How to draw DNAH

Welcome back, everyone — let’s get right into today’s new tangle exploration.

This unusual woven braid named DNAH is from Japanese CZT Yoko Tokuyama and it’s her first on the site.

Yoko is from Wakayama, Japan, and a member of the CZT39 seminar. In addition to her Zentangle class offerings, Yoko teaches English to children ages 2 to 18 in Japan.

Online we learn that Wakayama is most famous for its sacred mountain sites, ancient pilgrimage trails, and stunning natural scenery like Japan’s tallest waterfall at 133 metres, Nachi Waterfall.

Yoko writes,

As I draw tangles every day, I came up with this tangle, DNAH. The name DNAH is “HAND” spelled backwards.

We live in a world filled with uncertainty, anxiety, and many difficult situations. I created DNAH with the hope that people can reach out to one another, hold hands, and stay connected.

I hope you enjoy drawing DNAH and that it brings you a sense of connection and joy.

A little personal note about my recent tangle drawings. For the past month or so I’ve been dealing with some recurring Afib symptoms which, until now, have been very well controlled with medication. One unexpected effect is that I’m finding it much harder to make the smooth, controlled strokes I’m used to — it’s a bit like having permanent caffeine jitters.

I mention this only because I want to do justice to the lovely tangles people take the time to submit for us to share. If some of my examples lately have looked a little less steady than usual, that’s why. I’m hoping my cardiologist can get things settled down again soon, and in the meantime I hope you’ll forgive the occasional wobbly line.

Yoko illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Dnah below and she displays it in a graceful, curvy montangle example.

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 this intellectual property and its rights. “We must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.” ~ Albus Dumbledore

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Check out the tag yokot for more of Yoko’s tangles on TanglePatterns.com.

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Before sending your pattern, please take a few minutes to review What Makes a Zentangle® Tangle? and How to Submit Your Pattern Deconstruction to TanglePatterns. These pages on the SUBMIT YOUR PATTERN menu explain what qualifies as a tangle and how to prepare your submission.

Not every pattern will be selected for publication, but I sincerely appreciate everyone who takes the time to share their creativity and contribute to TanglePatterns.

When you're ready, simply send your pattern by email following the instructions on the submission page.

I look forward to seeing what you've created.

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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. What Makes a Zentangle tangle? 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, and tangles never start with pencil planning.
   • A pattern is not always a tangle.
   • 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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