One Zentangle a Day

and, if you like, add coordinating colored pencils to create highlights and shadows.

DAY 30 CREATING YOUR OWN TANGLE PATTERNS
    MATERIALS
    •
Micron 01 pen
    •
pencil
    •
blending stub
    •
sketchbook
    •
white tile
    ONE WAY TO ENSURE THAT YOUR Zentangle tiles stay fresh is to keep your strings fresh. It is easy to rely on old designs that have served us well before, but there is no growth in that. This week you have been examining your style. Do you use the same patterns for strings, or is there diversity in your string designs? If you already have a lot of diversity, maybe the answer is to try working without a string every third or fourth day. Keeping your artwork fresh means keeping the foundation of that work fresh.
    Shapes within shapes and exaggerated letters can leave interesting spatial areas. If you’re already using these ideas for inspiration, how about borrowing some from a favorite artist? I grew up in the ’60s and fell in love with Charley Harper’s work at a young age. He illustrated many birds and other animals by creating them from circles, half circles, triangles, squares, and rectangles.
    For a warm-up exercise, turn to a clean page in your sketchbook and rethink the string. Come up with several new, unusual patterns to take your tiles to a fresh place. Once you have some that you are happy with, choose one for today’s Zentangle tile. Create your tile using this string and any patterns or Tangleations you choose to use.
    I used a combination of the first two strings in the diagram at left.
    AS WE HAVE DISCUSSED BEFORE, tangles come from things we see. It may be a molding on the wall of the post office, a pattern in the dirt caused by runoff, or the sites found on a special vacation. The philosophy behind Zentangle encourages us to be aware of our environment by becoming more aware of the patterns around us. Creating Zentangles makes us more aware of the beauty around us. Suddenly the leaf on the ground is not just a green leaf, but upon closer look we see a beautiful pattern created by the veins running through the leaf. For starters, discover the patterns around your home. Take a walk with your sketchbook and a pen. Look for patterns that can be created in one to four stokes. It could be a pattern on a plant leaf, molding on a piece of furniture, a rock pattern in the garden, or the trim on a tea towel. Once you have found your inspiration, break it down into a few simple strokes in your sketchbooks. It might take a few tries to tweak it, so do not get discouraged.
    Carry your sketchbook as you are out and about so you can capture the patterns you run into. Begin to incorporate your patterns in your daily Zentangle tile and ZIA.
    Who says we draw abstract worlds? These are moss balls that fall out of oak trees during windstorms. They remind me of Squid and Mysteria or a tree from Dr. Seuss. This is a double hit in the inspiration department because the twig of the oak tree has a wonderful scaly pattern to it. I decided to diagram both.
    The moss balls are made out of a lot of little plants that are similar to those pictured in diagram 1. Notice those little drawings in diagram 1 are all one-stroke patterns. I put the two together and added a few more for a base, as in diagram 2. After I figured out the forefront, I drew a barrel-distorted horizon line behind the forefront of moss. Diagram 3 shows the barrel horizon line that can also be found in diagram 2, which is completely filled in. I then added the scaly twig the moss grew on. Diagram A shows the large scaly pattern of the bark. Diagram B shows the repeat of A and with the smaller scaly pattern of the bark. I will call the moss pattern Seuss and the bark pattern Scaly.

DAY 31 GIVING FLAIR TO PATTERNS
    MATERIALS
    •
Micron 01 pen
    •
pencil
    •
two white tiles
    •
black tile or black paper
    •
vellum (optional)
    •
gold Gelly Roll pen
    •
gold gouache
    FLAIR IS THAT EXTRA-SPECIAL attention to detail. It is flair that adds the pizzazz to our art. Flair is the jewelry we give to our patterns and tiles. Angie’s version of Dyon on day 25 is a perfect example of adding flair to a tangle.
    Angie says that her anxiety of the blank tile wanes the moment the graphite hits the surface, gliding along, any which way, while creating a string—even if it’s in the form of a familiar shape. Familiar shapes give her the confidence to break out and try something else, especially if she feels a little stuck. Then the next attempt will be