Here’s another tangle from my recent pattern archives review. Fission is a pretty tangle from Richard Anderson, and it’s his first on the site. It’s a nice easy tangle to get the week underway.
While it is similar in a way to the Zentangle®-original Ahh, Fission starts with an orb in the center and works out from there.
As you’ll see in Richard’s Zentangle tile below, Fission can be developed outwards as an allover pattern as he explains and illustrates in his “Fission with Fission”.
Photo of Queen Anne’s Lace (Wild Carrot) courtesy of Wikipedia; By Christian Fischer, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org
Richard writes,
I am rather new to this and have loved your site. One day as I was walking my dog and seeing tangles in everything, I started looking closely at some Queen Anne’s Lace.
Deconstructing it showed that it really is a central flower surrounded by six more, surrounded by six more, surrounded by six more. You get the idea you could extend the sequence out for a long way.
The pattern I developed starts with a circle. The circle is than built up with six more surrounding it. Add six more in the spaces still touching. Add six more in the spaces further out and not touching. Add a final ring of six more.
I added straight lines to the center. I was going to name it Quanla using the letters from the flower but it really reminded me of nuclear fission so I settled on that.
If you need help getting six orbs evenly spaced around the center one in Step 2, try putting one at the “north pole” and one at the “south pole” first. Then you can easily fit the other two between them on each side. On the right is my attempt at “Fission with Fission” but in this size of example things got a little crowded.
Richard illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Fission below and features it in a very cool monotangle. Richard’s subtle shading looks like it was done with the graphite left on a tortillion and it gives the impression of the outward “explosion” movement of Fission.
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 including pinning is prohibited under law without express permission of the copyright owner. Click the image for an article explaining copyright in plain English.
As you enjoy any of the tangles on the site, please do leave a comment of thanks and encouragement to show the artists you appreciate them for sharing their creativity for you to enjoy.
Check out the tag richarda for more of Richard’s tangles on TanglePatterns.com.
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!
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February 22, 2016 | 
More like this: 
Beautiful tangle! I love how it can develop and spread to fill the space.
This is such a pretty pattern and I can see “in my mind’s eye” that we will have many uses for it in our tangling. It’s a great contrast to use with some of the ‘heavy’ black, grid patterns for starters and I can also imagine it breaking up and wandering off amongst the other patterns on the page…..delightful Richard, so thanks for sharing! and of course to our Linda for popping it up on site for us all.
I like how science and mathematics can inspire new patterns such as Fission! The possibilities are endless.
Pretty! I really like this.
This looks like a fun pattern. Very pretty!
This is a great tangle! I see lots of ways to use this, and combined with the ZenGem techniques – Oh Boy!
I love Queen Anne’s Lace! Every year, I know it’s July when the blue chicory and the Queen Anne’s Lace starts blooming. Thanks for giving us a pattern that evokes that time of summer.
Lovely tangle. I can see using this a lot. Thanks for sharing.
Lots of possibilities for this one. Thanks for sharing.
I tried this and it adds such a whispy and free touch to the entire ZIA. Love the Queen Anne’s Lace too.
Thanks for sharing.
love it as i am a huge flower nerd this is amazing and the possibilities for tangelations are endless truly organic as it comes from nature isn’t amazing how the simplest things have some of the most intricate patterns?