Tangle Refresher 145 – Featuring tangles that are good for Zentangle newbies

Welcome to the first Tangle Refresher of 2017.

For those new to the Zentangle® community, the Tangle Refreshers usually appear every other Friday and they spotlight tangles that appeared about a year ago on the site. I also call this series “Buried Treasure”, ’cuz it is.

The Refreshers can introduce you to tangles you haven’t come across yet, as let’s face it there are hundreds and hundreds on the site and it can be hard to keep up. If you’ve been around TanglePatterns.com for a while the Refreshers can remind you of some great tangles you’ve forgotten about. Buried Treasure. At the end of each Refresher is also a good list of links to check out.

Some tanglers in the community like to use the tangles featured in the Refreshers as their “random tangles” for their tile-of-the-day.

With every Refresher I also challenge myself to include an introductory article of interest — either Zentangle-related, or not, depending on my whimsy and/or the occasion. For today’s introduction and because it’s timely, I’ve decided to revisit a Refresher from a year ago that’s little longer than most. Thus, with a little updating, here is the gist of last year’s Refresher introduction …

The new year always brings many new people to Zentangle® and then come the emails asking “which tangles should I start with?”. Which ones are good for Beginners?

While it’s true there’s a mind-boggling array of great tangles on the site, as Rick and Maria say “Anything is possible … one stroke at a time.™” This applies to tangles and the mindful practice of deliberate stroke-making.

Thus, every tangle is good for beginners. Some require more focus than others, and that is all. Not more experience or more artistic “expertise”, simply more focus. One stroke at a time.

As I’ve reminded elsewhere, “Remember that Zentangle is a mindful process, not a picture-drawing race against time. Savor each stroke!”

My personal advice for beginners is to start with what are often referred to as “the official tangles” — the official tangles are the Zentangle-originals (from Zentangle HQ) that are listed and linked on the top menu bar under ZENTANGLES > LINDA’S LIST OF OFFICIAL TANGLES.

You could create Zentangles for the next year with just a few of the Zentangle-originals with instructions available from that list and never get bored playing with them and variations you come up with yourself. If you add strings from the site’s String resource into the mix, you have an unlimited palette to experiment and chill out with.

From the Zentangle-originals list of tangles, here are few that are perfect to get everyone tangling:

1. Crescent Moon – with this tangle we learn the technique of the aura and it’s the classic starter tangle with potential for lots of creative variations
2. Hollibaugh – with this tangle we learn the Zentangle technique of drawing behind
3. Bales – a basic grid tangle that is almost infinitely variable and it’s a core official tangle
4. Printemps – a fun tangle full of swirls
5. Cadent – a little more challenging than the first four, but another classic tangle that’s infinitely variable as you’ll see in CZT Margaret Bremner’s excellent tutorial
6. Ahh – so simple and can add a bit of lightness and movement to a tile

To my CZT colleagues: you are welcome to chip in with your favorite tangles for beginners in the comments!

Another little tip … for best results try to use at most 3 or 4 tangles in a tile, more than that and your Zentangle will probably look very busy. Monotangles are also very popular, this is where you use one tangle (with or without variations) for a Zentangle. For explanations of these terms, see the ZENTANGLES > ZENTANGLE TERMINOLOGY page.

My TanglePatterns BEGINNER’S GUIDE to Zentangle contains a longer list of tangles that are good for beginners but these few are a great start.

Just jump in and tangle! Zentangle tiles are designed to be small and manageable so you’re not overwhelmed. And as you do more and more of them you’ll be delighted to see your art improve with each one.

Want proof? These are my own examples of Printemps. The one on the left is the one I first posted for Printemps when I started TanglePatterns almost seven years ago as a complete novice drawing anything at all. The example on the right is one I drew to replace my original after a couple of years of tangling. Practice improves your fine motor skills and thus your pen control.

Keep all of your tiles! Sign and date the back. In a few weeks and months to come you can look back at your first tiles and see just how far you’ve come. And remember what you were doing at the time.

Once you get going, remember to have a go at more of the Zentangle-originals on LINDA’S LIST.

I leave you with a quote from the article “Brené Brown on the Physics of Vulnerability and What Resilient People Have in Common” on brainpickings.org,

Creativity embeds knowledge so that it can become practice. We move what we’re learning from our heads to our hearts through our hands. We are born makers, and creativity is the ultimate act of integration — it is how we fold our experiences into our being… The Asaro tribe of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea has a beautiful saying: ‘Knowledge is only a rumor until it lives in the muscle.‘

* * *

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 visit these tangles please do leave a comment of thanks and encouragement to show the artists you appreciate them for sharing their creativity to inspire yours. And please share a link to your favorite tangles with your followers on all your social media. Thanks!

Zenful tangling!

Buried Treasure from the tangling past

	Molygon
	Heart Divided
	Join
	Luffline
	Pixioze
	Tangle Refresher 117

More good stuff …

• Going Dotty – Exploring a Stippled Zentangle
• How to get your own gravatar
• 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.
• A great companion to the Kit is the new Zentangle Primer Vol 1 – your CZT-in-a-book by the founders of Zentangle!
• 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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