I have a confession to make.  I use an eraser when I tangle and not only that, I tend to sketch out parts of my Zentangles in addition to the strings before I begin to ink in the tangles.  This does not make me a Bad Person, just someone who is ok with the idea that my way is not necessarily the mainstream one.  Those who know me will not be surprised to hear this.

Many Zentangle devotees believe that there is no need for an eraser when creating a Zentangle.  They draw the parallel that as there are no "do-overs" in life, there aren't any tangles that can't be reworked or become a step to something new.  My short attention span tends to get in the way of wise thoughts such as these.  Rather than gnash my teeth over a tangle that went wrong, I usually do some preliminary sketching to block things in where I want them.  This makes the perfectionist in me happier and saves on dental bills.  If a piece I'm working on ends up something that I deem not worth finishing, I don't.  I also don't stress over it (as much as possible) and move on, knowing that the experience has increased my skills even if it didn't produce a piece to share, frame, or give away.  That I keep at it is what I find important, knowing that my skills continue to improve and that I WILL produce pieces I love. 

When the three new Zentangle books arrived the week of February 7th I quickly browsed through them all to get a sense of what they were about.  As I did it became clear that Yoga For Your Brain, by Sandy Bartholomew, was the one I wanted to immediately spend more time with.   I really enjoyed Totally Tangled and Sandy's style, so it's not a surprise that I would have been drawn to YFYB.  It didn't take long to realize just what a fantastic Zentangle reference the book is.  Sandy has covered the basics of creating Zentangles along with a plethora of other information, including how to take patterns you see around you and turning them into tangles.

The other two books that were released along with YFYB are Time to Tangle With Colors and Zentangle 4.  Though I only spent a little time with them, I did get to play with adding color to my tangles.  Color is a fantastic way to add a whole new aspect to Zentangle and one I enjoyed using.  So far my color has been added with both Prismacolor pencils and with watercolor pencils.  Jess played along too and the tangles I'm going to show are what we've had a chance to produce so far.  I hope you enjoy seeing our tangles, both with color and without!

SUPPLIES WE USED:

Zentangle Books  **  Other Zentangle Supplies  **  Pigma pens **  ARPA Handmade Paper  **  Prismscolor Pencils  **  Derwent Watercolor Pencils

These first 4 Zentangles are Jess's creations...

Jess: Colored with the Derwent Watercolour pencils. The colors are more vivid as I laid down more by pressing a bit firmer with the pencils. The edges are oranges and reds. Experiment with overlaying additional colors by waiting for the first layer to dry and then penciling in additional color and re-wetting. Or try applying additional color to surfaces that are already wet and watch the color soften and disperse at the pencil tip as you apply color.

Jess: The outer rings are fractal trees, as described in Marie Browning's book "Time to Tangle with Colors". Fractals are shapes that are comprised of copies of themselves at reduced sizes. Though the trees looks complicated, they are really just repeating patterns of "Y"s with one extra line in the upper portion, kind of like a bird's footprint. The shapes get increasingly smaller and more numerous the closer you get to the tops of the trees.

Jess: In progress...Right now they look like rather pathetic bowling pins, but with some shading and line work, they take on an amazing illusion of dimension and fullness. The pattern is called Skein and instructions for it, as well as an excellent primer with simple instructions for shading and dimension, can be found in Sandy Steen Bartholomew's Yoga for your Brain.

The rest belong to me and were created over the span of about a week to 10 days...

Ooops, I take that back... Jess created the top heart in this photo.  The other two are mine.

These were all cut from some leftover 140# watercolor paper.  I splashed some paint thinned with water on the white hearts and once it has dried they were ready to be tangled on.

This one was colored with Prismacolor pencils.  The paper is ivory ARPA in the 5 1/2" square size.  I love tangling on the ARPA paper and use it a lot.  The rest of the samples in this batch were also done on ARPA paper.  To add color to the tangles, I laid a base color down and then added another over the top in most cases.  If you use a light touch you can layer color without overpowering the one underneath.  I like this!

The colors in this Zentagle were done with Derwent watercolor pencils.  They're wonderfully simple to use... lightly color in the area with the pencil, then activate them with a brush dipped in a bit of water.  You can layer color here too.  Simple but very effective!  I don't think this one is quite finished, but I'm undecided about what else to do.  Maybe something will come to me.

Color here was added before I so much as made a mark on the page.  I really like using background colors first, then tangling over the top.  Again, some thinned acrylic paint splashed on the page till you're satisfied with the play of colors against each other and let dry.  A number of the tangles here are from YFYB.  I love this book!

This is actually the other half of the page above.  It's a long sheet of the ARPA paper folded in half, like a book signature.  More tangles from YFYB.

Creating Zentangles is enjoyable and rewarding.  It might seem daunting when you look at what appear to be complex patterns, but each is really just a set of steps.  When you combine tangles is when the magic really happens.  If you need a little fun or magic, draw some Zentangles!

SUPPLIES WE USED:

Zentangle Books  **  Other Zentangle Supplies  **  Pigma pens **  ARPA Handmade Paper  **  Prismscolor Pencils  **  Derwent Watercolor Pencils