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Linda Farmer, Certified Zentangle Teacher

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How to draw DIOSEA

Zentangle pattern: DioseaDiosea is a tangle pattern from Australian tangler Sue Zanker. You may recognize Sue’s name if you follow the comments as she is a frequent contributor but this is her first tangle on the site.

I was reading a book recently dealing with drawings of all sorts of weird, and some microscopic creatures in the oceans. My pattern ‘Diosea,’ was inspired by a drawing of a unicellular plant species called Diatoms. A zillion patterns to be had, from Nature! … [Diosea] is simple to do, with heaps of possibilities.

Sue tells us about herself:

I am a ‘sort of  retired’ professional Calligrapher and lettering artist of over 30 years. Born & raised in Adelaide, South Australia, we have moved around a bit, spending some years in Woomera Sth Aust (the Weapons Research Establishment and former man-in-space tracking station) and then some more years in Melbourne Victoria before going ‘home’ to Adelaide, where we were both in involved heavily with dog training and then 17 years owning and running a ’boutique’ boarding cattery!! all this, while I both taught calligraphy and earned a spasmodic income with commissions. Finally, after our ‘chicks’  had all flown the nest, we took the plunge and moved lock, stock, barrel and our dogs to the Far North of Queensland where we used to come for annual holidays when the kids were young.  

Now we have been living here in Townsville for the last twenty years or so, which has positively flown.

We came for the warmth and sunshine and we both just love the ‘laid back’ lifestyle here. All due to a friend, sending me an email about your site, I started my very first ‘tangle’ on 12th February 2012, (Bales)  a red letter day to be sure!  As I have suffered from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis for the past 8 years, she thought tangling may be something that might help me mentally and emotionally.

Understatement of the year! Tangling has given me what I call, ‘restful acceptance’ and I no longer rage in frustration at an illness I can do nothing about!  I endeavour to try and come up with my own patterns occasionally, but usually find, someone somewhere has done something either the same or similar, just proving all over again that “everything old is new again”!

Sue shows Diosea as a grid “seed” and like all grid-based tangles it works well as a ribbon or border tangle.

Sue illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Diosea below where she also suggests several variations for this tangle. Sue also features it in her Zentangle® with the official tangles Betweed and Printemps, and some Zentangle Tipple orbs.

How to draw DIOSEA by Sue Zanker

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 suez for more of Sue’s patterns on TanglePatterns.com.

Speaking of comments on posts …

Somehow I managed to “lose” all the comments on the site from May 15th until today. 🙁 I am in the long process of recovering them from backups and will update each pattern with their respective comments when I’ve got them all back. My sincere and humble apologies to everyone who takes the time to comment.

Related Links

  1. 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.
  2. What is a Zentangle? — if you are new to the Zentangle Method, start here for the fundamentals.
  3. Zentangle terminology — a glossary of terms used in this art form.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. "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.
  7. How to submit your pattern deconstruction to TanglePatterns
  8. 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.
  9. 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!
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5 comments to How to draw DIOSEA

  • This looks like a fun one. And I like how Sue made this grid pattern look so organic in her tile!
    …and I was wondering what happend to the comments. I’m sorry it happened but a tiny bit relieved to know tht it’s not my computer.

  • Sue Zanker

    Hello Linda,
    Just a quick one, to tell you how THRILLED I was to see my pattern ‘Diosea’ featured on TanglePatterns.com. It’s one thing to come up with a pattern that one THINKS is workable and gorgeous, but quite another to have it recognised as such by fellow tanglers! It is very encouraging, to say the least! And yet again, thank you, thank you for all that you do for us with your site, the Guides and everything else you do so willingly for “Tangleland”.

    • Theresa Schroeder

      Hello, Sue!

      I just saw your lovely new tangle Sooz, which led me to Diosea, and the short bio you sent. What an adventurous live you’ve led! I also have ME and have found Zentangle to be a great help to me. I used to paint (acrylics) and was involved in other arts and crafts, but now they take too much “oomph”! So Zentangle has been a wonderful creative outlet for me over the last six years or so. I am from California, lived in HI, and am now in Tennessee. Sending you all the best!

    • Dessie Arnold

      Hi Sue,

      I also just saw your new tangle, Sooz, which led me here. I like this one even better, and am looking forward to trying both of them! Love reading about your adventures. I too, came to Zentangle when illness forced me to back away from a more normal life. I remembered a friend’s ZIA’s and mentioning Zentangle, so I emailed her, and also started googling Zentangle. This site was mentioned in one of the library books I got, and it has been a Godsend to me. Thank you for submitting your tangles, and I look forward to playing with them! Wishing you all the best from rural northern Indiana.

  • Frankie

    To all the CZT’s You all are so great. It is a pleasure to learn some of my skills from each and everyone of you.I do want to say ” Thank you”

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