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Linda Farmer, Certified Zentangle Teacher

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How to draw BALA

Zentangle pattern: Bala. © Linda Farmer and TanglePatterns.com. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may use this image for your personal non-commercial reference only. Republishing or redistributing IN ANY FORM including pinning is prohibited under law without express permission.Here’s a very pretty and very easy tangle to start out our busy week. Bala is from Taiwan CZT Damy Teng.

It’s interesting to have a grid-based tangle constructed on a rectangular grid rather than the traditional square one for a change of pace.

One of my favorite “unofficial” tangles, Simone Bischoff’s Jasmin comes to mind. Beth Snoderly’s Spiro and CZT Annette Carlo’s Quickzly are more good examples of this type of tangle.

Damy writes that Bala can also be drawn on the usual squared grid, the main point being to draw a pair of tiny orbs in the center of each grid line, whether the grid “seed” is rectangular or square.

Damy illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Bala here with two variations, and her lovely monotangle also demonstrates several ways to vary the basic tangle.

Image copyright the artist and used with permission, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may use this image for your personal non-commercial reference only. Republishing or redistributing pattern deconstructions in any form including pinning is prohibited under law without express permission of the copyright owner. Click the image for an article explaining copyright in plain English.

Image copyright the artist and used with permission, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may use this image for your personal non-commercial reference only. Republishing or redistributing pattern deconstructions in any form including pinning is prohibited under law without express permission of the copyright owner. Click the image for an article explaining copyright in plain English.

Check out the tag damyt for more of Damy’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." 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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4 comments to How to draw BALA

  • Suzanne

    Very nice!! Thanks for sharing!

  • Tracy McDonald

    Ah! Ha! An easy way to make an egg shape for Easter oriented Zentangles and ZIA’s. Very pretty!

  • This is a beautiful tangle, Damy! I love the tiny orbs in each rectangle that the curves nestle into. So many possibilities for variations make this a very inviting tangle to draw. Your tile full of variations is lovely and inspired me to add this one to my Tangle-A-Day calendar. Thank you for sharing this!

  • Holly

    The tangle Squirk by Lena Ulses, created very differently but with a similar look, would go well with this tangle. I enjoy seeing different instructional methods, because it can make the final result look very different. I guess it’s just how our weird brains interpret things 😀

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