Zentangles?

That’s funny – I JUST heard about it today too! It looks relaxing.

I had to look this up to see what It was. I feel like I have always done this, just didn’t know there was a name for it.

Look neat!

That looks so cool! Would be perfect for doodling during meetings. :)

Oh wow there is a name for this. All my old high school workbooks were full of doodles exactly like these.

Yeah, I like the youtube idea too! Thanks OMGsrsly!

It’s a neat concept, but they take it so seriously? Calling each page a tile, and having specific tangles/strings that you can use and all these rules? (Here’s String #1 for example, which you can download if you’re afraid you can’t draw the starting lines: http://tanglepatterns.com/2012/05/the-importance-of-strings.html) I guess that’s why you need to buy a book…

Also, I guess it’s NOT doodling. They don’t like it when you call it that, apparently. :P (See quote below)

All tongue-in-cheek- teasing aside, I still think it looks to be an interesting exercise to help me get comfortable filling the empty pages of my sketchbook. And possibly in the process, helping to clear my mind.

Maybe in a month or so I’ll be posting pics and saying OMG, I shouldn’t have been skeptical!

[Zentangle or Doodle?

Often people new to Zentangle will say, “I’ve doodled all my life, I never knew it had a name.” With all due respect, doodling is not Zentangle though the outcome may look the same. What is the difference between doodling and Zentangle?

“In Zentangle, you don’t doodle aimlessly. There is a foundation and a process. Because there is no need to keep thinking about the foundation, freshness and delight get to come alive.” – Mary Sergeant, CZT

Zentangle is a form of artistic meditation through a very specific Method of deliberate intention that produces non-objective drawings composed of patterns (tangles) that can be viewed from all four sides. Zentangle is about process, not outcome.

Zentangles do not contain recognizable objects and there is no “right side up”. The Zentangle method is very focused and mindful, whereas doodling is generally something you do with your hands while your thoughts are occupied with something else. It’s easy to confuse the outcome of Zentangle with doodling, but they are quite different processes.

Likewise, the tangle patterns composing a Zentangle do not represent a natural or actual object, figure, or scene.]

Very interesting idea! I don’t see myself spending money on a kit or “tiles” but I do see myself ‘stealing’ the idea. I’ve always been drawn to drawings and doodles that are compact like that – a friend of mine draws in only this style and made a really interesting page in my wedding guestbook. Hopefully these can inspire me to make some myself!

Must admit, I think that for an art form, some of the people on the sites are taking it WAY too seriously. Why can’t I call it doodling? If I do it without the official merchandise is it a doodle rather than a zentangle? What about if I use different sized paper or prefer a different pen. What if I use colour?! :)

I actually studied this as an “art style” in my advanced art class in high school (along with all the silly things like calling each section a tile). Basically, we used them as a great warm up for sketching by practicing different art techniques in each tile. In one, we might do something with cross hatching and in another we might focus on shading.

And, a lot of the time when we were using new mediums like oil paint, watercolour paints or charcoal for the first time we started by making zentangles because it made you focus on doing detailed work and you had many tiles to practice with (while still creating something very pretty).

The way we did them, it definitely took A LOT of concentration – but I’ve done them absentmindedly too, and I think it’s silly to ‘not be able to call them doodles’.

I wonder if in many cultures all over our world, people have created these kinds of repetitive, meditative, linked designs. I was going to say doodles! >_< Differences and similarities cropping up again and again. Interesting to me.
http://www.google.com/search?q=australian+aboriginal+art&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=gFtoUomLNaWniQLUwoGoBQ&ved=0CFkQsAQ&biw=1205&bih=690#facrc=&imgdii=&imgrc=qawBx765VG0CM%3A%3BGkaJevxOW4E18M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.bubblews.com%252Fassets%252Fimages%252Fnews%252F11002235191362763209.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.bubblews.com%252Fnews%252Fflag%252F295590%3B400%3B309

Oh man! I used to do a similar thing in school all the time. I would randomly. Dot my paperr, then connect the dots into random lines and then fill the shapes with different patterns or colors. It always helped me concentrate and remember things because I could put. An image to whatever notes I learned that day. It drove some of my teachers nuts though because they thught I wasn’t paying attention. I just needed to be doing something with my hands while absorbing the information.