How to draw BLOOMS

Happy Monday y’all! And Mondays usually mean a super easy tangle pattern to get our week underway.

Blooms is from Texas CZT Suzanne McNeill, publisher of the first Zentangle® publications on the market. Blooms is from her booklet Zentangle 7 – Inspiring Circles, Zendalas and Shapes.

Blooms is simple as pie.

Blooms grows organically from the inside out, much like Arc Flower. It can fill any shape section in your Zentangle by simply working it out to the edges of your string. To my knowledge Suzanne doesn’t add shading to any of her tangles but I think it adds lovely dimension so I used it in my example. In fact I almost always add shading, to me it just continues the pleasurable Zen of the pattern.

Normally what I do to add shading is lightly draw a pencil line almost over the pen stroke. I like a pencil with a well-worn lead for this, others prefer a sharp one for better control. Then I take my paper stump/tortillion and make very tiny zigzag or circular “lines” out from the pencil into the area where I want the graphite to spread. In our TanglePatterns Shading Mini-Clinics, CZT Marizaan van Beek describes using tiny circular motions. So there’s almost always more than one way to achieve the effect you want and it just depends on what works best for you. Experiment, play …

Suzanne illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Blooms here [link removed] on her blog. UPDATE: Early in the Summer of 2014 Suzanne McNeill’s blog domain registration expired and all the posts and images were lost.

Fox Chapel Publishing (who hold the copyright) and Suzanne have graciously given me permission to post her copyright-protected images on TanglePatterns for your reference.

© Suzanne McNeill and Fox Chapel Publishing. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may use this image for your personal non-commercial reference only. Republishing or redistributing IN ANY FORM including pinning is prohibited under law without express permission.

Check out the tag suzannem for more of Suzanne’s tangles on TanglePatterns.com.

Have a great week!

For detailed Book Reviews of the available books about Zentangle®, visit the BOOK REVIEWS tab on the menu bar at the top of the page.

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." 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?
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!
10. Never miss a tangle! FREE eMAIL NEWSLETTER - visit the Here's how to SUBSCRIBE button (top of left sidebar on any page) and sign up to get notices delivered free to your inbox.
11. If you have questions about the TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE, visit the BOOK REVIEWS tab on the top menu bar of any page on the site for COMPLETE details!

.oOo.
Enhance your Zentangle experience while supporting TanglePatterns:
NEW! TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE, 2025 Edition
	The 14th Edition of the TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE is an instant-download 117-page interactive digital eBook/PDF containing over 2,000 tangles on the site from May 2010 through December 31, 2024. 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.
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.
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.