Tangle Pattern of the Week - Knightsbridge

So I'll just go ahead and say it. At it's very basic, the pattern called Knightsbridge looks like a checkerboard. And if you wanted to draw a checkerboard, you get get there by using the steps to draw Knightsbridge. But Knightsbridge can be oh, so much more. 

Knightsbridge is a grid pattern that I regularly teach in beginner classes since it is a really great place to start. As you can see in the two tiles above, once you start using curved and wavy lines, the look of your drawing loses it's "checkerboard" appearance and can begin to become much more 

interesting.

Above is Knightsbridge as part of a beginning class tile. And below is a black tile with white Gelly Roll pen.

As always, there are so, so, so many ways to draw Knightsbridge, so here's your link to my Knightsbridge search on Pinterest.

One of the best things about drawing Knightsbridge is all of the coloring in you get to do! I'm telling you friends, coloring stuff in is one of God's gifts to anxious people. Any time you're having trouble quieting your mind, just draw some shapes and color them in. Take deep breaths, focus on the coloring, and allow your mind to quiet. I promise you. This works.

As far as tools go, I've been drawing my tangles recently using an 03 micron pen rather than the 01 micron because I prefer thicker lines in my drawings. Once it's time to color in spaces, I switch to an 05 micron to fill in a little more quickly and so that my 03 doesn't run out of ink as quickly. 

I really would love to see your drawings with Knightsbridge. Please share your links in the comments if you wish. Links can be to blog posts or instagram, flickr, etc. Also, it can be a new or older post. All's fair in pattern of the week sharing. 

Tangle Pattern of the Week - Bales

This week we're highlighting the tangle pattern known as Bales. It's really very simple to draw although it can look quite complex. As a matter of fact, it's one of the very first patterns I teach in every beginner class. The pattern at the bottom left of the tile pictured above is Bales at it's most basic.

Bales is a pattern that you begin by drawing a grid and therefore, how straight the grid is will determine the shape of your bales. In the tile above, you can see what happens to your shapes if you use curved lines to draw your grid. The shapes can become elongated and really change the resulting space within each "square."

Yes, this tile, too, is still variations on Bales. Instead of the curve shapes added to my initial grid, I've added some angled lines which end up creating diamond shapes. I personally really enjoy when a new pattern emerges. Thanks so much to by friend Sue who was drawing with me this morning and first started drawing these diamond shapes on her bales. 

Obviously, none of the above tiles have any shading added. Once I add that I'll come back and add the shaded tiles at the bottom of the post so you can check back in subsequent weeks, if you're interested to see them shaded.

As always, there are so very many fine examples of Bales on Pinterest, make sure to take a look there.

And remember, one of the best ways to learn and to get new ideas is to gather together to work with friends or a teacher. Find a Certified Zentangle Teacher in your area to find out about Zentangle gatherings near you. If you are in the South Bend, Indiana area, we meet every Tuesday morning at 10am at Granger Community Church in the cafe for an informal, free meetup. I'd love to see you there! 

Feel free to add your links in the comments to blog posts or images you've shared that show Bales as well. We would all love to see them.

If you have a suggestion or request for a pattern to cover in the Tangle Pattern of the Week series, I'd love to hear about it in the comments as well. Maybe one you have a hard time drawing, or one you can't quite figure out. Let me know and I'll put it on the list for a week coming up soon.

Tangle Pattern of the Week - Purk

Well it looks like I'm going to be highlighting all of my personal favorite Zentangle patterns in this series first. I'm only human. This week's tangle pattern of the week is Purk.

Tangle patterns Mirasu (top left), Well (bottom left), and Purk (right side).

The tile above is one that I made at the Certification Training in Providence, Rhode Island. It was a tile that I honestly could not believe I had drawn myself. It's bizarre that you can actually draw something yourself and then not really believe that you just did so. Actually, this is a situation that happens pretty regularly as I continue to try new tangle patterns and learn new ways to draw them and keep trying new things. It's really a lot of fun.

