Bring in some color

I really enjoy working with black or sepia pens on the white Zentangle(R) tiles, along with some enhancement with shading as I'm focusing on trying out a new tangle or doing some tangleations.

But, as is my "tradition" as the new year starts, I go through my art supplies and weed and discard as necessary the odd, leftover pieces of paper or pens that are dried out.

During this process recently, I found some colored felt tip pens in 01 and 1.0 sizes, as well as a gold gel pen. 

I had finished a rendition of Molly Hollibaugh's latest tangle, Arukas, (see it in the Zentangle newsletter here), and decided to apply these colors to the tangle. 

Adding the color in the way I did didn't add depth the way shading does, but I thought that it did enhance my angled and geometric interpretation of the tangle.

Maybe that's the direction of my Zentangle adventures for 2015: color.

Try something different

I subscribe to Linda Farmer's Tangle Patterns daily email (do you?) and while I don't always "like" the tangle of the day, there are definitely some very creative and inventive tanglers out there. 

One tangle in particular has fascinated me since the very first time it came to me as a tangle of the day. It's Fassett, by Lynn Meade. Check it out here. I've experimented with lots of different variations of Fassett, on different tiles, and alone (monotangle) as well as combined with other tangles. I've even used it as a border around a black Zendala tile (see below).

And that's the point: Whatever tangle you're doing, make it your own by trying some tangleations and variations and you'll be adding a useful and familiar tangle to your tangle repertoire.