What is Zentangle®?
Zentangle® is a system of structured designs created by drawing repetitive patterns providing a simple pathway to relaxation and inner focus. Used to calm an anxious mind, increase self-confidence and cultivate moment-to-moment awareness.
Trademarked by creators Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas in 2003.
How is it different from doodling?
Doodling:
Used to mindlessly pass time
Random
Disconnected
Mark making used in journals
Overlapped, inconsistent lines
Zentangle®
Intertwining patterns with flow and rhythm
Purposeful, yet unplanned
Connected
An art form in itself, yet abstract
Deliberate, consistent lines
Supplies:
3 ½” square tiles made of Fabriano hot press watercolor paper (but you can choose any paper to cut into squares or draw on any size paper)
Pencil
Pigma micron .01 pen
Fine-tipped Sharpie, gel pens, or any other pens you’d like to use
Stub for shading
How it works:
Textures/patterns are deconstructed into 3 simple strokes
Strokes are repeated to fill a space
No erasures; there are no mistakes
Can be viewed in any orientation
New vocabulary; unusual words so there is no preconceived notion.
Steps:
Breathe, appreciate, relax
With pencil: Lightly draw a dot in each of the 4 corners. Connect the dots to form a border. Lightly draw a “string”: a line or lines that divide the drawing surface into sections that will be filled with tangles
With pen: Begin to fill the sections in with “tangles”: a deconstructed pattern drawn with simple strokes; each section could have a different tangle.
With pencil: Add shading
With pen: Add your initials. Sign and date the back
Appreciate and reflect
Ideas to “tangle:”
Take pictures of patterns and try to re-create them( outside, fabrics, in magazines)
Use cutouts and stencils and fill the space with tangles
Pick up a coloring book and fill the blank drawings with tangles
Patterns to try:
Comments