Here is Irradial done on a black tile, with a bit of fractalization. Again, I wanted to keep the string simple so that I could just enjoy drawing the tangle. I also wanted to experiment with using Copic markers to shade around each section. It didn’t quite get as dark as I wanted, so then I added black charcoal pencil around the borders and at the center line for each section.
This awesome tangle, Irradial, created by Thomas Padros is the focus tangle for this week in couple of Facebook groups! For my first attempt, I just wanted to keep it fairly simply so my string is just a bunch of triangles. I tried to vary the centers of each one somewhat by rotating the starting point, or making it closer to one edge than another.
The shading and highlighting is subtle, but it still adds a lot of dimension and shape to each section.
This is my first, official, 3Z (triangular shaped) Zentangle. These tiles are 3-1/2 inches on a side. That makes the overall drawing area smaller than a standard tile.
I did this following the video here , for Project Pack 1. I’m beginning to warm up to these black tiles. I found doing this one fun! Part of it is the design. It was easy, calming, and I really love the results! I also like the way the white charcoal is used here, and it wasn’t hard to do. Over all, I’m happy with this one.
When you are learning to tangle, Crescent Moon is one of the first that you learn. It teaches the concept of creating an “aura” near something that has already been drawn. Auras are frequently used to build repeating designs or to add emphasis or separation.
This Zentangle is from Project Pack 1.
Zentangle drawn on a black, Official Zentangle tile using three different sizes of white, Sakura gel pens. Highlighting done with white charcoal pencil.
This tile is from Project Pack 2, The Twelve Days of Zentangle. On day four we are doing a twist on Diva Dance. Here, you see it drawn both as a ribbon and as a spirals (Diva Dance rock-n-roll.) However, a new technique has been added. It looks as if the tangle has developed arms. Rick refers to these as “sproings!” You can learn all about them by watching the video, here .
On the second day of Project Pack 1, a new tangle was introduced: Dewd. This is a fun tangle that can be used as a fill or a ribbon. You can watch the video for this exercise here .
Since I had already done a couple of tiles incorporating Dewd ( here and here ,) I just wanted to do something simple. I decided to see how many variations I could come up with for Dewd.
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. However, they didn’t look all that great together. So, I used the technique for making tan, distressed tiles and did it right on top of the color. What a difference it made! It washed out the intensity of the colors enough that, now, it looks more like a print from an antique book!
Watchers.
They were part of the fabric of the planet. The watchers were everywhere she had been. In the buildings, they incorporated themselves into the corners and between the cornices. In the gardens, they often were at the heart of a blossom or hidden in the fold of a leaf. Even on the shorline, she found them nestled among the rocks. If one wasn’t diligent, one might even find them in the porridge or bread.
Swirls.
Am I looking down at a carpet? A muddy river? Foam at the edge of a wave on the beach? It’s an interesting, visual mystery!
Sand Swirl is one of my favorite tangles to draw. It’s simple echoed lines allow your mind to enter the Zen zone quickly. Here, I used three different colors of ink to give the tile more depth and dimension.
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen, warm grey and cool grey Copic Multiliner. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Fractalized stars.
Recently, Eni Oken added a lesson about fractalizing tangles to her Art Club members. It was a fantastic lesson and everyone had a lot of fun creating beautiful tiles.
I decided to try Betweed for my tangle because it looks like a star to me, and I love anything having to do with stars! The “rule” I used was to draw a new, smaller Betweed in each space created by the original rendition. I managed to go three iterations before some of the spaces became too small for another iteration.
Mutant disks.
Bunzo looks like a cross between striped Frisbees and amoebas. It’s as if the plastic disks are replicating by division!
I decided to make each section a different color, according to the most prevalent color in that particular area of the tile. I was a little worried because there were so many colors, but I think, in the end, it all came together and worked out well.
Crazy.
For this Zentangle, Nzepple has taken a walk on the wild side! This is referred to as Crazy Nzepple. I just wanted to do something simple and claming, and this fit the bill. I chose blue because it is the color of water and sky. It is soothing and calming. I added the gel pen accents, both the metallic blue dots and the white highlights to give the tile more dimension.
In-between.
It’s what lies between that makes the difference.
This is actually a Monotangle, meaning only one tangle pattern was used on the entire tile. I normally post Monotangles on Mondays, but I had something special to post yesterday, so this is being posted on Tuesday, instead.
I chose African Artist because it is a pattern that has been difficult for me to execute. For one thing, sometimes I get the little portions going in the wrong direction. And drawing an ogee grid, which this is based on, I find very difficult for some reason!
Succulents.
When you group a bunch of Locar tangles together they look a bit like cactus or succulents!
The techniques that I used on this tile are based on Eni Oken’s Distressed Tile Video . However, I didn’t follow the instructions exactly. (It’s probably a good thing I wasn’t baking a cake!) I already had this tile on my desk, with the Locars already drawn on it in brown pigma pen. I really wanted to play, but I also needed to complete this monotangle for this blog post.
Pods.
Today’s monotangle is brought to you by the Svalbard Global Seed Vault . If you don’t know anything about it, you should. You can go an a virtual tour of the vault via your own compter, without even leaving home by clicking here. The tangle Inapod has always been one of my favorites. I love the way the lines flip back and forth as it is drawn and how the pods emerge as you draw. It can be used at all different sizes as a ribbon, blossom or even a grid fill, as I did here for the frame.
Calm.
Where I live, we have monsoon rains in the Summer. Generally, what that means is that, when it rains, it rains hard! There’s lots of wind before and during the storm and also lots of lightning. And it can be almost impossible to sleep.
This simple, all-over pattern of Pea-nuckle was created during a real humdinger of a storm late at night! We got over an inch of rain in about an hour. There were hundreds of lightning bolts and lots of fierce wind. The bedroom was a constant light show and the noise sounded like a jet plane was going to land any minute. It was kind of scary!
Ribbons.
I have a new go-to tangle that I love: Pea-nuckle. Here, I’ve used it to make sets of curled ribbons. Originally, I didn’t much care for this particular tangle. I often threw it back in the jar when it came up randomly. Not any more, though. I watched Eni Oken’s Art Club video for a different way of drawing this tangle. And now, I love it!
I’m also in love with this gray-toned paper! This is the first time I’ve used it for a Zentangle. I will be using it more often in the future!
Pods.
These look like some kind of alien pods. I’m not sure if they are alive or not!
Rundel is an interesting tangle. It’s self-contained, shaped a bit like Purk, and doesn’t look all that good when you first draw it. As you can see above, with some additional decoration and shading, it really looks much more interesting.
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Sticks.
Do you know what a Talking Stick is? It comes to us from the Native American Traditions. It was a decorated stick that was used during group council meetings. Whomever was holding the stick had the floor, and was the speaker. They were the only person allowed to talk and could continue until they relinquished control of the stick. As I was drawing these bars decorated with Scute, they kept reminding me of talking sticks!
Grace.
Mooka is a tangle that illustrates gracefulness in a very simple way. Here’s it’s as if they are dancing in coordinated groups with each other. There is even a main couple surrounded by auxiliary dancers and even some further back on the stage. The goal here was to show a few different ways that Mooka could be use to define and fill space on a Zentangle.
Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.