One Zentangle a Day

patterns light and airy while the rounding in Poke Root, Mooka, and Tipple help anchor the composition.
    THIS EXERCISE BRINGS OUR AWARENESS to how much hand pressure we use when we draw. When you draw with a brush and ink, any change in hand pressure will show as a change in the width of the line. The more pressure that is placed on the tip of the brush pen, the wider the line. Concentrate on making consistent lines in this exercise. Turn to a clean page in the sketchbook. Experiment with making short thin lines that are consistent in width. Then try thicker lines, wavy lines, and orbs. Practice several patterns using the pens. Use a brush and water to create shadows. When you are comfortable with the brush pen, try creating an ATC or two. Add auras and rounding when desired.

    On the first ATC, I learned a lot and found that shading the patterns with the water required caution, especially in areas containing a lot of ink. I used some drips from the ink to add interest on the second ATC.

DAY 12 BALANCING HARMONY AND VARIETY
    MATERIALS
    •
Micron 01 pen
    •
pencil
    •
sketchbook
    •
white tile
    •
white ATC
    THE BALANCE OF HARMONY to variety in a composition creates eye movement. Harmony is created by a relationship between different areas on a composition that create a pleasing effect for the viewer. The relationship may be a similarity in shape, tonal value, size, or a combination of one or more. The common elements need not be identical, just close enough to visually link. If the pattern is too identical, it will become boring, and the viewer will lose interest. Some variety must exist in patterns to capture and keep the viewer’s attention. Variety adds excitement and perks interest, but if overdone it can leave a piece feeling too busy, heavy, cluttered, and disjointed. Any one of these feelings can overwhelm viewers, causing their interest to move on.

Daily Tangles
    Try these three tangles. Beelight resembles an earlier pattern we learned, Flukes, so it works well to create harmony in pieces. Chillon and Bales are two patterns that also share a visual likeness. Practice these three patterns in your sketchbook until they feel familiar.
    When you feel comfortable with the pattern, create a Zentangle tile using Chillon and Bales to create harmony in the composition. Choose patterns to use with Chillon and Bales that have enough tonal contrast to let them stand out.
    In both of these tiles, it is the likeness of a few patterns that tie the composition together.
    TANGLEATIONS ARE ANOTHER WAY to create this effect. Changing an existing tangle into one or two altered versions creates a visual link. The Tangleations must leave the tangles similar, yet create enough variety between the patterns to create interest and draw the viewer in.
    From left to right: two Tangleations of Beelight, one of Bales. These patterns are a great example of a small change in a pattern that creates a whole new look. Opening up Beelight changes its tonal value. Then by going further and adding another colored tip, the dimension changes. Coloring in half the center diamonds on the pattern Bales and adding shading give the illusion that the pattern now ripples.
    Changing the size, shading, and tonal value of the Beelight tangle creates two Tangleations that are visually linked. The patterns contain enough variety, when sprinkled among other patterns on a tile, to capture the viewer’s eye and interest. The same goes for the Tangleation of Bales. Practice these Tangleations in your sketchbook. You might want to place them on the page on which you diagrammed the original patterns so they are easy to reference later.
    CREATE A CREAM-COLORED ATC using the two Beeline and Bale Tangleations. As with the Zentangle, you can choose a couple of contrasting patterns to also use. Create the ATC using either your Micron 01 pen or your black brush pen.
    The similar patterns of Beelight weaved interest to the eye. Notice I turned one of the versions of Beeline in the forefront so the pattern has the darkest corners on each side facing one another. This keeps the eye in the piece and adds texture.

DAY 13 DECONSTRUCTING AND RECONSTRUCTING A PATTERN
    MATERIALS
    •
Micron 01 pen
    •
pencil
    •
blending stub
    •
sketchbook
    •
white tile
    I used the bands from Perk to morph into Hollibaugh. I next morphed the opposite side of the same bands from Hollibaugh to Poke Root. I liked the orbs, so I brought in Tipple under the Hollibaugh bands. The black