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Linda Farmer, Certified Zentangle Teacher

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How to draw MAZORITO

Zentangle pattern: Mazorito. Image © Linda Farmer and TanglePatterns.com. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may use this image for your personal non-commercial reference only. The unauthorized pinning, reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.Belgian CZT Ria Matheussen shares another very easy and quite wonderful tangle with us today.

Mazorito is our second tangle this week to be inspired by a tattoo – or a Tatu. And Mazorito makes an even dozen tangles on the site from Ria.

Ria writes, “At the moment, it is better to stay in the house during the day, just too hot. We are not used to these tropical temperatures, so now there is much time to tangle and to surf.”

While she was surfing Ria saw an image of a Maori tattoo on YouTube and began doing a little digging into Maori art. 

Here’s a tidbit about Maori tattoos that I sure didn’t know:

Ta moko, often referred to as Maori tattoo, is the traditional permanent marking of the body and face by Maori. But ta moko is distinct from tattoo in that the skin is carved by uhi (chisels) instead of being punctured with needles. This leaves the skin with textured grooves, rather than the smooth surface of a normal tattoo. ~ Maori.com

All righty then … Ria explains her tangle and its origins:

“Thanks to your site, we all have the opportunity to admire different countries, architectures and cultures. I’m always curious to discover something new. We have already seen patterns with influences of Asia, Africa, America, Australia, Europe and for this tangle I found Inspiration in the Maori culture of New Zealand.

Zentangle® art connects us all and that is why I called this new pattern Mazorito (Maori, Zentangle, Tattoo.)

The Maori people create beautiful art (for example, wooden carvings, jewels, paintings…) The artists love fluid, curly lines.

But they are also known for their famous tattoo’s. I found inspiration in this image (4th row).

Maori art examples

It looks very familiar and at first instance I thought immediately of Verve, so I decided to make a few changes and here is the result.

As you can see, Mazorito can be used as a border (in a square but also wavy or in a circle) and again a lot of variations are possible…

This is not a difficult tangle but you have to focus well, especially in the beginning. It is very important to draw the tipples on the same distances and it can help to place little dots in the middle… It is also recommended to turn your tile for step 4.”

As rugby fans around the world well know, the New Zealand All Blacks‘ fearsome Maori haka dance is probably as famous as Maori art and culture. In looking at the reference images, it is so interesting to me to see how similar to Celtic motifs they are. I’m guessing a deeper dive into New Zealand’s history could explain that observation, but I’ll save that one for another time.

Zentangle pattern: Mazorito. Image © Linda Farmer and TanglePatterns.com. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may use this image for your personal non-commercial reference only. The unauthorized pinning, reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.For my main example of Mazorito above I added the white dots in the center of the black ribbons with a White Sakura Gelly Roll Pen. On the right is the “before” image and now I’m not sure which I prefer – they’re both pretty!

Ria illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Mazorito below. She shows us several ways to vary this sweet tangle and how beautifully it works in the round on her gorgeous black Zendala tile, “Here, I have made a combination with Mazorito, Tipple, Msst and Munchin and Crescent Moon.

How to draw the Zentangle pattern Mazorito, tangle and deconstruction by Ria Matheussen. Image copyright the artist and used with permission, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Image copyright the artist and used with permission, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Please feel free to refer to the steps images to recreate this tangle in your personal Zentangles and ZIAs, or to link back to this page. However the artist and TanglePatterns.com reserve all rights to these images and they must not be publicly pinned, altered, reproduced or republished. They are for your personal offline reference only. Thank you for respecting these rights. For more information, click on the image for the article “Copyrights and your blog.”

As you enjoy any of the tangles on the site, please leave a comment of thanks and encouragement to show the artists you appreciate them for sharing their creativity to inspire yours. Your comment helps motivate them to continue to share!

Check out the tag riam for more of Ria’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.
  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.
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25 comments to How to draw MAZORITO

  • Joan

    This is one of those Tangles about looks so confusing but is really pretty easy to do. It looks wonderful. I played around with it a little bit and it’s awesome at every step. Thank you for showing and sharing.

  • Anna Houston

    I love this tangle, will try it today!

  • Lovely! Added to my ‘must try’ stack.

  • Jennifer Sparrow

    Lovely, fun and easy to draw! What more could I ask for? Thanks, Ria and Linda!

  • Thank you Jennifer, for giving linda and me a nice compliment.
    I hope you will enjoy drawing this tangle and wish you succes!

  • Deborah Raaen

    Ooh this one is really fun to draw. I just made a sampler for my collection. Thank you! 🙂

  • Matt (aka mattski1208 , mattskiczt)

    I will definitely be using this tangle! Love border/ribbon tangles! Thank you for sharing. Matt

  • Sharon Jerkovic CZT31

    What a truly unique and beautiful tangle !

  • I’m very glad to read your nice comment and thank you very much. I’m sure, there are more variations you can make on this tangle. I hope you will enjoy using Mazorito.

  • Ria,this is a lovely tangle and I appreciate the Maori history. I admit the idea of a “chiseled” tattoo gave me a shudder. Apparently, we humans will go to great lengths for body art. We have visited New Zealand twice. It is a beautiful place.

  • Thank you for this nice comment and I’m glad you like this pattern. I have visited every continent except Australia and New Zealand (too far, too much jet-lag) but I do regret that I didn’t do it when I was younger.
    I’m also fond of your Aloha tangle and made a nice tile, showed in my last blogpost. I hope you like it.
    Greetings from Belgium.

  • LaJuania Dorman

    Not only do I love the tangle, but also very much enjoyed the fact that you shared the history behind your inspiration. Where else can you find awesome new tangles to experience and at the same time add to your knowledge of world customs and traditions! I love being part of the Zentangle community and deeply appreciate the time and effort that goes into “sharing” on everyone’s part. A special thank you to Linda for administering this website, and to Ria for submitting this tangle!

    • Thank you so much for your kind feedback, makes me very glad.
      When we look around, we really are surrounded by tangles: I see them appearing in architecture, in different cultures, in nature, in fashion, even in my own houses… I admit that I like to go on “tanglehunting” and when I think “yes that could be a new one”, than I am grateful and like to tell where I have found inspiration. It is very nice of you that you appreciate that! I wish you succes and many beautiful moments while tangling!

  • Thanks Linda for the great job you are doing for all tanglers!

  • Karin Godyns, CZT20,

    This is such a wonderful tangle Ria! So many possibilities. Will play a lot with this one. Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us. Love, Karin

    • Wat fijn Karin om ook hier een comment te geven en nu kan ik je nog eens extra bedanken voor het meedoen aan de challenge met mijn patroontjes. Heel tof vond ik de bijhorende foto die ons toont dat je altijd en overal kan tangelen!!!

  • Thank you, Ria and Linda, for this wonderful tangle. I love that your inspiration came from Maori tattoos. I have been playing around with Maori motifs for awhile, as my husband is a Kiwi and grew up around Auckland. He still has family over there, so we hear often about how the All-Blacks are doing. He has shown me the Haka a few times and we have family members that perform it over in New Zealand. It’s a wonderful tangle and once you get the basics down, it flows nicely. So thank you Ria, for providing stepouts and thank you Linda for publishing this.

    • Thanks to the Zentanglemethod, we can find inspiration in every culture, every country… that is wonderful. I love Maori art and I’m very glad you like this tangle, especially because your husband is a Kiwi.
      I do appreciate very much that you have written such a nice comment, thank you very much.

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