Here is the latest new tangle pattern from Zentangle® founders, Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas.
Auraknot was introduced in a recent newsletter with the challenge to everyone to deconstruct its steps and give it a name.
“There are no grids, no dots, no pencil, no eraser, just pure Zentangle magic . . . one stroke at a time.” All the basic qualifications of a tangle pattern. This is an amazing tangle!
Here in a lengthy 21-minute video, Rick and Maria demonstrate how to draw Auraknot, along with several tangleations. As noted in the newsletter,
“This is a versatile tangle with the possibility of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or any number of ‘corners.’ No matter how many corners, the steps are all done exactly the same way.“
Many people attempted this but CZT Jeanne Kero won the deconstruction challenge. Mattie Arnold won for naming the new tangle. Congratulations, both!
UPDATE: Rick and Maria have also posted illustrations of the steps for Auraknot here in their newsletter.
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UPDATE December 20, 2021 – Project Pack #16. As part of the Twelve Days of Zentangle – Keeping Score project pack, Molly tangles Auraknot at 08:00 of this video.
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UPDATE March 29, 2023 – Project Pack #20. As part of the Blossoming Tangles project pack, Rick tangles Auraknot in this video:
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For a complete list of Zentangle’s Project Packs click the PROJECT PACKS link in the pink alphabetic tangle menu bar.
Check out the tag zentangle for all of the Zentangle®-original tangles with online instructions.
Related Links
- Looking for tangles by Artist or Type? For details visit the ABOUT > HOW TO FIND TANGLES BY ARTIST OR TYPE page on the top menu bar of any page on the site.
- What is a Zentangle? — if you are new to the Zentangle Method, start here for the fundamentals.
- Zentangle terminology — a glossary of terms used in this art form.
- How to use the site — an excellent free video tutorial showing how to use the site as well as pointing out lots of useful features you might have missed.
- Linda's List of Zentangle-Original Patterns — here is the complete list of original tangles (aka "official tangles") created and introduced by founders Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, including those not published online. If you are new to the Zentangle Method I highly recommend learning a few of the published Zentangle classics first.
- "A Zentangle has no up or down and is not a picture of something, so you have no worries about whether you can draw a hand, or a duck. You always succeed in creating a Zentangle." Thus patterns that are drawings of a recognizable naturalistic or actual object, figure, or scene, are not tangles. A pattern is not always a tangle — here's what makes a tangle. TIP: tangles never start with pencil planning.
- Un motif n’est pas toujours un tangle — Qu’est-ce qu’un tangle ?
- Un diseño no es siempre un tangle — ¿Qué es un tangle?
- How to submit your pattern deconstruction to TanglePatterns
- For lots of great FREE tutorials on TanglePatterns, click on the TUTORIALS link in the pink alphabetic menu bar below the tangle images at the top of any page.
- Strings! Have we got STRINGS! Click on the STRINGS link in the pink alphabetic menu bar below the tangle images at the top of any page for 250 different (free) Zentangle-starters. More than enough for any lifetime!
- Never miss a tangle! FREE eMAIL NEWSLETTER - visit the SUBSCRIBE page on the top menu bar of any page on the site and sign up to get notices delivered free to your inbox.
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July 7, 2012 | 
More like this: 
what shape did you start with on the icon version (4 point with a square in the center)??
this is awesome, and confusing 🙂
Great video! Very inspirational and almost meditative to watch, thanks for this one, creative greet Miranda
Wow – fantastic video my head is spinning with ideas – I think my plans for the day have just changed – must give Auraknot a try now!
This really is an amazing and super-cool tangle! I saw the contest on their newsletter, but it looked far too complicated to figure out – for this blonde, anyway! Haha! But seeing the video is a GREAT help, and does show it to be much simpler than it looks – perfect Zentangle! Thanks for posting the video. 🙂 And your 4-pointed one looks great!
Wow the video was a great help but I did have to watch it twice because I just was not getting it. Well now I think I have to basics and will be playing with this tangle alot.
WOW! What a tangle! and so may variations possible! Loved watching the video too, Rick and Maria gave so many alternative ideas for working with it. Now I can’t wait to get at it and play! Thanks Linda for the video……helps enormously to see the different possibilities.
Not sure I like video to learn…had to watch again pause, etc. where when in step by step still one can study it…zen… Kinda like “slow food” vs ” fast food”…time and hands on add to the pleasure vs seeing someone else draw it…
Thank you so much for the auraknot. What great fun. I can’t wait to finish this emial and get started. Great video.
Pat
ik vind het fantasties ik ga het ook gebruiken dank je voor het te delen met ons thanks
My first tangle and I love it!
I have a question…what is the best type of paper to use? I am drawing with mitron pens.
Hi Carol, the best paper is the official Zentangle tiles – as one tangler describes it, they are “yummy” to draw on. They’re die-cut 3.5-inch squares of fine print-making paper, and come in the Official Zentangle Kit along with everything else you need to get started. You can also get separate packs of tiles here. If you don’t have tiles handy, you can use a good quality watercolor paper that’s not too rough and cut the sheets down to size. Be sure to choose good quality paper to enhance and preserve your creativity.
With your permission, I’d just like to add to your info to “Carol” on paper Linda.
Carol, I live in Australia and to buy the official tiles and pay shipping freight to get them here can be a bit expensive for me, so I use either the brand Arches Hot Press (smooth) watercolour paper in 185gsm or Canson 185gsm watercolour paper. Then I measure and cut them into the required sized squares, make a margin on each square of about 10mms in pale pencil and I am ready to go. I always make and measure quite a few in one go, so that I always have a ’tile’ to grab, whenever I feel the need to tangle. I am also pretty new to tangling too, since the beginning of this year, but am sooo addicted. It’s great! Physically and mentally!
I love the look of the Auraknot tangle, but after playing with it on the weekend, feeling a bit frustrated. Even though I follow the ‘steps’ correctly I just can’t seem to get it to look as “nice” as Maria and Rick do on the video, guess it’s just practice, but I am giving it a ‘rest’ for a couple of days and maybe my hand and eyes will behave then !
The Auraknot is an amazing Tangle! I like the outcome of some of the ones I’ve done (others not so much!). But Maria and Rick make it look so easy to get the lines so straight and everything parallel and evenly spaced!
I know. Practice, practice, practice. 😀
Chiming in on the paper too – another really good one is the Strathmore 300 Series, Bristol Smooth paper/board. The 300-series are comparatively inexpensive for decent quality art-paper, and is made specifically for pen/ink. Cutting this in pieces is quite economical but still good quality. (The best places I’ve found to purchase are DickBlick.com or Amazon. ) If you want even better quality, go up to 400 Series, or even 500 for the very best. Moleskin notebooks also have nice paper for this, if you want book format.
to both of you 2 malverous, fantastic, wonderfull,
clever,clever, clever,people —- I love yooooou’s —-
I’m going NUTS trying to conker this “auraknot” patt’
BUT I will do it,– as I say (both of you) clever,clever.
I’m a Scot, living in Wales, in the U.K. and my son lives in Florida,and I’m to old to live there now,and get
a bit — (fed up)– BUT — if it takes all night I will
master this pattern.—- the brandy will definitly help…
cherrio you wonderfull people..
Thank you both..