Portal. The view through the portal was of a crazy, star-strewn universe. She knew she didn’t want to linger. It was too dangerous for her and the ship. Besides, she really wanted to go home. She realized she missed the familiar feel. All the exotic adventures were fun, but sometimes you just want to be comfortable and know what is expected and what to expect. Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen.

Happy Hanukkah! Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil. Tangles: Aah Grass Border

Happy Hanukkah! Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil. Tangles: Aah Grass Border

Happy Hanukkah! Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil. Tangles: Aah Grass Border

A while back, I told you about various family members drawing Zentangles for my birthday in 2010. Today, I want to show you one drawn by my oldest daughter! I think she did a fantastic job! You can see the other birthday Zentangles here! Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.

Happy Hanukkah! Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil. Tangles: Aah Grass Border

Sea Waves. She watched the waves carefully, trying to see how the odd liquid could look so solid yet still propel the Shell Ship through the coral forest. The sea had such an odd texture she wasn’t even sure it WAS a liquid at all! Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil. Tangles: Coral Five Oh Marasu Sea Wave Static

Happy Hanukkah! Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil. Tangles: Aah Grass Border

From the Zentangle Primer: Lesson 3, page 55, Exercise #9. We are instructed to let our tangles extend beyond the border. In my tile, above, I decided to extend Braze all the way to the very edge of the tile. It looks as if it was dropped onto the drawing. I made the border very definite by turning it into a tangled frame all around the center of the tile.

Happy Hanukkah! Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil. Tangles: Aah Grass Border

From the Zentangle Primer: Lesson 3, page 55, Exercise #8. For this string exercise we were to go “beyond the string,” and push past boundaries. I think Amanda did a fantastic job, compared to her original string, which you can see below! I love the way her Pokeleaf meandered around part of the string and then went up and joined into the Verdigogh at the upper right! Amanda’s talent and distinctive style is slowly emerging with each exercise that she does!

I combined several different techniques on this tile. I didn’t start out to make a Monotangle. Originally I was going to put a bunch of different tangles in the spaces between the largest Ruutz. But I just got into the zen of it and fractalized Ruutz down three iterations. Then I decided to color the various levels. The top level I colored pink, the second was a lime green, and the smallest was a light blue-violet.

From the Zentangle Primer: Lesson 3, page 55, Exercise #8. For this string exercise we were to go “beyond the string,” and push past boundaries. I used the string as more of a comfort zone than as an actual string. I created the big Verdigogh “leaf” first, placing the central rib along a curved line that was part of my string. But I extended it past the outer bounding box.

“Just as the sun rose over the landscape, shards of yellow penetrated the deep blue water to reveal life beneath the sea. Tentacles of deep green seaweed danced to the music of the current. In the deepest depths of the water, life was awakened with the bright morning sun. Creatures of the sea revealed their secrets.” - Jo Flaherty Jo posted this as a challenge on the ZIA Tips, Tricks and Techniques Group on Facebook.

This Zentangle was done by Matthew Higbee. Matt is a 17-year-old high school student and a second-year art student. You’ve seen another tangle he did, here, previously, if you’ve been following this blog. I love that he decided to take off on his own, and used tangles that we haven’t been practicing yet. I think he made good choices, and the tangles have nice contrast between circular and angular.