How to draw ICANTHIS and SPIRALING ICANTHIS

Second “Special Edition” of the day!

Icanthis is the second of two new Zentangle®-original tangles introduced at the recent zenAgain reunion for CZTs in November and published today as part of Rick and Maria’s “Twelve Days of 3Zs Christmas” series, together with Drawings (published here earlier today).

Icanthis was inspired by the Acanthus leaf and on Wikipedia we learn:

“The acanthus is one of the most common plant forms to make foliage ornament and decoration.

Some of the most detailed and elaborate acanthus decoration occurs in important buildings of Byzantine architecture, where the leaves are undercut, drilled, and spread over a wide surface. Use of the motif continued in Medieval art, particularly in sculpture and wood carving and in friezes, although usually it is stylized and generalized, so that one doubts that the artists connected it with any plant in particular.“

Emphasis mine above. Very Zentangle-like, n’est-ce pas? As I recall, Maria is a huge William Morris fan and here’s a lovely example from wallpaper he designed in 1875.

Acanthus Wallpaper designed by William Morris in 1875. From the Victoria & Albert Museum Collection. “Specimen of ‘Acanthus’ wallpaper, foliate pattern of intertwined acanthus leaves in shades of green.”

Here’s a great quote attributed to William Morris:

“Ornamental pattern-work, to be raised above the contempt of reasonable men, must possess three qualities: beauty, imagination, and order.”

If you’ve corresponded with me by email, you’ll recognize it from my “signature” at the end of every email.

In the newsletter Rick writes,

“The acanthus leaf had inspired so many architectural and pattern motifs throughout history that Maria just had to take a deconstruction crack at it.

‘S’ and ‘Curve’ join again in icanthis.”

When Icanthis was first shared with the CZT community I did quite a bit of research on the acanthus. Among many beautiful examples on the WWW in addition to the William Morris example above, I found these to be particularly inspiring. So many varied and different, yet similar beautiful interpretations.

Drawings and Icanthis,

“were inspired by patterns seen in nature (wings and leaves). We remind you that our intention is not to draw wings or to draw leaves. Rather our objective is to take the inspiration of these iconic shapes and deconstruct them so that you can tangle them into inspired images that may look like nothing anyone has ever seen!”

My example of Icanthis could have used a little more space to wander and my work continues on this one. Why am I thinking of dandelions? Icanthis is definitely a challenge, lots of versions tried until I was reasonably satisfied although I could have toned back the shading a bit. Moral of that personal story: use better lighting when tangling!

For Maria’s illustrated step-by-step instructions for tangling Icanthis, visit this newsletter.

“We invite you to explore the organic potential that these steps automatically inspire. Once again, we remind you that your tangles are not supposed to look like ours . . . but rather, to look like yours!“

UPDATE October 2018: Video from a lecture given by Zentangle co-founders in August 2018 in the final event of the National Museum of American Illustrators (NMAI) 2018 Summer Lecture Series. This video below starts at approximately 34 minutes where Maria demonstrates how to tangle Icanthis. Visit this link for the original post about this video.

Today is the tenth day of the series which has thus far included:

“On the x day of 3Zs, Bijou tangled me … ”

1. A tile full of tripoli! – Tripoli steps here
2. A fetching diva dancing – Diva Dance steps here
3. Some winsome bits of shattuck – Shattuck steps here
4. Some marasu encircling – Marasu steps here
5. Gold, glowing tipples – Tipple steps here
6. Swirling molygon-ings – Molygon steps here
7. Dark and naughty knightsbridge – Knightsbridge steps here
8. Perky pokeleafs peeking – Pokeleaf steps here
9. Tangled auraknot-ings – Auraknot steps here
10. Not so boring drawings – Drawings steps here
11. {Icanthis steps on this page}

.oOo.

Martha tangles Spiraling Icanthis in Project Pack #10’s Day 2 video

On Day 2 Martha explores spiral tangles and demonstrates Spiraling Icanthis starting at the 27:44 time marker:

Check out the tag zentangle for all of the Zentangle®-original tangles with online instructions.

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.
   • 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!
10. Never miss a tangle! FREE eMAIL NEWSLETTER - visit the SUBSCRIBE page on the top menu bar of any page on the site and sign up to get notices delivered free to your inbox.

.oOo.
Enhance your Zentangle experience while supporting TanglePatterns:
CURRENT EDITION! TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE, 2024 Edition
	The 13th Edition of the TanglePatterns.com TANGLE GUIDE is an instant-download 109-page interactive digital eBook/PDF containing approximately 2,000 tangles on the site from May 2010 through December 31, 2023. It's a great resource and a must-have digital tool for using the site. Visit the STORE > E-BOOKS page and help keep TanglePatterns.com going by getting your copy now!
	"Linda, Thank you! I was relying on too few and getting stuck after 3 years of daily working with Zentangle. This has inspired me to ‘begin again’ with renewed excitement." ~ Barbara R.
See the BOOK REVIEWS page for more details on its features and view a sample page. Note: this is a digital product you download immediately when you place your order, nothing will be physically mailed to you.
GIFT ORDERS FOR ANOTHER PERSON: To give the TANGLE GUIDE as a gift, visit this page to place your gift order.
If you're new to Zentangle® and tangling, my TanglePatterns.com BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO ZENTANGLE is just what you need to get started. Also available en Français and en Español.
	This is the only Zentangle book you'll ever need: the fabulous Zentangle PRIMER Vol 1. It's your CZT-in-a-book by the founders of Zentangle®. Visit the STORE tab on the top menu bar or click on the image. For more about the content and to read the rave reviews, visit the BOOK REVIEWS tab.
NEW! Now available in KINDLE format for $9.99. Spanish Edition here. Japanese Edition here.
"Absolutely the best Zentangle Book yet! As an accomplished artist I used to think I did not need instruction on this art form. How wrong I was! My tangling improved by leaps and bounds after reading this book. If you think you have Zentangle down then you need this book more than ever!" ~ Kris H
.oOo.