TangleArden is traveling

I'm on a trip of a lifetime from mid-March to mid-April. My ultimate destination is Japan. Hmm, I wonder if I can find some new tangles there . . . . . . 

I should be writing new posts in late April.

Zentangle books I like, part 2

I felt a bit stuck in my Zentangle(R) practice until I found two books by Cris Letourneau, CZT: Pattern Play: A Zentangle Creativity Booster and Made in the Shade: A Zentangle Workbook.

Please do not consider this post or the previous one to be any sort of recommendation! These are just my personal favorites. I do not derive any sort of remuneration for writing this.

Pattern Play is essentially about tangleations, which Cris describes as "structurally based on the original tangle . .  but it looks different." (p. 35) For example, using curved instead of straight lines for Hollibaugh or using a very oversized Crescent Moon instead of a string. For every tangle she introduces, Cris provides at least SIX tangleations. I found that these variations spurred me to try some on my own.
If shading confounds you or if it seems tedious and maybe unnecessary, that's where Made in the Shade comes in. I had no idea that there were so many techniques and possibilities. For example, starting with a simple circle (orb), Cris shows five ways to give it life, transforming it into a sea urchin, a bubble, and a pearl among others. I also learned that using the point of a sharp pencil to make multiple lines (carefully) could produce such smooth shading.

Yes, there are hundreds more books about Zentangle out there, so find one that you like and that works for you!

Zentangle books I like, part 1

As Zentangle(R) has become more popular and as the number of Certified Zentangle Teachers (CZTs) has increased, it's logical that people want to share their enthusiasm for Zentangle with others by writing books. And have they ever! When I last searched for "Zentangle" on Amazon.com, I found over 400 items listed!! 

Out of that long list of possibilities, I have a few that I own and like.

Please do not consider this post or the following one to be any sort of recommendation! These are just my personal favorites. I do not derive any sort of remuneration for writing this.

The ultimate guide to all things Zentangle is undoubtedly The Book of Zentangle by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, founders of Zentangle. This is their self-published book about the origins, theory, method, and practice of Zentangle.* Almost every other page of text has a Zentangle illustration drawn by Maria facing it. What a feast!! And the most delicious feast of all, I think, are the Notes at the back of the book where they describe the inspiration for almost all of the illustrations in the book--in detail.

I think there's also a lot to be learned from studying the illustrations to see how Maria weaves the tangles in and out (of course, she's been doing this for more than 10 years!) and how she combines and merges the tangles.

If you really enjoy Zentangle and someone asks you for a gift suggestion, this might just be it!* The Book of Zentangle is only available through Zentangle.com. Here's the link: The Book of Zentangle. 

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. 

Deconstructing patterns, part 2

I've mentioned the requirements for a tangle to be a tangle (see  my earlier post, Deconstructing patterns, part 1). But how do you really do it?

My process is to either make a sketch in my notebook or take a picture with my camera or cell phone of something that might become a tangle. 

My TRIVET tangle is a good example. You can see the step-outs here. 

And here's the trivet that inspired the tangle.

When I started drawing the step-outs I quickly realized that I needed to simplify the tangle considerably in order to make it work. So I started with a grid that opened up the space between the squares. Then I limited the number of times the line went around in the inside. (You could scale it up to suit your needs, of course.) The last part was to add the connectors between the squares.

So take a look around your house and at things you see everyday. There might be a new tangle there somewhere! 

One caveat that I've mentioned in other posts: Be careful not to copy someone else's design in furniture or jewelry or fabric. Those designs are protected by the designer's copyright.

Deconstructing patterns, part 1

All of the Zentangle(R) tangles originated as an observed pattern, either in nature or made by humans. And there's a caveat: Not all patterns can become tangles. I know, I've tried. Here are the guidelines:

- The tangle must use only the elemental strokes: a dot, straight line, arc, S-curve or orb (circle)
- Usually only three or fewer elemental strokes are needed to draw the tangle
- The elemental strokes must be drawn in a structured way so that someone else can reproduce it as shown in a short series of steps called step-outs
- And, usually the step-outs for a tangle have five or fewer steps

Think of one of the most basic Zentangle tangles, Crescent Moon. It's essentially an arc with a straight line underneath that's filled in and embellished with more arcs (auras). What could be simpler?

At my Zentangle teacher training, Rick and Maria challenged us to observe some design in our environment and make a tangle out of it. Then several students were invited to present their tangles to the entire group. As you might expect, some tangles were very simple and some were very complex. One I remember had more than 12 steps! But the bigger issue with that one was that the final tangle was very representational. So it didn't make the grade on those two counts.

But keep looking and observing and see what YOU find!