Tangle Refresher 264 – How to tangle a spiral string, our random string and how to draw Punzel, Windmill, Naf, Ofloat, Shango

Hi there and happy Buried Treasure Friday 🙂

I hope you get as much enjoyment going back and looking at the “history” of the tangles as I do. I encourage you to visit each of them – even if the patterns are familiar to you – to see if there’s a tip or technique there you might learn or be reminded of. So much gets buried in the flow of new tangles and this series is a quick and easy way to brush up.

As part of our once-monthly mining of Buried Treasure within the site, today we’re revisiting an excellent tutorial from Australian CZT Michele Beauchamp — It’s Spiralicious – A Zentangle® Spiral Guide.

Michele’s tutorial is from the early days of TanglePatterns and here’s my original introduction:

“I’m naming my Guest Contributor ‘Queen of the Spirals’, if you’ve seen any of her art you’ll agree with me. She’s Tasmania, Australia’s CZT Michele Beauchamp (aka Shelly Beauch), artist and creator of the beautiful covers on my TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE.

Michele has put together an excellent tutorial on how to create and tangle spiral strings for your Zentangles and Zentangle-inspired art. Today she gives you some tips to get started and below you’ll find the link to her illustrated A Zentangle® Spiral Guide on her blog.”

Visit this link to read Michele’s not-to-be-missed tutorial. As commenters noted, “A beautiful way to tangle … this is awesome … Such great ideas and beautiful examples.”

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Many tanglers like to use these occasional Tangle Refreshers as their Zentangle® challenge-of-the-day.

This TanglePatterns String was selected for today – either to go with today’s Buried Treasure or just to use as a starting point for your day’s tangling. The RANDOM TANGLE SELECTOR in the left sidebar makes it simple to choose a String-of-the-Day from the 250 free strings in our resource. Or just click on the STRINGS tab in the pink alphabetic tangle menu bar and choose one at random yourself.

Think of this as your tangle Challenge, if you’re so inclined. TanglePatterns String 170 is from tangler Nancy Domnauer and was originally posted here.

Remember that in Zentangle strings are always drawn freehand in pencil so they magically disappear when you’ve finished tangling the tile.

A string is a simple device to “divide your drawing surface into sections to be filled with tangles“.

In the Zentangle PRIMER Vol 1 (now available in paperback for $23.95, or as an instant download Kindle Edition $9.99, in Spanish here, and in Japanese here) there’s an entire section devoted to Strings which in part explains:

“As you tangle, your strings disappear as if by magic. This adds to the charm and unified appearance of your completed art.

If you had used a pen to draw your string, you would still see the initial sectioning in your completed creation.“

Strings are not intended to be the focal point of your tile, Zentangles should not look like coloring book drawings.

More String advice from The Book of Zentangle (now available in paperback for $19.95):

“A string is a useful reference, but it is not an impenetrable barrier. Practice going outside your string. It will help increase your ability to think outside the box.“

To download eBooks containing all 250 TanglePatterns Strings, visit the STORE > EBOOKS page.

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The Tangle Refresher series, aka Buried Treasure, spotlights hidden tangle gems from the past. It can remind you of tangles you might not have used for a while or introduce you to some you haven’t come across yet.

Here are five more tangle pattern gems and a Tangle Refresher from the past for your tangling pleasure. Remember to check out the “More Good Stuff” links below too.

BTW as you visit these tangles please do leave a comment of thanks and encouragement to show the artists you appreciate them for sharing their creativity to inspire yours. And please share a link to your favorite tangles with your followers on all your social media. Thanks!

Zenful tangling!

Buried Treasure – Gems from the Tangling Past

	Punzel
	Windmill
	Naf
	Ofloat
	Shango
	Tangle Refresher 234

More good stuff …

• The Importance of Strings in Zentangle – and String 001
• Zentangle Primer Vol 1 – your CZT-in-a-book by the founders of Zentangle! Now available in softcover, or as an instant download KINDLE Edition.
• Everything you need to know about creating Zentangle-Inspired Art or Products
• Free Interweave eBook – Know Your Rights: Copyright 101 for crafters and artists
• Tangle Pattern Refreshers – the entire Buried Treasure series
• Find a jackpot of free tutorials on TanglePatterns by visiting the TUTORIALS tab on the pink alphabetic menu bar
• Find a CZT near you – the link to the list of Certified Zentangle Teachers is located in the left sidebar of the site under the heading SOURCE WEBSITES
• Interested in becoming a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT®)? Here’s more information.
• Linda’s List of Zentangle-original tangles – THE core tangles to learn first if you’re new to Zentangle.

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