How to draw MARASU

Today’s Marasu tangle is a Zentangle®-original from the group of “102 Tangles” from oh-so-long-ago when CZT certification training first began.

As of today we’re up to 158 “official tangles” and counting …

The name of this tangle MaRaSu comes from the names of Maria’s sisters Madeline, Rachel and Sue, if my deductions are spot on. Here’s a peek at Maria’s beautiful hint:

In recent years Rick and Maria and Zentangle HQ have published a “12 Days of Christmas” series and now it’s back for the third time.

Maria created a fabulously gorgeous illuminated letter “O” on a tile for the series. Each day the tile is featured in a different “frame” with that day’s tangle and the Zentangle blog post includes a sweet tale to go with. When you visit each “day”, be sure to click on the images to view the larger version. And take a moment or two to enjoy Maria’s beautiful illuminated letter and her calligraphy up close and almost-personal.

The tangle to be used on the Fourth Day was Marasu and the steps for tangling Marasu were included here.

Update 10/25/2017: CZT Margaret Bremner adds directions for tangling a “Double Marasu“.

For those interested in participating, here is the link to the beginning of Zentangle’s now traditional “12 Days of Zentangle” Christmas series which contains this year’s “rules”.

Thus far for 2016 the 12 Days’ tangles have included the following. Links to the original Zentangle blog post are first, second link to the how-to-draw instructions.

“On the x day of 3Zs, Bijou tangled me … ”

1. A tile full of tripoli! – Tripoli steps here
2. A fetching diva dancing –  Diva Dance steps here
3. Some winsome bits of shattuck – Shattuck steps here
4. Some marasu encircling – Marasu steps on this page
5. Gold, glowing tipples – Tipple steps here
6. Swirling molygon-ings – Molygon steps here
7. Dark and naughty knightsbridge – Knightsbridge steps here
8. Perky pokeleafs peeking – Pokeleaf steps here

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UPDATE December 10, 2018 – Project Pack #04. As part of the Twelve Days of Zentangle, 2018 Edition series, in this Day 8 video starting at 10:43 CZT Julie Willand of Zentangle HQ demonstrates how to tangle Marasu.

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UPDATE April 19, 2020 – Project Pack #09. As part of the Spring has Sprung project pack, Julie Willand tangles Marasu on a Zendala tile and fills it with a fragment and with ‘Nzeppel.

UPDATE May 24, 2021 – Project Pack #14. As part of the Accessing the Artist Within project pack, Julie Willand tangles Pokeroot, Purk, Diva Dance, Cubine, and Marasu.

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UPDATE December 13, 2022 – Project Pack #19. As part of the Twelve Days of Zentangle, 2022 Edition project pack, Maria tangles Marasu beginning at 12:32 in this video:

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UPDATE May 22, 2023 – As part of Zentangle’s 21-day challenge honoring May’s Mental Health Awareness month, Day 12’s Bijouism is Come Out of Your Shell and Julie Willand tangles Marasu in this 09:26 minute limited-audio video.

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UPDATE December 3, 2023 – Project Pack #22. As part of the Twelve Days of Zentangle, 2023 Edition project pack, Julie Willand tangles an ‘Nzeppel-filled Hollibaugh, and her favorite Marasu (8:09) on her prestrung Phi tile in this video:

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UPDATE May 27, 2024 – As part of Zentangle’s 21-Day project honoring Mental Health Awareness Month this year, on Day 18 Julie Willand tangles Marasu in this video.

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UPDATE December 13, 2024 – Project Pack #25. As part of the Twelve Days of Zentangle, 2024 Edition – Drawing Behind project pack, Julie Willand tangles Marasu with Hollibaugh in this video:

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UPDATE March 24, 2025 – Project Pack #26. As part of the The Elegance of Limits project pack, Julie tangles Marasu, Fife, Crescent Moon and the L2 Fragment (from the Zentangle Primer Vol 1) in this video:

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For a complete list of Zentangle’s Project Packs click the PROJECT PACKS link in the pink alphabetic tangle menu bar.

Check out the tag zentangle for all of the Zentangle®-original tangles with online instructions.

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 SUBSCRIBE page on the top menu bar of any page on the site 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!

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