How to draw TRINITY

Remembering 9/11/2001 …

“If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate.”

— Sandy Dahl, wife of Flight 93 pilot Jason Dahl, in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

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German CZT Stephanie Kiefhaber shares her deconstruction of Trinity with us today, and it’s her first on the site.

Generally speaking Celtic knots are not “deconstructable” so they can be drawn as a tangle for Zentangle®, the complex structures usually require planning and often pencil guidelines. This means the pattern is not a tangle.

But Trinity requires no pencil guidelines and Stephanie has come up with a cleverly simple deconstruction for us to enjoy exploring as a grid-based tangle, a ribbon-style tangle or as a stand-alone free-form tangle.

This form is known by several names including triquetra, trefoil and Trinity Knot, has been used by many different cultures through the ages, and also has several variations in shapes. Check out the Wikipedia entry for more on the subject.

Stephanie writes,

“I was always fascinated by Celtic designs and the triquetra is surely known to most people, being an ancient symbol of Celtic origin with many connotations.

But as a tangle pattern it would have to be easy to draw without ruler, compass and other equipment. So I deconstructed it to make it easier to draw freehand.

Although it can be placed randomly (just imagine the triangular shape you want to achieve and lead your lines into the Corners of this triangle), it is of course a wonderful border tangle, too.

All you need is a triangle or better a bunch of triangles arranged in any way that pleases you.

Three things to keep in mind:

1. 1. 1. Give your starting triangle outward curved sides in Step 1.
      2. Follow those curves until you reach the (imagined) bisector of the corresponding angle (don’t bother, you will soon get a feel for this)
      3. If you work within a triangular grid , place the curved triangle with corners pointing to the middle of the sides of the grid triangle.

This all sounds difficult, but it isn’t, trust me. Just have a go and enjoy.”

I found Trinity surprisingly not hard to do! 🙂

For Stephanie’s second tip above, it might be simpler to think of following the curve of the triangles you created (in Step 1) while aiming in the general direction of the corner of the triangle grid but not going as far as. (Bisectors and angles might make your head hurt.)

After you’ve finished Step 5, it’s easy to use your pen to “sculpt” the triangles into better alignment with the curves if you prefer. Shading the “over-unders” (thanks Mom!) definitely adds the finesse to Trinity. Inner auras would make a pretty enhancement when you have sufficient space.

Stephanie illustrates the step-by-step instructions for drawing Trinity below where she features it in a lovely monotangle Zentangle.

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 stephaniek2 for more of Stephanie’s tangles on TanglePatterns.com.

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Share your tangle on TanglePatterns

Everyone is invited to share patterns on TanglePatterns.com, you do NOT need to be a CZT. In order for patterns to be considered for publication they must be submitted to me by email. In other words you have to let me know about them.

For a submission to qualify as a tangle it must be a genuine pattern (“a repeated decorative design”) and not “a thing to draw”.

From The Book of Zentangle:

“Keep it Non-representational. Zentangle artwork is intended to be non-representational. Zentangle’s elemental strokes are also non-representational.

We don’t teach complex elements such as hearts, stars or flowers. Tangles are also non-representational.”

Remember that tangles never start with pencil planning.

"A tangle has no pre-planning with pencil guidelines, grids or dots, no erased lines."

If you need a refresher on what makes a tangle, read the A PATTERN IS NOT ALWAYS A TANGLE page on the ZENTANGLES menu bar at the top of any page.

For details on how to submit your pattern for consideration visit the SUBMIT YOUR PATTERN page on the top menu bar of any page on the site. On that menu you will find these two pages:

1. 1. How to submit your pattern deconstruction to TanglePatterns, and
   2. Why hasn't my pattern been published?

The first page includes instructions on how to prepare and send your JPGs. (Please save me time and do not send PDFs). It also includes a link to this PDF submission form.

When your examples include additional tangles from the site, please list them in your email. (This saves me time and my memory some wear and tear.)

If your pattern is posted on your blog, attach your steps and tile JPGs to your email and be sure your email includes the direct URL so I can link to it.

And remember, to quote Zentangle's co-founders Rick and Maria: tangles should be "magical, simple and easy to create", non-objective patterns of repetitive strokes that are easy to teach and offer a high degree of success to tanglers of all ages.

"Keep the tangles as little like 'drawing something' as possible."

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