How to draw XS

Hi there, and happy weekend to ya 🙂

Spanish CZT Tomàs Padrós is back with us today with another of his fun and detailed tangle deconstructions. This one is named, simply enough, Xs and an interesting exploration for you this weekend. Xs is Tomàs’s 36th! (aka three-dozenth) on the site.

As complex as Xs looks, it’s super easy to tangle and Tomàs includes an illustration of tips to guide us.

Tomàs writes,

Xs is another pattern based on rows of triangles, like Gospel and Kangular. The result suggests a succession of folds in the shape of an X. Hence its name.

I like the perspective effect generated by the folds and shading, enhanced by the contrast in the size of the inner diamonds. In this way, the Xs seem to advance in front of the outer edges or recede behind them.

After I read through Tomàs’s tips (see second illustration below), I thought about how to ensure the points of the triangles added in Step 3 fell where I wanted them to so they’re “less pointed”. So I took a slightly different approach and after Step 1, I placed dots where the points would come in Step 3. I was then able to easily add the triangles of Step 2 using the dots as a guide.

Tomàs illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Xs below and accompanies it in a cool Zentangle tile with Kangular and Zig Zag Track.

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. (Small side note: if you look at the legalese in Pinterest, you are legally responsible for obtaining permission to post every photo that gets ‘Pinned’. Giving credit or sharing the source link doesn’t count.) Thank you for respecting these rights. “Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.” ~ Franz Kafka

Tomàs includes his tips for success with Xs :

Another approach to tangling Kangular:

I’m including this deconstruction here with Xs and also on the page for Kangular, because as Tomàs writes, seeing them both together “allows you to appreciate the similarities and differences.”

This new deconstruction of Kangular is different from the one already published and that may be more accessible. This deconstruction of Kangular is based on rows of triangles. 

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. (Small side note: if you look at the legalese in Pinterest, you are legally responsible for obtaining permission to post every photo that gets ‘Pinned’. Giving credit or sharing the source link doesn’t count.) Thank you for respecting these rights. Click the image for an article explaining what copyright means in plain English. “Always let your conscience be your guide.” ~ Jiminy Cricket

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Check out the tag tomasp for more of Tomàs’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." 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
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