Getting My Tangle On

Several months ago, a discussion of Zentangling began in one of my groups (Blissfully Art Journaling). My friend (and group mom) Teri suggested that those who were interested follow along with the tangles in this book, because many of us already owned it:

I found a nice chunky notebook to work in.

I got into this because I'm a doodler, and just wanted to add some variety to my doodling. You know, something a little more interesting than my usual crosshatching. What I didn't expect, was how relaxed Zentangling made me feel.

Every day Most days Many days I'd practice the tangles, generally first thing in the morning .There are usually three presented each day, with extremely easy stroke by stroke directions. The culminating activity is to use the new tangles in a design, along with any others previously learned.

My first designs are very simple, since I didn't have a whole lot of tangles to work with...yet. I think the designs grew in interest and complexity, and I have found that a few minutes of Zentangling is a much better and more calming way to begin each day than my usual coffee and email. (Oh, those come later, I'm still me).

Here are a few, in chronological order. I'm about 2/3 through the book, by the way.

The chapter I'm working on now deals with adding color. In the first design, I used colored pencils, in the second, watercolors.