How to draw RATOON

Ratoon is the newest tangle from Zentangle® HQ, deconstructed by Maria’s daughter, CZT Molly Hollibaugh.

Ratoon was first introduced at Zentangle’s all-CZT zenAgain retreat in November 2018 and released subsequently to CZTs in their newsletter.

When I asked Molly how her new tangle came about she explained,

“The tangle was originally inspired by a Rose window in a Church that I saw. I had a photo of it that I carried around for years before finally deconstructing it.

The name was more inspired by the timing of when we decided to release it … we unveiled it at the opening class at zenAgain 2018. The theme was the Tangled Garden and we focused on seeds and roots and so forth. The word Ratoon means a root or a shoot growing off of a plant.”

As is very often the case with Zentangle, I again learned something completely new.

I wasn’t familiar with the word ratoon so I did a little research and learned that ratoon applies mostly to sugarcane – which is major agricultural business in South Florida, colloquially known as “Big Sugar” – and a process known as ratooning, or ratoon cropping.

According to Wiktionary a ratoon is:

A shoot sprouting from the root of a cropped plant, especially sugar cane. … To cut a plant, especially sugar cane, so that it will produce ratoons.

Vegetable gardens also reproduce by ratoons for those who are patient.

Derived from the Spanish word retoño (to resprout), ratoons are second crops that grow from the stumps or stubble of the first. This makes ratoon cropping different from a cut-and-come-again growth cycle, in which harvested leaves or stems are quickly replaced by new ones (chard and basil are prime examples). Ratoon crops regrow from the lowest part of the stem, or stump. – From growveg.com

And there we have it for ratoons.

Rose windows are another fascinating rabbit hole to venture into. As for the tangle …

CZTs are asked not to publish Zentangle-original tangle instructions until they’ve been released publicly by Zentangle HQ. Ratoon was recently added to the Zentangle Mosaic™ app, but as that feature is only available in the paid version of the app the steps weren’t available to the general public.

On Friday Ratoon was published in the Zentangle newsletter so I’m very happy to be able to add it to TanglePatterns, especially for members of the community who aren’t paid Mosaic subscribers.

Maria illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Ratoon here in last Friday’s newsletter where you can enjoy her lovely Ratoon example in gold metallic ink on a black Bijou tile.

BTW – if you have the new TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE, 2019 Edition you might have spied CZT Michele Beauchamp’s beautiful example of Ratoon tucked away in the upper left corner on the cover of the Guide. Ratoon is ratooning Safflowers.

And if you don’t have the latest GUIDE, why the heck not? It’s a win-win: you get a fantastic tangling resource and it helps me keep TanglePatterns.com online for you.

Have fun ratooning!

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 zentangle for more Zentangle-original (aka “official”) 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.

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