How to draw Z’ELE

Z’ele is a great Monday tangle and it comes to us from Oregon-based CZT Jane Dickinson. It’s been quite some time since we’ve had a tangle from Jane but she’s contributed several strings to our community resource. And today it’s great to have her back with a cool tangle.

As Jane recounts, she recently spent some time browsing the art section in her local public library (Yay for public libraries!) and found lots of tangle inspiration in her meanderings.

Here’s one recent result, Z’ele, pronounced like the English word “zeal” as in your Zeal for Zentangle!

Z’ele is inspired by the Zentangle®-original Eke in combination with our basic square grid (reticula).  Z’ele comes together with graceful looping cursive strokes — e l e — tangled as you turn your tile. Jane recommends you start with a grid that’s “not tiny”. And don’t forget the “tails”, very important!. She also provides some more tips in her post.

My example of Z’ele is Jane’s basic tangle without a single embellishment. I know, it took restraint on my part 😉 because Z’ele clearly invites even just a touch of graphite here and there to create a pattern-within-a-pattern, maybe some auras or rounding … I’m sure you can imagine many possibilities!

Jane illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Z’ele here on her blog and she includes three lovely example tiles of Z’ele featuring several Zentangle-original tangles. Jane’s examples demonstrate Z’ele as a ribbon or border-style tangle and also shows how interesting Z’ele looks on a more expanded grid than my example is able to show.

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 to inspire yours.

Check out the tag janed for more of Jane’s tangles on TanglePatterns.com.

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." 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?
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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