How to sign up for a free subscription - never miss a tangle!
What is Zentangle?
Linda Farmer, Certified Zentangle Teacher

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

All contents of this website are Copyright © 2010 - 2023 Linda Farmer, TanglePatterns.com, and artists where named. Copying content in any form other than for your own personal offline reference and inspiration is expressly prohibited. No content may be reproduced, pinned or republished without express written permission. This work is not allowed to be used in training AI systems. Commercial use of any content is prohibited. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Artists for Respect
Your support helps keep TanglePatterns available!

RANDOM SELECTOR

Use this Random Tangle Selector with your TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE to help you select tangles. See Pages 7 and 9 of the Guide for instructions. You can also use this to select random Strings: simply pop in any number in the range of 1 to 250.

ARCHIVES

How to draw BALLACE

Zentangle pattern: BallaceThis lovely simple tangle pattern, Ballace, is another contribution by Taiwan quilter and tangler Damy Teng. This is an easy and versatile ribbon-like tangle to use in your Zentangle® art.

Damy writes that she was randomly drawing patterns and the result reminded her of “a pretty lace”.

Ballace starts with back-to-back “Eke-like” looping lines and then the loop is filled in. However after playing around with it for a while I discovered I could also start by drawing pairs of large solid dots (or tear-drop shapes if preferred) and then connect them with the curved lines. This method helps cure wonky-loopy-line syndrome 😉

Zentangle pattern: BallaceBallace also lends itself to many variations and here’s one very simple example with an aura and a bit of fill.

Damy illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Ballace here and features it below with auras, orbs and Beadlines in a beautiful completed Zentangle.

How to draw BALLACE by Damy Teng

Image copyright the artist and used with permission, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may use this image for your personal non-commercial reference only. Republishing or redistributing pattern deconstructions in any form is prohibited under law without express permission of the copyright owner.

Check out the tag damyt for more of Damy’s patterns on TanglePatterns.com.

Tangle or Zentangle?

Do you know the difference between a tangle and a Zentangle?

I’ve noticed some Zentangle newbies describing their drawings containing several patterns as “a tangle”. Not so.

A tangle is a pattern — one (1) single pattern.

As described on zentangle.com, “In its verb form ‘tangle’ means to draw a tangle. You tangle a tangle, and in that process create Zentangle art.

A Zentangle is the finished art on a tile containing one or more tangles. A Zentangle containing just one tangle is called a monotangle.

And while we’re on the subject of using this wonderful art form’s terminology correctly, as for “Zentangling” or “Zentangled” the proper terms to use are tangling or tangled. 🙂

Learn more by visiting the ZENTANGLES > ZENTANGLE TERMINOLOGY page on the top menu bar of any page.

.oOo.

Enhance your Zentangle experience while supporting TanglePatterns:

BRAND NEW ! TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE, 2024 Edition

TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE, 2024 Edition The 13th Edition of the TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE is an instant-download 109-page interactive digital eBook/PDF containing approximately 2,000 tangles on the site from May 2010 through December 31, 2023. It's a great resource and a must-have digital tool for using the site. Visit the STORE > E-BOOKS page and help keep TanglePatterns.com going by getting your copy now!

"Linda, Thank you! I was relying on too few and getting stuck after 3 years of daily working with Zentangle. This has inspired me to ‘begin again’ with renewed excitement." ~ Barbara R.

See the BOOK REVIEWS page for more details on its features and view a sample page. Note: this is a digital product you download immediately when you place your order, nothing will be physically mailed to you.
GIFT ORDERS FOR ANOTHER PERSON: To give the TANGLE GUIDE as a gift, visit this page to place your gift order.
If you're new to Zentangle® and tangling, my TanglePatterns.com BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO ZENTANGLE is just what you need to get started. Also available en Français and en Español.

Zentangle Primer Volume 1 This is the only Zentangle book you'll ever need: the fabulous Zentangle PRIMER Vol 1. It's your CZT-in-a-book by the founders of Zentangle®. Visit the STORE tab on the top menu bar or click on the image. For more about the content and to read the rave reviews, visit the BOOK REVIEWS tab.
NEW! Now available in KINDLE format for $9.99. Spanish Edition here. Japanese Edition here.
"Absolutely the best Zentangle Book yet! As an accomplished artist I used to think I did not need instruction on this art form. How wrong I was! My tangling improved by leaps and bounds after reading this book. If you think you have Zentangle down then you need this book more than ever!" ~ Kris H

.oOo.

4 comments to How to draw BALLACE

  • Peggie Schurch

    Hi Damy, For one who does not go for the line patterns must admit I really like Ballace, ‘cos it can be stretched outwards as in your beautiful completed example. Already my mind is in a buzz to use it in my next Zentangle artwork. Many thanks for sharing and hope to see more of your work. Peggie Schurch Aust.

  • Cathy

    Wow this is so pretty, can’t wait to try it

  • Martha

    Ballace is beautiful.

    This comment does NOT apply to Ballace. It’s more about what I’ve seen on the Internet at large and Linda’s comment about terminology. People seem to be forgetting that Zentangles are not representational. Which is not say people shouldn’t make their lovely drawings — they just should call them drawings instead of Zentangles.

  • Anne Ugartechea

    Terminology is everything. One does not call a “tendon”/one of those stringy things. To say “drawing” is to deny the artist. Every artist has their own unique technique, everything they draw catches a person’s eye and they know it was drawn by that particular artist.

    Zentangle may be drawing, but it is more. Zentangle is a door through which one may enter and, artist or not, a beginner learns techniques, composition of (oneself through the Zen) as well as self-discovery. It is an element of empowerment to those who feel they “cannot draw”. This is a gracious gift from two remarkable people. With Zentangle I learn what high-brow teachers cannot teach: the urge to try again. It shuts the interior critic up and brings out the child who leans over my shoulder and watches without comment. This is not stasis, but action without movement; ZEN.

Leave a Reply

You can use these HTML tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

  

  

  

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.