How to draw GOLDHAN

Today’s ribbon-style Goldhan tangle is from UK tangler Helen Little and it’s her first on the site.

Helen introduces herself and explains how she discovered Zentangle®:

I live in Devon, England, with my husband and two sons. In 2017, while browsing our local museum shop, my eldest son picked up a book called “Star, Branch, Spiral, Fan” by Yellena James. He persuaded me to buy it for him, even though it looked rather advanced for an 8 year old!

I started looking at it myself, and it rekindled my interest in drawing (something I loved as a child). While searching for pen and ink drawing tutorials online I came across Zentangle patterns, and I was hooked!

I read about the Zentangle Method™ as much as I could, and tangled whenever I had time. Since then I’ve also explored other forms of art, but Zentangle is my ‘first love’ and something I always come back to.

Helen describes her inspiration for Goldhan and how she named it:

My parents-in-law have a lovely golden picture frame which features overlapping arcs, and I’ve often wondered if I could deconstruct the design and create a tangle.

On a recent visit during inclement weather I had plenty of time to try it! The result is this tangle, Goldhan – the name combines the gold frame inspiration and part of their village name.

The key element is the overlapping arcs (with the ‘underneath’ arc drawn using the Hollibaugh drawing behind technique). This Bijou tile shows Goldhan in grid form.

Alternate the orientation of the arc pairs as you progress along the ribbon, with the points of each pair touching the points of the previous one.

It then offers plenty of scope for embellishments, in the form of auras, orbs, shading, fills and so on. Goldhan can also be drawn in grid form, by excluding the auras, or could even be drawn in clusters!

This tile includes examples of a few different ways to shade Goldhan.

I found it took a few practice runsfor me to get the basic shape to cooperate (baulky thumb acting up) but once you get the hang of it, you’re away. Inspired by Helen’s tan tile, I plan on exploring Goldhan with a dot grid, I’m curious to see how that turns out …

Helen illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Goldhan below where she features it in a lovely tile with the Zentangle-originals Florz, Flux and Mooka.

Image copyright the artist and used with permission, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. These images are for your personal offline reference only. Please feel free to refer to the images to recreate this tangle in your personal Zentangles and ZIAs. However the artist and TanglePatterns.com reserve all rights to the images and they must not be publicly pinned, altered, reproduced or republished. Thank you for respecting these rights. For more information, click on the image for the article “Copyrights and your blog.” “We must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.” ~ Albus Dumbledore

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 helenl for more of Helen’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.

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Share your tangle on TanglePatterns

Everyone is invited to share patterns on TanglePatterns.com, you do NOT need to be a CZT. In order for patterns to be considered for publication they must be submitted to me by email. In other words you have to let me know about them.

For a submission to qualify as a tangle it must be a genuine pattern (“a repeated decorative design”) and not “a thing to draw”.

From The Book of Zentangle:

“Keep it Non-representational. Zentangle artwork is intended to be non-representational. Zentangle’s elemental strokes are also non-representational.

We don’t teach complex elements such as hearts, stars or flowers. Tangles are also non-representational.”

Remember that tangles never start with pencil planning.

"A tangle has no pre-planning with pencil guidelines, grids or dots, no erased lines."

If you need a refresher on what makes a tangle, read the A PATTERN IS NOT ALWAYS A TANGLE page on the ZENTANGLES menu bar at the top of any page.

For details on how to submit your pattern for consideration visit the SUBMIT YOUR PATTERN page on the top menu bar of any page on the site. On that menu you will find these two pages:

1. 1. How to submit your pattern deconstruction to TanglePatterns, and
   2. Why hasn't my pattern been published?

The first page includes instructions on how to prepare and send your JPGs. (Please save me time and do not send PDFs). It also includes a link to this PDF submission form.

When your examples include additional tangles from the site, please list them in your email. (This saves me time and my memory some wear and tear.)

If your pattern is posted on your blog, attach your steps and tile JPGs to your email and be sure your email includes the direct URL so I can link to it.

And remember, to quote Zentangle's co-founders Rick and Maria: tangles should be "magical, simple and easy to create", non-objective patterns of repetitive strokes that are easy to teach and offer a high degree of success to tanglers of all ages.

"Keep the tangles as little like 'drawing something' as possible."

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