The Entanglement library now supports Ambler! This officially doubles the number of tangles it can produce! Two tangles! Progress! OK, so two tangles isn’t really all that many, but still! Progress!
Using Entanglement to draw a basic Ambler is easy. Here’s the program that generated the image at the top of this page:
const height = 600; const width = 600; function setup() { createCanvas(width, height); background(255); } function draw() { let amb = new Ambler(width, height, {}); amb.paste(new Point(0, 0)); noLoop(); } So how does it work? Unlike Aah, the other tangle supported by this library, Ambler is a repeating pattern in a grid. So, no need for the collision detection we used with Aah; each pattern has a defined place where it can be drawn. The pattern that goes into each grid square is a box spiral. We build that in each square by dividing each square side into 6 sections, drawing a crosshatch of lines through those points and finding the intersections of those lines. We then use those points to draw the spiral.
In my last two posts , I showed how to draw most of the Aah tangle using the Javascript p5.js library. In this post, the Aah is complete, as you can see from the image below. However, the Javascript code to do so, does not follow directly from what we saw in those previous posts. I have rewritten it and packaged it into a library: Entanglement . More about that shortly.
First, lets talk about how the Aah pattern was completed. You’ll recall that we had successfully generated the 8-armed starburst pattern, and distributed copies of it the around the canvas, with some random variations to make it seem more like it was hand-drawn. We avoided overlapping them by using collision detection: we draw a polygon around each pattern, and then as we create new ones, we check the polygon against those for the patterns we had already drawn to make sure there were no collisions. The final image we generated was nice, but missing something important: an Aah tangle is supposed to have small circles randomly scattered between the starburst patterns.
In my previous post , we came up with a program to generate a single 8-armed component of the aah tangle. In this post, we’ll figure out how to spread them randomly around the canvas, as in the image at the top of the post. We’ll use the program from the last post as a starting point.
As a first try, let’s just generate a draw 20 aah images randomly on the canvas. Our draw() function looks like this:
Any Zentanglers out there who made it through my previous posts on generative art may be wondering whether these techniques can be used to draw Zentangles . Let’s try!
Zentangles are built from patterns, called tangles. We’ll try to create a tangle called aah. This is one of the original tangles from the Zentangle originators . There are many variations of aah. We’ll start with a simple 8-armed design. Tandika’s step-out for it looks like this:
This beautiful, blue Zentangle was created by CZT Amanda Higbee!
Posted with permission from the artist
Tangles: Toodles
Today, I took Eni Oken's Art Raffle app for a spin. This tile is the result! For my first tile in eons, it’s not bad! If you tangle, you should get this FREE app, it’s lots of fun!
Zentangle drawn on an white, official, Zentangle tile, using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Tangles: Antidot Bales Beedz Crescent Moon Emingle Hollibaugh Knase Knightsbridge Perfs Printemps Shard Shattuck Stiritup Tagh
For the first project in the new Zentangle Project pack for grey tiles, we are creating a small, rearrangeable puzzle of four Bijou tiles, all with the same tangles.
These can be assembled into your own mosaic and arranged in different designs depending on how you place each little tile.
This is my first tile. I got carried away with the Diva Dance, on the second side, so I will be redoing this.
I am willing to bet that everyone who tangles for any length of time has those few designs that are just difficult for them.
Showgirl was one of mine. Everytime I did it, I would end up with something that wasn’t quite right. You can see some of my failed attempts in the smaller tests in the image above.
I kept practicing, for several months, on and off. Then, after following a lesson from Eni Oken , the light bulb came on, and I finally got it! I just drew two of them, correctly, easily!
When my MIL passed away, we found the ZIAs and Zentangles she created later in her life. One of the things in these was a box with a tangled alphabet.
Today is brought to you by the letter “Q”, as tangled by Twyla!
Zentangle drawn on white card stock using a black, Micron pen. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Tangles: Quabog Quipple Queen's Crown Quiltz
If you recall, yesterday, I showed you a page in my pocket sketch book where I was trying to work out how to draw the tangle, Peanuckle.
As you can see here, I did finally figure it out! This was after doing the “Peanuckle Lesson” from Eni Oken! This lesson was part of her Art Club .
