How do you Aura?
Here you can see my first exploration of this basic, Zentangle technique.
Auras are a mainstay of tangling. We generally think of them as drawing a parallel line, a little bit away from a previous line or shape.
But did you know that they could be so much more? That they could actually be part of your overall design?
Follow along with Eni Oken’s Aura Timeline Lesson , and learn how to take auras from boring to beautiful!
Back to classic style! Random string with random tangles!
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Tangles: Claws Crazy Nzeppel Flux Nexton Pods Pokeleaf Poke Root Sez Shard
A few days ago, I told you about the Bijou Raffle Game that Eni Oken introduced to the members of Art Club.
This lesson is also available to anyone as a stand-alone class on teachable.com ! So you don’t have to be an Art Club member to view it!
I’ve been working with it, and decided to add some of my own cards that weren’t included in the bundle. Some of these are from other classes and tutorials, some of them are prompts for unusual tangles (or ways of using tangle) and some of them are for using specialized tiles.
It’s interesting, when you create a monotangle, what meta patterns appear over the tile.
Here, because the basic tangle was executed across a triangular grid, circular, flower-like designs end up in the corners and sunken, shield-type shapes are offset across the tile!
I chose to add the lines to give the impression of screws in each small circle because I thought it would be more interesting and help break up the design a bit.
It an interesting thing about tangling. Sometimes, an idea doesn’t come out anything like you imagined it would. But it’s still interesting. Just different.
This is the first time I’ve tried this paper. It is fairly stiff and thick, and the surface doesn’t absorb and spread the ink like I thought it would.
It’s also a darker grey than I would have liked. But the darker color makes the pink ink pop!
It was graduation day for my Saturday morning tribe! They created tiles using Renaissance techniques.
I’m so honored that this group allowed me to start them off on their Zentangle adventures. I’m sure I’ll be seeing lots from them in the future!
Zentangle drawn on Official tan 3Z tiles using a black and brown, Micron pens. Shading done with graphite pencil. Highlights created with white chalk pencil.
Tangles: Festune Ravel Striping
Can’t think of what to tangle today? What do you do, when you get stuck?
You can always pull tangles, at random from your repertoire. But even that doesn’t always work out well or offer enough variation.
What if you want to stretch your skills further, or go beyond a standard tile?
Check out the latest offering from Eni Oken! The Bijou Raffle game is perfect!
As you can see, I’m combining the lesson Bijou tiles with my own.
It’s been a while since I’ve done a meditative Zentangle. I took the time for this one because I was having one of “those days”. The Zentangle method is a great technique for setting aside all of the outside world noise and just relaxing and drawing for a bit.
Give it a try!
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
A little over a year ago, I posted a tan, 3Z tile with this design . I was looking at it yesterday, and wondered what would happened if I used the same tangles and string, but in a different color?
Here, I’ve tried it in the colors of the Delft Delights tiles. It’s interesting how there are differences and similarities to the previous version!
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol 3Z-size tile, using several different blue, Micron pens.
I am not sure what I think about this. It didn’t come out like the picture I had in my mind when I started. On the other hand, I kind of like it. I may try this again, but slightly differently, or with a different tangle.
Zentangle drawn on an Official Zentangle Renaisannce tile using black, sepia and brown Micron pens and a white Gelly Roll pen. Shading done with graphite and colored pencils.
Last Monday, I wrote a post about my New Zentangle Voyagers class. This is a set of 3 classes that I am teaching at cARTel Studio. The same students are in each class.
This week, the students learned about drawing on black tiles. They did a monotangle on a black Bijou tile. The second project was this Crazy Huggins, with tangles in each hug-shape. The third project was a 3-dimensional stand they can use to display a tile on their desk at work or home.
Sometimes, we look at a tangle and think “that’s too simple” or “what a boring tangle”. But you shouldn’t take a tangle for granted, just because of it’s simplicity!
Munchin is one of those tangles. I specifically chose it for this monotangle to highlight it’s amazing depth and beauty when done large. Just a little subtle shading and highlighting make it pop right off the tile.
Your challenge, today, is to use Munchin with other tangles on your tile in a way that highlights this simple tangle!
The tangle Waybop lends itself well to the the triangular shape of this tile. It can be tucked into the points quite nicely while still maintaining it’s nature.
Here, pink, grey and white are combined in gel pen to accent the main tangle and then in colored pencil and pale grey Stablo fineliner to create the decorative elements.
Even the pencil shading, added inside the circles and inward pointing elements adds yet another shade of grey.
I did a grey and pink tile using Indy-Rella a while back, where I used them as fish-like shapes.
Here, I wanted to create the feeling of flames, using metallic markers and going from bright silver to red.
It reminds me of a camp fire, so I think it is a success!
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore, black, ArtRage paper various, metallic, gel pens. Shading done with colored pencil and Copic marker.
I don’t draw this tangle often enough! I picked it for this 3Z because I woke up thinking about it in the morning. So, I took that as a sign to create this tile.
So, have you been wondering why I’ve created so many 3Z tiles? Stay tuned!
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil. Highlights created with white colored pencil.
I had such a fun class on Saturday at the cARTel Studio, introducing these ladies to the wonderful world of Zentangle!
They all did such a great job on their first tiles, which you can see below.
This is the first of a series of three Zentangle classes on consecutive Saturdays.
Next week: working on black tiles!
Crazy Huggins is a tangle that I often turn to when I’m not sure what to do. It’s fun to draw, has a wonderful, meditative rhythm and allows for all different kinds of variation.
I recently did a version of regular Huggins on a black tile, with no extra embellishment that you can compare to this one by clicking on the link.
If you want to see even more examples, going all the way back to 2017, click here .
I call this my “Ode to Frida” monotangle. That’s becauseit reminds me of those large flowers that she often wore in her hair, like a crown.
This version of Diva Dance produces strong, graphic, circular elements. So I chose to draw them in three different colors. I like the contrast between the brown, black and white inks.
I also chose not to add any graphite or other shading. I feel that this is one of the few cases where it could detract from the over-all design.
“In typography, a dingbat is an ornament, character, or spacer used in typesetting, often employed for the creation of box frames.” - Wikipedia
We’ve all seen them decorating title pages, the ends of paragraphs or other areas of printed books.
Zentangle, and CZT Brian Crimmins in particular, has created a tangled version of this classic concept. It is called Dingbatz, in honor of it’s typographical cousin. Here, we use the stylistic shapes and concepts of the original, but employ tangles as graphical elements.
Melting Mooka, introduced to us by Zentangle's Project Pack #6 , is a wonderful version of Mooka that can be used to as a string to divide a tile into smaller spaces.
These internal sections, when filled with other tangles, result in a tile that gives the impression of stained glass windows.
This was a fun, playful exercise!
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.