Of course there are many, many great examples of Purk on Pinterest. And you'll find another one of my tiles containing Purk on Instagram, and one more black and white version on Instagram.

Tangle Pattern of the Week - Huggins

Hey friends!

I want to begin a new series of posts to highlight a single tangle pattern. This way I'll have a central resource to direct people to when I want to show them a pattern. So, without further ado, let's begin with our first pattern in this series, "Huggins."

This is a tile that's been hanging out in my kit I take with me to classes. I started to show someone how to do this pattern but never finished the tile. I decided today would be a good day to do just that.

You can find instructions for drawing Huggins on the TanglePatterns site, along with a huge number of examples on Pinterest here. I would love to make a Pinterest page for each pattern but that seems just a little insane since there are literally thousands of Zentangle patterns.

I'm going to encourage everyone I know to start using the names of the tangles on Instagram and hopefully we'll start building up more of a base there as well. Right now there are people using the #Zentangle hashtag but not really using individual tangle names. Hopefully, that will grow with time. Help me out with that, will you?

If you have a blog post or other online account where you've gathered examples of Huggins, feel free to leave a link in the comments for all to see.

I'm going to do some more searching through my finished tiles to find some more examples of this really fun to draw pattern but in the mean time, take a look at Pinterest, and enjoy drawing Huggins!

As always, I'm available for classes. Drawing is always more fun with a friend!

Zentangle Meetups in December

Hey Friends, It's time for us to get together to work on our tangles. While I'm not scheduling any classes at the moment, I am going to be hosting a couple of regular Zentangle Meetups. Basically, I'll be there working on my own Zentangle practice, I hope that you'll show up and we can work on it together. I'll be happy to share the newest tangles, along with the steps to any other tangles you would like to learn. You'll need to bring your own supplies, just paper and pen/pencil. Who: You and a friend! Where: Granger Commons (The Eatery Cafe) 630 E. University Drive, Granger, IN 46530 When: Tuesday, December 2, 10am and Sunday, December 7, 3pm

The Tuesday meeting will be weekly form the very beginning (we'll skip December 23). I'll be happy to schedule more Sundays if there is interest. Now is the time to order your Zentangle items for holiday gift giving. You can order directly from Zentangle Headquarters if you like or you can order through me. If there are items you would like me to deliver to you at a Meetup, just let me know at least a week before the Meetup date. I highly recommend the Zentangle Kit as a great place to begin for anyone who wants to learn a relaxing, fun way to create beautiful art all their own. I sincerely hope I'll see you at one of the Meetup events in December. If you can let me know you'll be there that would be great, otherwise just show up!

Zentangle Gallery

Imitation

Austin Kleon says that we should Steal Like an Artist. That's just what I've been doing this week as I've been a little bit stuck for inspiration but really wanting to keep my regular Zentangle practice going strong.

I've sought out inspiration from fellow Certified Zentangle Teachers and mimicked tiles that they've shared. Just by taking a look at what they've done, it's possible to decide what the border and string must have been, at least approximately. Those elements are always just suggestions anyway.

Next I take a look at the tangle patterns they've used and decide if I'm going to use them. Usually, I will because that's one primary reason I choose a tile to copy; because I need to practice some tangles that I might not normally choose to practice regularly. Of course, I do tend to deviate if there's one that I just really don't want to draw at the moment or I think it just doesn't fit my tile. And of course, there's always the moment when you just need to draw your favorite tangle. This is a meditative practice, after all.

The first tile I copied was by Kathe Berthold. Hers first, then mine.

And the second was by Kierstan Betancourt. Kierstan's below, then mine.

I like this exercise because it's just another example of how everyone's tile will be unique, even after being given the same instructions. And it reminds me of my favorite part of every Zentangle class, when everyone's tiles are put together to form an amazing mosaic.

Thanks so much ladies, for sharing your tiles and for your inspiration! Hopefully I can do the same!