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What is Zentangle?
Linda Farmer, Certified Zentangle Teacher

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How to draw FLONTRAST

Zentangle pattern: Flontrast. Image © Linda Farmer and TanglePatterns.com. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may use this image for your personal non-commercial reference only. The unauthorized pinning, reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.Greetings, my friends!

We have another super easy tangle to explore this fine Monday. Easy and bold.

Flontrast is from Dutch tangler Francijn Brouwer, a newcomer to Zentangle®, and it’s her first on the site.

She writes,

“My name is Francijn, I live in the Netherlands.

A few months ago my eye fell on a Zentangle book at the library, and since then I can’t stop drawing patterns 🙂

I named my tangle ‘Flontrast’, after ‘flower’ and ‘contrast’.”

Flontrast is an example of the Japanese principle of notan.

“As a guiding principle of Eastern art and design, Notan (a Japanese word meaning dark-light) focuses on the interaction between positive and negative space, a relationship embodied in the ancient symbolism of the Yang and the Yin.

In composition, it recognizes the separate but equally important identity of both a shape and its background.”

There are quite a few tangles on the site which use this principle including several Zentangle-originals, Strircles immediately pops to mind. I’ve added notan as a new tag so they can be located together but it might take me a while to update the tangles using this principle. Until I finish that job you can find some of them using the op art tag.

Francijn’s Flontrast has two very different looks depending on where you place the contrasting black portions, as she demonstrates in her variation below.

Francijn illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Flontrast below where she features it in a minimalist monotangle along with the variation.

How to draw the Zentangle pattern Flontrast, tangle and deconstruction by Francijn Brouwer. Image copyright the artist and used with permission, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Image copyright the artist and used with permission, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Please feel free to refer to the steps images to recreate this tangle in your personal Zentangles and ZIAs, or to link back to this page. However the artist and TanglePatterns.com reserve all rights to these images and they must not be publicly pinned, altered, reproduced or republished. They are for your personal offline reference only. Thank you for respecting these rights. For more information, click on the image for the article “Copyrights and your blog.”

As you enjoy any of the tangles on the site, please leave a comment of thanks and encouragement to show the artists you appreciate them for sharing their creativity to inspire yours. Your comment helps motivate them to continue to share!

Check out the tag francijnb for more of Francijn’s tangles on TanglePatterns.com.

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Share your Tangle on TanglePatterns

Have you created a tangle you'd like to share with the community? I'd love to see it.

You do not need to be a CZT to submit a pattern. Many of the tangles on TanglePatterns began as ideas shared by readers just like you.

Before sending your pattern, please take a few minutes to review What Makes a Zentangle® Tangle? and How to Submit Your Pattern Deconstruction to TanglePatterns. These pages on the SUBMIT YOUR PATTERN menu explain what qualifies as a tangle and how to prepare your pattern.

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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4 comments to How to draw FLONTRAST

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