I have a pad of mixed media paper that I use as my Zentangle(R) ideas and practice notebook. My preferred version is the Strathmore(R) Mixed Media wire bound version in 5.5 x 8.5 in. page size. (No, I don't get any compensation from Strathmore for mentioning this.) Mixed media paper takes the ink quite well, although the feel of the pen on the paper does not at all resemble the feel of the pen on Zentangle tiles. The mixed media paper also allows me to work in sepia with a watercolor pencil and dissolve the watercolor for darker shading without warping the paper.
I often use this notebook to practice a tangle that seems very difficult to do--like Quandary was--until I feel that I understand it well enough to draw it on a tile.
When Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas introduce a new tangle or technique in their Zentangle newsletter or blog, I practice it in my notebook to get my own feel for how to draw it.
And I used this notebook when I was working my way through the exercises in the One Zentangle a Day book by Beckah Krahula.
When I feel comfortable with the tangle or technique, I get out my official Zentangle tiles and make a Zentangle. As I mentioned in an earlier post (Official Zentangle supplies), the Fabriano Tiepolo paper combined with the Sakura Pigma Micron pen brings--for me--a meditative aspect to Zentangle and the practice I did in my notebook flows out from my pen onto the tile.
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