New tangler Sarah Fowler left this comment after receiving her signed copy of Zentangle PRIMER Vol 1,
“Oh my goodness what a fabulous book. I am a new tangler and found it has just swept me away. This book is great because it gets you to slow down and go back to basics.
As you do it opens up so much more. The endless variety of tangles you think you know. The limitless things you can change, play with and develop. Rick and Maria have written this book with so much love and enthusiasm you can feel it oozing from every page!
What a lovely, lovely book.”
There really is an endless variety of “tangles you think you know. The limitless things you can change, play with and develop.”
Sarah’s observation of the PRIMER‘s emphasis on slowing down is something each of us probably needs to be reminded of from time to time. Her comment relates to this post from an earlier Zentangle blog post that I included in Tangle Refresher 103 last year. It’s another one worth revisiting, so here we are:
“Anything is possible … one stroke at a time.”™
In Zentangle® we CZTs frequently remind our students that every single stroke is to be drawn deliberately. This means not rushing, but taking pleasure in each stroke of ink from your pen, one stroke at a time.
In this excerpt from an early post on the Zentangle blog, Zentangle co-founder Maria Thomas talks about this:
Draw your tangles more deliberately. Zentangle is not like any other art form. You want to draw every LINE deliberately, enjoying watching your pen create each line. The patterns fill the spaces created by the string. The string is just a suggestion and not a demand to where you put your tangles. You may start to place your tangle in one area, but maybe you want to finish that space with another tangle or leave it blank
Maria continues,
if you are doing the tangle ‘Tipple’ – the one that looks like a sink full of bubbles – you want to draw each bubble slowly and not so much round as beautiful.
[The Sakura Micron] pens are somewhat pressure sensitive so if you press a little harder on one side of the bubble and let up on the other . . . you create a rhythm of sorts . . . like music. If you played piano pressing every note the same, the result would be less than pleasant.
If the weight of your penstroke was on the same side of each bubble, it creates a “shade” and adds to the pattern. You can do this to every pattern. Static . . . when doing the zig zag lines . . . the first zig is a light line, the next is heavier . . . consistently all the way down . . . then repeating the same pattern on each consecutive line. So simple, but very dynamic.
Are your Zentangle bubbles beautiful?”
BTW, if you have your copy of the new Zentangle PRIMER VOL 1, please do visit this page in BOOK REVIEWS and leave your review in the comments.
Enjoy a beautiful SPRING Weekend!
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Here are five more tangle pattern gems and a Tangle Refresher from a year (or two) ago for your tangling pleasure. Remember to check out the “More Good Stuff” links below too.
BTW as you enjoy these tangles please do leave a comment of thanks and encouragement to show the artists you appreciate them for sharing their creativity for you to enjoy. And please share a link to your favorite tangles with your followers on all your social media.
Zenful tangling!
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Rixty |
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Lealad |
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Kiss |
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Akoya |
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Fjord |
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Tangle Refresher 96 |
More good stuff …
- An easy and elegant technique for creating hand-made greeting cards
- A pattern is not always a tangle – what makes a pattern a tangle?
- New to Zentangle®? The Official Zentangle Kit has everything you need to get started, including a great DVD tutorial by Zentangle co-founder Maria Thomas.
- Everything you need to know about creating Zentangle-Inspired Art or Products
- Free Interweave eBook – Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for crafters and artists
- Tangle Pattern Refreshers – the entire Buried Treasure series.
- Find more tutorials on TanglePatterns by visiting the TUTORIALS tab on the pink alphabetic menu bar
- Find a CZT near you – the link to the list of Certified Zentangle Teachers is located in the left sidebar of the site under the heading SOURCE WEBSITES.
- Interested in becoming a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT®)? Here’s more information.
- Linda’s List of Zentangle-original tangles — THE tangles to learn first if you’re new to Zentangle.
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Enhance your Zentangle experience while supporting TanglePatterns: |
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CURRENT EDITION! TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE, 2024 Edition |
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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! |
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"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. |
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| 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. | |
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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 | |
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March 18, 2016 | 
More like this: 
This is a timely reminder, when I focus on the strokes I totally enjoy the process but sometimes it is easy to slip into focusing on the results. Never as satisfying and a reminder about Zentangle basics is really helpful. Thanks for sharing!