How to draw MEI

Mei is a lovely grid-based tangle from Taiwan CZT Hsin-Ya Hsu and she writes, “I dedicate this pattern to my mother Damy Teng (Damy) on the eve of my birthday (07/18).” Happy Birthday, Hsin-Ya!

This is a very easy tangle pattern to draw and the swirly ones are so much fun. Mei reminds me of Rosé and others which are also formed with swirls, including the Zentangle®-originals Printemps, Snail and Tortuca.

Hsin-Ya’s inspiration for her tangle was this Tiffany bracelet:

Hsin-Ya says that the bracelet pattern reminded her of Ram’s horns and she adapted the bracelet’s pattern into the following steps for her Mei tangle. She also notes Mei can be draw as either a grid or ribbon-type strip.

Hsin-Ya illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Mei below and shows several ways to vary her tangle in a monotangle. For my example I used another simple variation. While it’s very easy to draw, you do have to be mindful of the direction of the swirls, so following Steps 2 and 3 closely and don’t try to do them at the same time.

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Check out the tag hsinyah for more of Hsin-Ya’s tangles on TanglePatterns.com.

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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.
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