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.

ZenDoodling A Documented Life

This week's prompt in The Documented Life Project was to create a border of doodles. You could say I got carried away, as I didn't stop at the border. I've been following Beckah Krahula's "One Zentangle A Day" since the fall. By following, I mean attempting to practice a new zentangle daily. So, I've skipped a few days and then did more than one on some days, and I'm about a third through the book. I am by no means a zentangle purist, but I do like the feeling I get when I'm lost in the process. No kidding, it really is a very calming activity. Since my prompt page contains some "official" tangles as well as my own marks, I'm calling it ZenDoodling.

The fish is a stamp I carved ages ago in a Julie Fei-Fan Balzer class. It's just a plain outline of a fish, so lots of empty space to doodle in. For the coloring, I used a variety of pens and markers and some watercolors as well. After last week's prompt (secret messages), which was very emotional for me, this week was just fun. And fun is good.

Speaking of good, and this has nothing to do with the project, I just wanted to share a VERY good tip I received from my good friend Pat. I think she shared this months ago, but I just had a reason to try it out, and it works. Do you have any paintbrushes you forgot to wash and are now totally stiff and unusable? Of course you do. Want to get them nice and soft again? Of course you do. Just soak them overnight in hair conditioner. It doesn't have to be an expensive brand. In fact, this is a good time to use up those little bottles of the stuff that you save every time you stay in a hotel. And this works even if the brush is full of dried up glue.