This little page is later on in the same pocket sketch book as yesterday’s page.
I was looking through my little sketch book for other things I use it for, and I found a couple more Emberley sections. So here’s one.
But that’s not want I actually wanted to talk about. I wanted to show you that I use this little book to work out tangles that I’m having difficulty with!
In this case, it was Peanuckle. I tried for a long time to work this one out. I had all kinds of trouble with it, as you can see.
#4 - This is the fourth in my series of fountain pen, shimmer and sheen ink tests.
J. Herbin, Amethyste de l'Oural , a dark, purple ink with a beautiful crystalline-to-silver sheen, is such a deep, royal color. It’s beautiful with any tangle that has some filled in portion which allows the variations to shine when rotated in the light.
I wish you could see here, in the scan, the beautiful sparkle along the bands in the Jetties tangle. You’ll just have to try it for yourself!
#3 - This is the third in my series of fountain pen, shimmer and sheen ink tests.
I think I am in love with this Jacques Herbin ink, , Kyanite du Népal ! It is a beautiful, turquoise-blue with a sheen consiting of turquoise and silver metallic flecks. It’s an ink that will make any mermaid swoon!
Although you can’t see it in the photo above, slightly rotating the tile under good light or outside in the sun causes the droplet ends of the opus to sparkle like a beautiful lagoon!
#2 - This is the second in my series of fountain pen, shimmer and sheen ink tests.
The ink used here, Jacques Herbin, Rouge Hematite is perfect for the second tangle in this series! Pepper reminds me of those red and white peppermint candies that you see everywhere during the Thanksgiving and Christmas season!
While you can’t see the pretty, gold sheen in this gorgeous ink, you can see how it affects the color and variations created when it is used to draw the stripes in the peppermints.
#1 - This is the first in my series of fountain pen, shimmer and sheen ink tests.
I am currently using the 2019 Gratitangles list. The first tangle is Rain.
What ink could me more appropriate than the Jacques Herbin Stormy Sky ink! This ink is a deep, flannel grey color with very tiny, sparse gold flecks. It worked well in the fountain pen and covered nicely in the areas that are filled in. The drying time on a standard Bijou tile was very reasonable.
Did you notice that I skipped a number in this series of ATC cards? While this one was actually the sixth one I did, I saved it for the last because of the way it came out.
Ok. I had this idea about using Paradox to make a symmetrical design. I think it sort of worked… but not at all what I imagined it would look like!
ATC #6. Project done!
Sometimes the simplest tangles can have a powerful impact. It depends on how you treat them.
Here, I used Hollibaugh, but gave it a bit of a curve. Then I made it holey!
And a little touch of blue just makes it magical.
ATC #11
Zentangle drawn on a cut down, grey, Official Zentangle tile using a blue, Micron pen, cobolt, Copic Multiliner, and white Gelly Roll. Shading done with graphite, Copic marker and colored pencil.
“Fishy, fishy in the brook, Daddy catch him on a hook, Mommy fry him in a pan, Johnny eat him like a man.”
– Unknown
Looking for a simple tangle that can be use in a variety of ways? Take Indy-Rella out for a spin!
Depending on how you draw it, you can suggest flames, or fish. You can add them to the ends of Fescu, turning them into some kind of plant, or follow various contours to create a nice, organic fill.
Diva Dance is such a fun tangle. Although the concept is very simple, it can morph to fit almost any shape. Or, it can take on a life of it’s own, depending on the variation.
Here, it has been wrapped around itself in a spiraled style that gives the appearance of full-blown blossoms.
ATC #9.
Zentangle drawn on sahara, Fabriano Tiziano using a black and tan, Micron pens and white Gelly Roll. Shading done with graphite pencil.
Aquafleur, the tangle used on the heart-shaped string was one that I didn’t understand well for a long time. I tried it, as it was shown to me, and I just couldn’t figure out how those ribbons wrapped a given string.
Finally, one day, I just sat and played with it in my sketch book. And all of a sudden, it just “clicked” for me.
Here, it is used in an elegant, but simplified version. It’s easier to understand when wrapped around a single, simple shape.