How to draw CHAINMAILLE

Hi there!

For those of us who aren’t busy finding super post-Thanksgiving Black Friday shopping deals, or for when you’ve wrapped those up for the day, here’s an easy tangle for you to explore.

Chainmaille is from Texas CZT Suzanne McNeill and it’s from her Zentangle 6 – Terrific Stencils and Cards booklet.

When we explored Suzanne’s Foghorn tangle recently I noted these tangles come from her multi-part series of booklets focusing on Zentangle®-inspired projects. “If you’re looking for inexpensive inspirational gifts to give, these booklets are a good range to choose from and help launch another Zentangle Zealot.”

According to Wikipedia, chainmaille “consists of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common military use between the 3rd century BC and the 16th century AD in Europe, while continued to be used in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East as late as the 17th century.”

Today making chainmaille or chainmail or maille jewelry is a fascinating handicraft with a lot of dedicated fans.

Chainmaille has applications in sculpture and jewellery, especially when made out of precious metals or colourful anodized metals. Mail artwork includes headdresses, decorative wall hangings, ornaments, chess sets, macramé, and jewelry. For these non-traditional applications, hundreds of patterns (commonly referred to as “weaves“) have been invented.

Here’s a small taste as an introduction … trust me when I tell you, this craft is a huge rabbit hole! (Note: video has music, no voice. Turn off sound if you prefer.)

As for Chainmaille the tangle … a little shading on the “over-unders” would look very good too.

Suzanne illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Chainmaille below. Fox Chapel Publishing (who hold the copyright) and Suzanne have graciously given me permission to post her copyright-protected images on TanglePatterns for your personal offline reference. Reposting/republishing is not permitted.

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. For more information, click on the image for a discussion entitled “Artists for Respect” by several prominent artists. “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.” ~ C.S. Lewis

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Check out the tag suzannem for more of Suzanne’s tangles on TanglePatterns.com.

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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
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.
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