquital with a regular pencil and realized it looked a bit odd.
Zentangle drawn on Official Zentangle tile using a blue, Micron pen.
Tangles: Barbd Cadent Cirquital Criss & Cross Dex Printemps Sedgling Sez Worms
Meditation.
I didn‘t want to do anything complicated, or that took a lot of thinking when I created this Zentangle. I just wanted to zone out and draw. The simple patterns are great for meditative tangling.
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Bristol Vellum tile using a black, Micron pen.
Tangles: Cadent Insydout Kule Munchin
Ca-Ray-Zee!
Ok, this is old, and I don‘t remember what I was trying here, other than to try tangling on a colored background with a different colored pen. This tile has no shading, and frankly, I don‘t think adding it would help at all. It looks like the string had lots of curves, but who knows how it all began!
Zentangle drawn on colored card stock using a sepia Micron pen.
Joy.
This Zentangle makes me happy every time I see it. I like the balance, and many of the tangles are on my list of favorites.
Zentangle drawn on official Zentangle tile using a black Micron pen.
Tangles: Beedz Bumper Cadent Emingle Fescu Flora Huggins Marasu Nzeppel Pinwheels Sh-Rock
It‘s complicated.
Sometimes, I draw complicated strings. Sometimes, the random draw of tangles produces a lot of complicated tangles. Both happened here, which resulted in a rather odd zentangle!
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen.
Tangles: Avreal Cadent Chads Flutter Marasu Pearlz Pop-Cloud Quandu
Zentangle drawing done with Micron pen on Zentangle Tile .
Tangles: Cadent Drupe Emingle Evoke Fescu Gneiss Inapod Tortuca Worms
Zentangle drawing done with Micron pen on Strathmore Vellum Bristol .
Tangles: Bales Cadent Flora Onamato Striping