August 3, 2015.  

Well, I’m finally coming back to this blog after a 4 month hiatus. My family made an out-of-state move this spring up to a new home in Massachusetts and I finally feel as if I’ve caught my breath. And that feels very, very good!

I’m looking forward to sharing my latest illustration & design projects and musings with you again. Lately I’ve been intrigued with a drawing fad that has recently landed on my radar: ZENTANGLE. Ever heard of it? I hadn’t either, until I noticed a sign in a local shop window in my town that advertised that it “Speaks Zentangle Here.” Hmm, the name alone certainly is intriguing.

According to the official Zentangle website, it is a method of pen & ink drawing one line at at a time in order to create beautiful images from repetitive patterns. It is also designed to be a fun, relaxing form of focused meditation where the outcome of the drawing is not planned out but results unexpectedly and spontaneously. One Zentangle blogger calls it “Yoga for your brain.”

A Zentangle drawing is typically done in a 3.5″ x 3.5″ square – small enough to not take much time (about 15 minutes) and be very portable. Most Zentanglers use a fine point pigment pen such as the Sakura Pigma Micron pens but any ballpoint pen will also do the trick. (Warning: once you try a Sakura pen you will be hooked!) There are a million ideas and patterns you can incorporate into a Zentangle square – and the beauty of the concept is that it is truly an artform ANYONE can do – there are no mistakes, just one pen stroke at a time. And unlike doodling, which is usually done mindlessly and without focus, Zentangling is intended to be very focused on each pen stroke – intentional yet unplanned drawing, building line upon line until the square feels complete.

Just the other day I finally got around to creating my first Zentangle square. I’m posting it here, not because I believe it’s particularly nice or beautiful, but I hope that maybe it will inspire some of you to give this a try. Making art with your hands can be really healing and centering in this fast-paced, technology-driven culture. Sitting down with a simple pen and piece of paper with the sole purpose of making lines might just be the most accessible, affordable form of therapy out there. I’m planning to do more Zentangling, and looking forward to seeing where it takes me.

Here’s a link to the official Zentangle website. https://www.zentangle.com/

If you want to see some truly amazing Zentangle designs, check out this lady’s blog, where she has an entire portfolio of them: http://tanglepatterns.com/