Recently the Zentangle® newsletter from co-founders Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas featured the article Grid (Un)Locked presenting a “recipe” for creating grid tangles and including a grid of imaginative examples by Maria. You might recognize a few of the official tangles in Maria’s examples.
Each square is the “seed” of the overall pattern created when the seed is repeated in either a regular or a totally random fashion.
In grid-based tangles, you may have noticed that all you need is one square, just one. Then whatever stroke is placed in one square resonates throughout your grid.
Perhaps you draw one stroke in each square, then the next stroke in each square; or maybe you tangle all one square then move on to the next. Either way, inspiration abounds. Such a dance . . . simple and elegant!
It is so much fun to create a simple grid element and then see what the overall tile looks like when they are “drawn together.”
This tangle pattern, Maelstrom, from Linda Dawson uses exactly that concept – and whatever you do with Maelstrom you can produce a storm of possibilities. As Linda writes, “There are endless variations made by turning the basic [seed].” In my example on the right, I used just part of Linda’s fourth variation shown in her examples (below the steps) for the basic design. This tangle has SO many possibilities!
Linda’s first tangle on the site, Miasma, posted a few months ago also uses this concept and the variations made possible by “flipping the design in different directions.”
Linda points out you can vary the density of the lines within Maelstrom to create shades of gray within the design. Her monotangle Zentangle features the Maelstrom seed used in a completely random fashion on a wavy grid.
Image copyright the artist and used with permission, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Please feel free to refer to the step outs to recreate this tangle in your Zentangles and ZIAs, or link back to this page. However the artist and TanglePatterns.com reserve all rights to these images and they should not be pinned, reproduced or republished. Thank you for respecting these rights.
Check out the tag lindad for more of Linda’s patterns on TanglePatterns.com.
BTW – This post is also filed on the TUTORIALS tab so you can always find the reference to Maria’s “seeds” there in the future.
|
.oOo. |
|
Enhance your Zentangle experience while supporting TanglePatterns: |
|
CURRENT 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. | |
|
|
|
 |
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. |
|
June 12, 2013 | 
More like this: 
This is SO pretty! Makes me think of Rick’s Paradox combined with Shattuck (the curved version Sandy Steen is so fond of drawing).
This is my favorite kind of Zentangle pattern (though I enjoy drawing almost all of them)–grids are so much fun to work with and in. I love miniatures, and each square of a grid lets me miniaturize any Zentangle pattern.
Have to try this one tonight!
This is lovely; looks like fun to do! I also like your version, Linda, with the black bits.
Linda, thanks for sharing this! It’s a great pattern, so versatile. I have to try this one!
Wow! Linda and Linda …… this is one versatile tangle. I absolutely love it. It’s simple, only two different strokes, and can be turned any way you like it to create all kinds of variations. A true grid seed! Thanks for sharing it with us.
I like the order and simplicity of this design. will definitely play with it.
Thank you so much for sharing this tangle. I’ve been having so much fun playing with it this week. It has brought back the
Zen. It’s so easy to draw and so versatile that it has become an instant favorite of mine.
I have just started doing Zentangle and enjoying it. Looking for different variations and this one is fantastic will keep trying it in the different images. Thanks for showing it.
Cheers Glenys Baguley
Love it! Thank you 🙂
Hi Linda! I just love this one!! When you think you’ve tried all the different ways, you can come up with even more!! Lots of fun — and yes, the time just slides by!! 🙂
Trish