ZenTangle

Pattern drawing

Zentangle popped-up, unexpectedly, while we were engulfed in creating neurographics for the ‘Connections‘ project. Mostly because some pattern doodling into neurographic shapes could not be subdued by the prescribed neurographic ‘algorithm’.

Zentangle is another type of meditative drawing that uses a mix of repeated shapes and patterns (tangles) – dots, lines, basic curves and orbs. These shapes are the ‘elemental strokes’ of a Zentangle art piece – they are drawn on paper ’tiles’ that can be combined in a mosaic. The founders of Zentangle were a monk and an artist. Zentangle is not about sketches that are good or bad -the drawing itself is all that matters.

Zentangle is indeed Zen, but it is also a training, similar to the repetitive exercises of music scales until finger movements that render a piano masterpiece become mainly subconscious.

Can you create a successful artpiece using a method and esthetics you never had an aptitude or an appreciation for? I am speaking of myself, some in the group were ‘born with it’! Overcoming the reluctance to try, and then ‘practice (Zentangle) scales’ is very useful – eventually, the components of the new technique will add layers and richness to the artist’s core painting style.

Zentangle drawing which emerged as an offshoot of the ‘Connections‘ project, allowed us to push boundaries of our comfort zones. Although unplanned, Zentangle (or a variations thereof) found its way into our neurographic drawings and brought with it an unexpected twist to our collective installations.