I have enjoyed participating with the Zentangle community following the Project Packs from Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas and their team. Project Pack 23 is particularly special because we are all celebrating Zentangle’s 20th anniversary of the first public class.
Inktober 2023 Review
Participating in Inktober Tangles has become a welcome fall tradition in my house. I look forward every year to the handout that Stephanie Jennifer creates with her lovely artwork and tangle oriented prompts. Stephanie is a Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT) from seminar 21 who lives in Singapore. You may have seen or heard about her company, Seven Forests Five Rivers LLP.
Celtic Knot Drawing Journey
Inktober 2022 Review
For several years I have been participating in the Inktoker artist challenge. Inktober originated as an “all” art challenge and in 2015 Stephanie Jennifer adapted it for our beloved Zentangle practice.
Following along with prompts throughout the month helps me maintain my drawing skills and facilitates my daily practice. I like to follow the prompts supplied in the handout from 7F5R.com because I don’t need to think about what tangle to draw next. That decision has been made for all who participate.
Project Pack 14 Review
This wonderful project pack was released in May 2021, during Mental Health Awareness month in the US. The Zentangle Headquarters team brought us a spirited series of classes developing the artist we often hide within ourselves. They were able to highlight a greater awareness of our own mental health and how our art contributes to positive feelings, reduction of stress, and a general increase in confidence. I personally have experienced these amazing outcomes.
Project Pack 12 Review
Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas along with their illustrious team at Zentangle headquarters, create wonderful Zentangle art packs several times per year. Project Pack 12 was originally released in December 2020. I was super busy at the end of 2020 and did not have time to work through the creative process presented in this renaissance art pack. So here we are at the end of 2021 and I have finally finished creating the amazing art tiles.
Introducing Tangle Towers
Review of Inktober Tangles 2021
I Enjoy Tangle Challenges
I really enjoy participating in various challenges around the Zentangle community, and Inkober is one of my favorites. I look forward to the prompts from Seven Forests Five Rivers, Stephanie Jennifer. She curates a nice list of tangles with old favorites and plenty of new tangles to grow my repertoire.
Marvelous Mandala Stories
I recently had the privilege of introducing a summer-long series of classes on drawing mandalas. As I began researching and playing with designs, I discovered that mandalas have a rich history across time and cultures. The style used, designs and colors all impact the artist in different ways.
Mandalas seem to be universal designs in art and religion. As an example, I found that the Navajo and Tibetan cultures drew similar types of mandalas using both a circle and square to form the design. They also used beautiful natural colors from their part of the world.
Map Tangling - Say What?
A tangling map is just a pool of color that has been blown around to achieve “contents” with “peninsulas” and “islands”. Annie sent students a video in advance of the class, showing us how to create our “maps”. I used Ecoline liquid watercolours to create my maps. Naturally, the watercolour needs to dry completely before tangling begins.