Fengle is a “jewel of a tangle” – a new official pattern from Zentangle® founders Maria Thomas and Rick Roberts.
You may recognize Fengle from CZT® Michele Beauchamp’s wonderful versions in her gorgeous Zentangle-inspired art, “On the Edge of the Sea” on the cover of your TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE, 2012 Edition. Rick and Maria introduced the CZTs to this tangle a few months ago and it has created a lot of interest.
Fengle is so elegant and yet deceptively easy to draw. That’s the key to real tangle patterns. Not only are they abstract, they are simple enough to draw without a preprinted grid or erased pencil dots or lines. No left brain planning. Just organic growth, one deliberate stroke at a time.
I practiced a lot of Fengles and this is a tangle where you should remember to breathe, focus on each deliberate stroke, AND remember turn your tile as you’re drawing those curvy S shapes. You will get much nicer results that way. In the end I decided to stick to the basic form for my example and leave the variations (“Fengl-ashuns”) to the masters …
Maria illustrates the steps for drawing Fengle, here. You’ll also read the story behind Fengle‘s name and get a peek into Maria’s amazing journal. Plus there are inspirational examples of Zentangles by Maria and Rick with lots of creative variations to get you going. Enjoy tangling with our new official tangle, as Maria says, it’s Fengl-ishus!
Fengle brings our list of official tangles up to 133 and at the risk of repeating myself, these are the best tangles to learn first. And please don’t obsess if you don’t have access to them all (only CZTs do), you can happily tangle for a very long time with the ones where online instructions are available (all here on TanglePatterns) and create endless different Zentangles without concern for repeating yourself.
However if you are fortunate enough to have a CZT® near you, you can learn more official tangles and gain many more insights about Zentangle by taking classes. If you are interested in becoming a CZT I’ve recently added a new page on the ZENTANGLE menu at the top of the page where you can find out more.
Check out the tag zentangle for all of the official Zentangle® patterns with online instructions.
The TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE, 2013 Edition is now available
Do you have your copy yet?
Visit this page to learn more and see a sample page.
BTW, the 2012 Edition is still available – visit the STORE > E-BOOKS page for more information.
Hi, I recently purchased the Zentangle kit for $49.00. How do I go about getting the Zentangle patterns book that is promised either through a donation or buying the kit.
I really appreciate this site.
Thank you and can’t wait to get my book.
Carol DuBois
Hi Carol, I emailed the TANGLE GUIDE to you on 3/6 – will resend it now and if you don’t receive it please send me a gmail address because your provider probably blocked the large file. Thanks!
This is such a cute pattern. I like drawing it hallow inside each segment with a background behind it. Looks pretty cool!
I started practicing this and boy Linda, you are right! Breathing is most definitely required. I was breathing VERY heavy after some not so good attempts! HA!!! I ended up with some okay results, not great, but okay. LOVE the tangle though!
I knew I saw it somewhere; the Fengle tangle! When I first saw it it looked too hard to do, but then I got it in my inbox with the instructions. I can do that! I think it is very elegant. Kahna
Love it. Fangle (fengle) Tangle. At first glance, it looks so complicated; having it deconstructed though and just taking it one stroke at a time is the way to go.
I’ve started copying the steps to the various tangles into a little notebook, which fits in my purse so that if I’m in the mood to tangle when I’m away from my computer, I’ve got lots of designs available. It also gives me a chance to practice each tangle before including it in a piece of art.
Click on my name above to see the cover of my notebook, which is Zentangle-inspired art, and includes the Fengle design in the upper right corner.