One Zentangle a Day

focal points. They appear to be coming forward. Focal points obtain dominance by size, value, or hue to create contrast from the negative patterns surrounding them. Shading should be darker around the positive spaces to create depth. The negative shapes are the background shapes. Keep the positive and negative shapes from being fragmented by watching the tonal values in the shading. Use a thin, lightly shaded line to separate the high-key areas. In the low-key areas, use a thin highlight to separate the focal point from the background or cast shadow.
    Light casts shadows differently on angular shapes. If you want the piece to remain angular, the shading must have straight edges. Shading a shape that is intended to look like it protrudes will be different than one that appears concave.
    Shapes that resemble circles or ovals, squares or rectangles, or a combination of these shapes, such as a cone, are what a string is composed of. Shading works the same whether the circle is a realistic apple or an abstract orb.
    In your sketchbook, create several strings that resemble shapes. Fill each shape with a tangle and then shade each area.
    Six tonal values used to shade this orb give the illusion of dimensionality.
    A shape without shading is flat. Shadows on rectangular and square shapes need to be sharp. The third rectangle appears round because of the organic edge of the shadow.
    Notice the change in shading from the cone’s base to its top.
    With only background shading, the bottom three shapes’ dimension comes from varying the pattern density on each shape.

DAY 9 WHITE TILES VERSUS BLACK TILES
    MATERIALS
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Micron 01 pen
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white Gelly Roll pen (from the original line) or white Soufflé pen
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white charcoal pencil
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white pencil of your choice
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sketchbook
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white tile
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black tile
    ZENTANGLE TILES ALSO COME in black. White ink on black tile creates beautiful studies in light. Black Zentangle tiles are bevel-cut black drawing paper comparable to Arches cover black paper. Black tiles are created just as the white tiles, except you use a white pencil and pen. The white Gelly Roll pen is most often used. I also use the Soufflé. The ink goes on wet and requires a short drying time before you can shade, so be careful not to smudge it as you work. Gelly Roll pens have gloss ink; the Soufflé pens have matte ink. There is also a light white Glaze gel pen that leaves a glossy transparent line—the ink goes on milky bluish and dries clear. Typically, white highlights are created with a white soft pastel pencil, but I prefer to shade with the white colored pencil. Pastel pencil rubs out easily. It can smudge away from the surface of the tile if rubbed against anything. I do use the soft white charcoal pencil to draw the string on the black tiles, lightly so I do not create much dust. Whereas on the white tile the highlights come from the white of the paper, on the black tiles the shadow comes from the black color of the paper. We create depth on the black tiles by using a white pencil to create not just the highlights, but to graduate the highlight out to create form. The more pressure applied to the pencil, the greater intensity of white left behind. On a black tile, practice creating a graduated scale with each type of white pencil you have. Glue this tile into your sketchbook with notes on how each pencil performed for you.
    The first tile is done using the Micron pen and pencil. The second tile is drawn with a white Gelly Roll pen, shaded with a white colored pencil. The third tile uses a Soufflé pen and charcoal pencil for shading. The last tile is drawn with a Glaze pen.
    Create a black Zentangle tile. Use the white charcoal pencil to draw the string. Draw the tangles with a white pen. After the patterns have dried, use the white pencil to create the highlights.
    This tile is a re-creation of the white tile from the chapter introduction. Notice the shift of the pattern’s tonal values created by changing the background paper. Hollibaugh was the darkest pattern on the original tile and is the lightest on the black tile.
    PATTERNS WITH A high-key tonal value when drawn on white paper become a low-key value when drawn on black paper. Working on black paper with patterns created from a lot of line work such as Amaze shift to high key and the open patterns such as Poke Root are now low key.
    These are the same patterns used in the value scale on white paper. Only Knights Bridge is in the same spot on