Zentangle Basics …

Posted on June 24, 2018 by Tangles by the Sea

This weekend, I got to share my passion for Zentangle with Debbie and her book club. Six of us met at my space in Pacific Beach for an “Introduction to Zentangle”. It was a grey and cool summer day in San Diego so a perfect afternoon for getting together to learn something new. Once a month they meet to do some kind of a project – for nine years now! It was a pleasure to meet them all and create our tangled art.

The basic tile started with our usual Z string and Hollibaugh, Crescent Moon, Printemps and Bales. We proceeded to shade, sign and admire from near and far. As always, it’s a fun surprise to see what everyone creates even though we all used the same exact patterns. They produced nice work for their first tiles!

Tile #1

Next up, I decided to switch things up just a little and use patterns I normally don’t teach in the Basic Class ….. in fact, we used six patterns on our second tile! ….. Fasset, a tangleation of Marasu, Onomato, Flux, Henna Drum and Tipple. Once we got them tangled and shaded, I gave each lady a white charcoal pencil so we could add just a hint of a highlight on the Marasu section of the string. This always is a “surprise” when you can hold your tile at arms length and see just how that little bit of white seems to “shine” on the paper.

Tile #2

One comment made after class was “I really wasn’t sure about coming because I thought it would be too hard” – I assured them all at the start of class that EVERYONE can do this. We’re going to take it one stroke at a time, just relax, no mistakes, and enjoy these two hours that you’ve given yourself to spend with your friends learning something new. I believe this mission was accomplished. Look at their great work!

Thanks again, Debbie, for bringing your friends to learn the Zentangle art method. I hope you’ll all continue with your tangle journeys … remember it only takes a piece of paper, pencil, pen and tortillion/blender!